Bobby Hurley noticed something Monday.
"When I got my workout this morning, people weren't avoiding me," the Arizona State men's basketball coach said. "They were wanting to say hi."
After consecutive losing seasons, the Sun Devils are back in the Top 25, the first time since the 2008-09 season. Coming off last week's Continental Tire Invitational championship in Las Vegas, unbeaten ASU is No. 20 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the USA Today coaches poll.
"We've had a lot of dark days here," senior guard Shannon Evans said, "but I feel like guys worked hard even when we were going through (that stretch). Now I feel like our work is getting a little light, getting a little shine."
The most amazing partof this: The Sun Devils don't pass the eye test. At least not physically, something that's clear in pregame warm-ups.Hurley has just seven scholarship players right now. Among them, only redshirt-freshman forward Romello White, redshirt-freshman VitaliyShibel and junior De'Quon Lake stand taller than 6-foot-5.
According to KenPom, an efficiency-based web site, ASU's average height is76.2 inches. That makes them the shortest team in the Top 25, and that average includes two players who currently are not playing.Freshman forward Kimani Lawrence (foot injury) and sophom*ore forward Mickey Mitchell (mid-year transfer) – both 6-7 – won't suit up until next month.
"If Ihad the whole crew, we would look the part," Hurley said with a chuckle. "If I had the transfers and the guys that are still getting back like Mickey and Kimani. ...But I do look at the difference, andI just know what I know."
Which is, his guards are hard to handle.
Senior Tra Holder scored 40 points in Friday's win over then-No. 15 Xavier. On Monday, he was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second straight week, the first ASU player to repeatsince James Harden. In addition, senior guard Kodi Justice on Thanksgiving scored a career-high 28 points against Kansas State. All the while, Evans has posted three 20-point scoring games in six tries.
It's not so much the numbers that are impressive, but the chemistry that's allowed it to happen.
"Winning is more important," Holder said. "I have never won at any level of my career. I think I had one year in high school when we were over .500, but other than that, we weren't that good. ... It's cool to see what we've done so far."
ASU (6-0) hosts San Francisco on Saturday. From there, the Sun Devils play St. John's in Los Angeles and No. 2 Kansas in Lawrence. Mitchell is expected to play against the Jayhawks, which means ASU will look a little more imposing.
Not that such things matter.
"It's only November," Evans said. "I mean, it's goodthat we're ranked but we want to be ranked in March."
ASU BASKETBALL SCHEDULE:San Francisco, St. John's and Kansas up next for ASU
MORE ASU BASKETBALL:Holder erupts to lead ASU to tournament win over No. 15 Xavier
Wildcats drop
The Arizona Wildcats dropped out of both polls after losing three games in the Battle of Atlantis.
The Wildcats were previously ranked second and their precipitous drop made Arizona the first team to drop from No. 2 to unranked in the AP poll since the 1986-87 Louisville Cardinals.
Duke picked up the 11 first-place votes that went to Arizona last week.Kansas climbed to No. 2, followed by Michigan State, Villanova and Notre Dame.
ASU is one of two Pac-12 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this week, along with No. 14 USC. Washington State and UCLA joined Arizona among the other teams receiving votes.
In the coaches poll, USC is No. 18 and UCLA is No. 25.
MORE:Concerns piling up for Wildcats, who fall out of both polls
Longest AP Top 25 droughts
According to collegepollarchive.com, the only power conference basketball teams with longer droughts in the AP Top 25 poll are:
- Rutgers
- Oregon State
- Penn State
- Auburn
- Washington State
- Boston College
The AP Top 25
- 1. Duke (65) | 8-0
- 2. Kansas | 5-0
- 3. Michigan St. | 5-1
- 4. Villanova | 6-0
- 5. Notre Dame | 6-0
- 6. Florida5-112727
- 7. Kentucky | 6-1
- 8. Wichita St. | 4-1
- 9. Texas A&M | 6-01
- 10. Miami | 5-0
- 11. Cincinnati | 6-0
- 12. Minnesota | 7-0
- 13. North Carolina | 5-1
- 14. Southern Cal | 4-1
- 15. Gonzaga | 5-1
- 16. Baylor | 5-0
- 17. Louisville | 4-0
- 18. Virginia | 6-0
- 19. West Virginia | 6-1
- 20. Arizona St | 6-0
- 21. Xavier | 5-1
- 22. Texas Tech | 6-0
- 23. TCU | 6-0
- 24. Alabama | 5-1
- 25. Creighton | 5-1
Others receiving votes: Seton Hall 87, Nevada 61, UCLA 56, Purdue 56, Arizona 34, Washington St 25, Texas 22, Arkansas 17, Tennessee 14, Providence 9, Northwestern 8, Rhode Island 6, Saint Mary's (Cal) 5, Georgia 5, Oklahoma 3, UNLV 2, Vermont 1, Texas Arlington 1, Maryland 1.
ASU BASKETBALL ROSTER:Taking a look at the 2017-18 ASU's men's basketball roster
MORE ASU BASKETBALL:A slimmer Tra Holder opens strong on both ends
