Hey guys,

I'll be running tonight's game thread as ASU takes on No. 13 Utah. A couple notes: Didn't see Stephon McCray...looked like Steven Miller will be the starting LG. Salamo Fiso was dressed, but wasn't warming up with the first team. Manny Wilkins was fully dressed as expected. Looked like he was moving decently well to me. No noticeable limp or anything.

Oklahoma City four-star TE Nick Robinson was offered by Arizona State two weeks before he made a commitment to Memphis late last spring. Robinson has since stepped away from that Memphis commitment, though, and one of the schools he is taking a harder look at is Arizona State. More on Robinson in the article below.

https://n.rivals.com/news/memphis-still-in-play-for-former-four-star-commit

Does ASU end up offering this kid? Looks like a bunch of other PAC teams have

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The Arizona Republic had an article on this today by Paola Boivin. Here's an excerpt:

A key is the finalization of a new arena deal. The organization is deep in talks with Arizona State about the land at Karsten Golf Course which would house a joint facility. ASU -- which launched a Division I hockey program last season -- will not comment and the Coyotes, out of respect for ASU, have been quiet, other than president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc’s proclamation at the team’s kickoff luncheon last month that he would have information soon.


A new facility in Tempe would be an important boost for the organization. The location is better, near the intersection of the 101 and 202 freeways, and accessible by light rail

Full article link

We talked last year about this possibility, and we mentioned that the reason it didn't get much push then was the fact that Coyotes wanted ASU to share more of the financial burden than the school was comfortable with. Then reports came out that the Scottsdale Drive-in which is owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Native American Tribe was going to house the new arena with the Casino revenues funding that project. So now this new arena location has come full circle and projected to be built on ASU's land.

It's important to point out that this new arena will likely not house ASU basketball because of overlapping schedules which make it hard to share coveted weekend dates. So the renovation of Wells Fargo Arena and/or possibly a new basketball arena being built, are very much on the table regardless if this hockey arena project comes through or not.

WEEK NINE!

Get it in!

http://jediasu.com/limesurvey/index.php/679685/lang-en

BUMP

As you may now, the early signing period in basketball begins on Wednesday November 9th and runs through the 16th.

On November 9th, both of ASU's commits Remy Martin and Kimani Lawrence are scheduled to send in their National Letter of Intent to the Sun Devils.

The only viable recruit that may join them during that period is Shaquille Walters, a British wing player who is part of the Lee Academy in Maine, a prep school from which ASU newcomer Vitaly Shibel hails from, so there is an established connection there between both schools. Williams' recruitment has been way under the radar (he did officially visit here though) and working on getting more information on him, but I'm told that ASU would certainly take him if he wished to commit here.
The need to add a frontcourt player is still there, and right now here the two prospects that are being looked at closely.

One is Kenny Wooten, who Eric Bossi wrote about today, a former Nevada signee that has re-open his recruitment and is absolutely blowing up. He did unofficially visit ASU previously and is scheduled to visit officially in December, which means that he intends to sign in the late April signing period (April 12th). Wooten's father grew up in the Phoenix area so there is certainly a familiarity factor there.

6-10 De'Quon Lake from Iowa Western is another prospect. He grew up in Virginia where current ASU player Shannon Evans hails from, so that could be a positive factor. Again, he will sign with teh school of his choice only in April.

There could be more frontcourt player prospect names surfacing later in the year, but for now these appear to be the most viable ones.

Today's game isn't the earliest home game ever, but it's right up there as Joe Healey illustrates

UteNation.com Publisher Alex Markham answers your questions regarding ASU’s upcoming opponent

Know Your Foe: Utah

The legendary @JediASU joins me as guest host this week as we preview the Utah game with Utes insider Patrick Kinahan, and we discuss some of the bigger issues surrounding this ASU team and 2016 season.
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Joe Healey takes a closer look at the opportunities and challenges ASU's next opponent will present

The Nov. 19 ASU game at Washington will kick at 4:30 p.m. PT (5:30 in AZ) and will air on FOX.

Hey all, I bought a 3-pak mini season package this year and I cannot make the game this Thursday nite. I live in Orange County. I would love to pass these along to a great Sun Devil fan who can't afford to make the games. Send me a DM and I will try to will call these tickets, lower level, on the North west corner. Oh yea, and you gotta yell like crazy.

Go Devils !!

This is the good link

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Here's a story I wrote on ASU WR Fred Gammage before Senior Day:

http://www.campusrush.com/arizona-state-sun-devils-frederick-gammage-walk-on-2085186516.html

I live in Costa Rica. I just found that ASU has a commitment from Paul Chaplet to play golf. He plays golf at the Valle del Sol Golf Course where I play. I have played a couple of rounds with him. He hits his 3 iron farther than my drives. He won the Central American Tournament that qualified him for last year's Masters. Tall and thin but hits the crap out of the ball. He will be a good addition to ASU golf team.

As we head into the final month of the season, if you were preparing an evaluation of our head coach, what would be his strengths and weaknesses in your opinion...

Here are some possible categories to evaluate:

Leadership

Delegation of Responsibility

Quality of Hires

Organizational Skills

Recruiting

Program Values

Player Development

Wins-Losses

Public Relations Skills

Problem Solving

Crisis Management

Academic Team Achievement

There are numerous potential categories so include any you want...

Go Devils and Beat the Utes!!!

arizonasports has a story up about Tyrann Mathue following the footsteps of Patrick Peterson by donating $1 million to LSU. I'm not one to ever begrudge how an individual spends his/her money so please don't take this post as such. Does ASU have similar donations? If not, what does a school such as LSU do to ebdear itself to former athletes that ASU does not?

The season is what it is. Lets play the what if game....

Good story here by Justin Toscano with the senior linebacker who has certainly put his stamp on this ASU program.

Eric Smith's analysis of a stingy Utah unit and the challenges it can present ASU

1. Matt Moreno ‏@MattGOAZCATS 7h7 hours ago

For anyone that was holding out hope RR says JJ Taylor is definitely out for the season and he doesn’t see Nick Wilson returning this year

ATTIRE: Helmets and Pads

LOCATION: Kajikawa Practice Fields

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: About 20 minutes

EN VERDE (no contact): No one was in green today. DB James Johnson (green yesterday) was out of green.

TOWELS AND SUNSCREEN (muscle beach): The beaches were packed once again.
OL Sam Jones, LB Christian Sam, WR Cam Smith, LB Salamo Fiso (brace on left knee), OL Stephon McCray (no walking boot, but didn't participate during media viewing session), CB Kareem Orr (late addition to muscle beach as he joined the crew just as the media viewing session ended)

Other personnel notes: LB Carlos Mendoza had his hand taped once again. OL Zach Robertson's left ankle was taped, but he practiced. LB Koron Crump had that brace on his right knee.

TACKLE CIRCUIT: ASU started practice with tackling drills once again.

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11-on-0 OFFENSE: Not much that was new here, but here's how the teams looked...

First team: QB Manny Wilkins, RB Demario Richard, WRs N'Keal Harry/Fred Gammage/Jalen Harvey, TE Kody Kohl, LT Evan Goodman, LG Steven Miller, C Tyler McClure, RG Quinn Bailey, RT Zach Robertson

Second team: QB Dillon Sterling-Cole, RB Nick Ralston, WRs Terrell Chatman/Kyle Williams/Ellis Jefferson, TE Raymond Epps, LT Cohl Cabral, Scout team LG, C AJ McCollum, RG Alex Losoya, RT Mason Walter

Third team: QB Jack Smith, TE Jay Jay Wilson

The media viewing session ended following this session.