A plot begins to thicken.
A surprise package is about to be opened.
Arizona State University foes, beware. A time bomb is ticking.
That's the exciting prospect in store for Sun Devil basketball fans this
season,
Ned Walt starting his 20th season as a su head coach and assistants, Jim
Carrey and Paul Howard have some tantalizing surprises in store. They're
readying a fast aggressive young team build around returnees, James Silky
Holloman,
Rick Taylor, Tony Zino and Derek Davis. All four are fast approaching
contention for national honors and ready for stardom after a year of
waiting as the Red shirt transfer, Mark Landsberger who could become the
Sun Devils top rebounder is one of the surprise packages. Walt can't wait
to show off from last year's fine junior varsity squad. Are Greg guy voted
most valuable player on the team and Mike Sims of ya who may be the team's
most natural shooter. Add to that line up four of the nation's most sought
after prep stars prize catches in one of a us finest recruiting seasons
and you have the potential for a great Sun Devil team, Johnny Nash of Long
Beach, probably the most coveted prospect in America heads the brilliant A
su freshman crop May and Monk Detroit's finest prep 610 Kurt Nymphs of
Milwaukee and Matt Barney of Stafford. Number one player in Arizona are
other blue chippers.
As always, Arizona State will play one of the more demanding schedules in
American college basketball. The Devils will face Illinois, Oregon,
Wichita State, northwestern and San Diego State to name but a few and will
play in the famed Rainbow Classic tournament in Honolulu along with Saint
John's Houston, San Francisco, Illinois Temple. William and Mary and
Hawaii.
1975 76 team won its first five games and captured its seventh Sun double
Classic championship with a 74 to 67 victory over always powerful DePaul
which later made the NCAA regional playoffs. The Devils also won both
games in the fiesta double header and split a pair in the Kentucky
Invitational begged Scott Lloyd keyed the A SU offense early in the season
and Gary Jackson's last minute heroics won several thrillers
took the Devils squad to Spain for a December goodwill visit sponsored by
the state department
opened the new year with a 68 to 67 victory over nationally ranked Hawaii.
The Devils blew out the Long Beach State 49 ers at Tempe Lloyd Jackson
Taylor. Everybody ripped the nets in this one.
Ok. Ok.
On
the devil's hopes of defending their Western athletic conference
championship were dealt a rude blow in the league opener at Tempe when the
surprising Utah Redskins took an 80 to 72 win but a su rebounded to
humiliate Brigham Young on regional TV. 83 to 68.
Three days later, Southern California's Trojans came to town. The Devils
trailed most of the way
but with less than 15 seconds to play. Rick Taylor canned a jump shot to
pull a su out in front for a 7169
victory
resuming conference play on the Albuquerque El Paso road trip. The Devils
caught fire in the late minutes of both games. Only to see furious rallies
fall a shade short at New Mexico. The Devils rallied from a 16 point
deficit to grab a one point lead with only 20 seconds left on the clock
but the Lobos hit two free throws after time ran out to take the victory.
The loss of two stellar outside men, Rudy White to the preseason pro
draft and Rick mccutcheon to an early injury was a crippling blow.
Dave Tarrant helped fill the gap. Rick Taylor and Derek Davis also were
rushed into the breach and showed promise of future brilliance. Silky
Holliman, a proven veteran of the 1974 75 championship team performed at
both guard and forward as woke, searched for a winning combination. The
mid season lineup scramble gave freshman Tony Zino a chance to show his
brilliance and the leaping sharpshooter became an immediate crowd favorite.
The Devils returned to the activity center to resume conference play on
January 30. They faced a long uphill struggle to get back into title
contention
but they downed Wyoming and Colorado State at home and then scored a hard
fought victory at Missoula over the Montana Grizzlies
that set the stage for the crucial battle with title favorite Arizona on
the Tempe boards. The season's record crowd, 14,375
fans jammed the activity center February 7 for the wildcat invasion.
Taylor led the A su attack with 19 points.
Holloman was close behind with 16 and Zeno pulled down 12 big rebounds. It
was a tight defensive struggle all the way but the Devils held on at the
finish to preserve a 67 to 63 victory despite the fouling out of their
four tallest men with five minutes to play. The Sun Devils had fought back
into the championship chase but they desperately needed to win on the road.
They came close at Provo losing to BYU by four points and at Salt Lake
City, they closed with a rush to lose by only four to Utah. Five
conference losses by an average of just over four points had effectively
put a su out of the running. They trounced New Mexico at home 87 to 73 but
late season losses to Colorado State and Wyoming nailed the coffin lid
down tight in the finale at Tucson. Arizona's Wildcats evened the season
series with a 7772 win
the Sun Devils had finished the season with a respectable record of 16
wins, 11 losses. But Ned Welk was far from satisfied his 391 career
victories. Sixth highest total among the nation's active coaches stamp him
as a winner and he is determined the Devils will return to high national
ranking in 1976 77 win or lose coaches exciting basketball, his run and
gun offense and his search attack, destroy defensive tactics. Keep fans on
the edge of their seats from tip off to final buzzer. There's explosive
potential in the surprise package. Wolk is readying for a SU fans in 1976
77. Holloman and Taylor proven stars and getting better.
And Davis brilliant youngsters with great futures Landsberger, one of the
most exciting prospects in years guy and Sims determined to crack the
starting lineup and who knows any one of these sensational new freshmen
could become stars before the season is half over. It's the fascination of
the unknown that makes this new sun devil team something special. The
dynamite is there waiting to be detonated. The word has gone out to a su
foes in 1976 77. Beware, we've got a time bomb ticking.