(Photo: ASU Athletics)
It’s one of the most anxious, pressure-filled days in sports every year. After working hard all season long, teams wait with baited breath on the edge of their seats to hear their name called on Selection Sunday.
It took a little longer than expected, but the Arizona State Sun Devils heard their name called Sunday afternoon.
The 10th-seeded Sun Devils are headed to Milwaukee, Wis. to play the seventh-seeded Texas Longhorns in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“When our name went up on the screen their was just tremendous joy and excitement in the room,” head coach Herb Sendek said. “As a coach to stand in the back and watch our guys celebrate like that is about as good as it gets.”
After losing to Stanford in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament on Thurs. night, speculation started to swirl about the Sun Devils’ chances to go dancing. ASU is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009 and only the second time since 2003. During the 2009 campaign the Sun Devils defeated Temple in the first round before falling to Syracuse in the Round of 32.
“Anything can happen now. I mean, we in there. It’s crazy. It’s unbelievable, man,” sophomore point guard Jahii Carson said. “I just know it’s a big stage and I think we’re gonna step up and play. I think we can do something special.”
The Sun Devils and Longhorns have some history together as well. Former ASU athletic director Steve Patterson now holds the same position at UT, and Sendek was an assistant under Texas head coach Rick Barnes during the 1988-89 season with the Providence Friars.
“Words can’t describe how excited I am,” shooting guard Jermaine Marshall said. “I’m just ready to go do stuff ready to redeem ourselves from this past week.”
Marshall and guard Brandan Kearney are the only two current Sun Devils with NCAA tournament experience. Marshall went with Penn State in 2011, falling to Temple in the first round, while Kearney has gone dancing twice with Michigan State, losing in the first round to UCLA during the 2011 season and then reaching the Sweet Sixteen in 2012 before losing to eventual Final Four contestant Louisville.
“How many people would love to be in our situation? I mean for me, it’s a once in a lifetime experience,” senior center Jordan Bachynski said. “My whole career we’ve never been in the tournament and we finally made it and now we’re a part of March Madness.”
The odds are stacked against the Sun Devils with a ten-seed, which are 40-76 in the first round since 1985 and have never made it past the Elite Eight.
“It’s a new season for us, guys have a new mentality. We’re confident in ourselves and we’re ready,” Carson said.
This appearance in the NCAA tournament will be No. 13 in the history of ASU’s basketball program. If the Sun Devils were to win against Texas ,they would play the winner of 2-seed Michigan and 15-seed Wofford on Saturday afternoon.
ASU lost five of its last seven regular season games, and the chances that the Sun Devils will be winning a national title at AT&T Stadium in Arlington are slim but that’s not stopping this determined group.
“You’re gonna see us play some of the best basketball we have all year. I really do believe that, because we believe in ourselves,” Bachynski said.
ASU will play Texas on Thursday night at 7:40 p.m. MT on CBS.
You can reach the author via email at nkruege1@asu.edu or Twitter, @NickPKrueger
