ASU basketball to honor James Harden before Feb.18 game vs. UCLA
Nov 10, 2014, 11:41 PM | Updated: 11:41 pm
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State basketball will honor former star James Harden on Feb. 18 before hosting UCLA by hanging his No. 13 jersey in the rafters of Wells Fargo Arena, head coach Herb Sendek announced Monday.
“Okay, we’re going to open with some late, ‘bearding’ news,'” Sendek joked to open his statements.
“Obviously we’re really excited to have (Harden) come on campus for this special tribute. One of the very best things we’ve done in recent years is honor jerseys.
“Right now we have a host of great players already up in the rafters and some we’d like to include, and obviously the next is James Harden’s.”
Harden, an iconic ASU alumnus for not only his prodigious skill on the court but also his giant beard, was voted first-team all-Pac-10 and a first-team All-American as well as a the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009 — his second and last year as a Sun Devil. He ranks fourth in ASU history for total points in a season and boasted a career scoring average of 19.0 points per game before leaving for the NBA. He has since been a gold medalist on the USA Olympic Basketball team and a star for both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
A wildly popular figure for the newer generation of Sun Devils, Harden — or rather, his facial hair — is also a recurring theme for an ASU home game during basketball season, “James Harden Beard Night.”
Junior forward Shaq McKissic says from a player’s perspective, Harden has been an important and relatable figure among the ruling set of Sun Devils.
“You come into Weatherup Center every day and you see his poster on the wall; it’s kind of a goal,” said McKissic. “You see what guys have came and done in this program and you want to fight for that every day.”
McKissic said he was able to play with Harden a bit this summer and experienced firsthand the skill with which he plays — and the strength.
“His push-off, I’ll never forget,” said McKissic. “I went home and called my mom, I was like, ‘I’ve never had so much force at my chest to get a wide open shot,’ you know, I couldn’t wait to defend him…and then I just got hit that one time and it kind of sucked the whole air out of the gym.”
Other Sun Devil basketball news
– Sendek announced, in partnership with President and CEO of Solutions 21 Buddy Hobart, that the second-edition publication of their book “Gen Y Now: Millenials and the Evolution of Leadership” will be available in Tempe Tuesday.
– Sendek will join Hobart for a book-signing event on Nov. 11 at Desarrollo Tech Center on Mill. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. Registration is free but limited to the first 100 who register.
