Oct. 3, 2008

Q&A with ASU's Second Team All-American (Athlon Preseason Magazine)

No. 16 Sun Devil Preview By Athlon

Athlon Sports' College Basketball annual ranks Arizona State No. 16 in its preseason top 25 and predicts the Sun Devils to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore guard James Harden is a second-team All-America selection and a first-team All-Pac-10 pick. In addition, senior Jeff Pendergraph earns second-team all-conference honors.

Nashville-based Athlon Sports is a 41-year-old publishing company with two major areas of interest: Publishing and Sports Marketing.

It marks the third top-25 preseason ranking for ASU. ASU was ranked 25th by Rivals.com in its preseason rankings and 15th by Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

ASU returns its top seven scorers from last year's 21-13 team that tied for the nation's lead in win improvement, as ASU was 8-22 in 2006-07 but went on to beat NCAA Tournament teams Arizona (twice), Xavier, Stanford, USC and Oregon last year. ASU is led by senior Jeff Pendergraph, a 2008 third-team All-Pac-10 selection and first-team All-Pac-10 pick James Harden, the only returning All-Pac-10 first-team player from last season.

The Sun Devils open their season at home on Friday, Nov. 14, against 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Mississippi Valley State.