TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State enters the season with a top Pac-12 player of the year candidate in Jahii Carson, a more difficult schedule to negotiate as it attempts to make its first NCAA appearance in five seasons and two starting spots to fill. The general sense is that if All-Pac-12 point guard Carson takes the expected step forward in his second and final season, the last two items might not be much of a hindrance. The Sun Devils plan to push the ball even more than they did while averaging 71.8 points a game last season, coach Herb Sendek said, and the new rules designed to deter hand-checking certainly will help. "We are going to play fast-breaking, up-tempo, free-flowing, attack basketball," Sendek said. Carson, 5-feet-10, will be the driving force. He is on the preseason Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy award lists for the best guards in the country after deciding to return for a second college season, the path taken by future NBA players James Harden at ASU and Mike Bibby at the UA. Carson averaged 18.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds last year, and while those numbers might be difficult to bump up significantly, he also plans to exert more of a leadership role in the absence of lost starters Carrick Felix and Evan Gordon/Chris Colvin. He has been vocal in practice. "Carrick was a bulldog. He was a workhorse," Carson said. "It is kind of hard to replace one of those, but I think every one of us on the team has something we can mix in to bring what he brought.
"I don't think a leader is somebody who I as a coach can knight," Sendek said. "That comes from within the ranks. Jahii is certainly trying to put his fingerprints as a leader on our team. That will be something that continues to evolve." ASU, 22-13 after splitting two games in the NIT last season, will play its opener Friday at Wells Fargo Arena against Maryland-Baltimore County, one of the lesser opponents on a schedule that was intentionally beefed up with the NCAA tournament in mind. Senior center Jordan Bachynski, who set school and Pac-12 blocked shot records last season, and junior forward Jonathan Gilling are the other returning starters. Bachynski, 7-foot-2, averaged 9.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots a game, and his interior presence had a lot to do with the Sun Devils' ability to hold opponents to 41.0 percent field-goal shooting. Gilling provided a weapon on the perimeter, making a Pac-12-high 84 3-pointers. Penn State transfer Jermaine Marshall is expected to slide into the starting lineup at the shooting guard spot that was tag-teamed by Gordon and Colvin last year, and he brings a 15.3 scoring average as the Nittany Lions' main scoring option a year ago. With Carson occupying defenses, Marshall could have better looks on the perimeter this season. Although he missed time with Valley fever last month, he has returned to practice and calls himself 85 percent. "He shoots the ball well," Carson said of Marshall, 6-foot-4, who said he opted to spend his final year of eligibility at ASU so he could play with Carson. "He has a mid-range (shot) that is particularly good. He can finish in the paint. He can post up. And he's good on defense. He does everything well." Junior college transfer Shaquielle McKissic showed athleticism and freshman Egor Koulechov showed court awareness in the Maroon and Gold game two weeks ago, when McKissic ran the floor unimpeded, making dunks and 3-point shots. Regular season games will be more physical, but McKissic did show an ability to score and has earned the other starting spot for the opener. Michigan State transfer Brandon Kearney and holdovers Bo Barnes and Eric Jacobsen could be part of a rotation that will be explored in the non-conference season. "I"m excited," said Bachynski, who had a Pac-12 record 120 blocked shots last season and spent part of the summer playing with the Canadian National team. "There are a lot of great things we have to look forward to, and there are a lot of great players on this team who I think are going to be very valuable for us." Carson is convinced that the Sun Devils' first NCAA tournament appearance since Harden's last season in 2008-09 is four months away. "I think that me, Jermaine and 'J.B.' are such big threats," he said. "Our teammates complement us so well that we can't not get there. I think that teams are not going to be able to key on one guy. Not me. Not 'J.B.' Not Jermaine. Not Jon Gilling."
It is a climb made more treacherous by a fortified schedule. The Sun Devils first road game will be against UNLV in Las Vegas on Nov. 19, and they have a home game against Marquette the following week. ASU will play Creighton and All-American Doug McDermott in the first round of the Thanksgiving Wooden Legacy, and San Diego State is a possible second-round opponent. Miami, Fla., and Marquette also are in the field. "The tougher the teams, and the more teams that we beat playing a tougher schedule, definitely gives us more power at the end of the day when it is time for the NCAA to see what teams go to the tournament," Carson said. "If we can beat a lot of those quality teams, I definitely think that we'll have a nice little bid, not just hoping to get to the tournament." Follow Jack Magruder on Twitter
