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Arizona State surging with four-star TE Miree

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The Ohio four-star took his official visit to Arizona State last weekend. The trip ended with ASU in a better position than when the weekend started.

"They took care of my family and I," Miree said. "They are climbing back in the race. The plan and football part hasn’t changed since day one. They are very high on the list."

Miree says that Coach Mohns being upfront and honest is the biggest driver in the team surging with him. Coach has communicated to Miree that he will either land him at TE this cycle or skip the position altogether. That has really carried weight with the playmaking tight end.

One other thing of note from talking to him. He said that his family really enjoyed Tempe and that if he were to pick the school, his family would relocate out there. Miree still has still has Florida State, Washington, UNC, Auburn, and Cincinnati official visits scheduled.

I don't think one is wrapping up soon but the team has made a move.

ASU falls to BYU in early tournament shutout upset

This morning, in the first game to open the Big 12 tournament, the Sun Devils continued their skid, losing 2-0 to a Cougar team they thoroughly dominated in the regular season and now have placed their NCAA Tournament fate in the hands of others

Sunday Walkabout

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = SWAG-LESS Baseball Program

Returning some swagger back to the Sun Devils baseball program was one of the chief goals of Willie when he was hired to coach ASU baseball four years ago...

He couldn't get the Sun Devils to the postseason playoffs during his first three seasons in the PAC and now, in the Big-12, that is without either Texas or Oklahoma, he is on the verge of not making the playoffs for a fourth straight year...

Meanwhile, down here in Tucson where Chip Hale is making about the same amount as Willie, it looks like he'll have the Cats in the playoffs for a fourth straight year...

Of course, we all know that Chip has much more money with which to buy success, and has better facilities, a better fan and booster base, etc, with which to make the postseason playoffs every year, right..??

Well, at the very least, they have had much better athletic administration down here in Tucson (IMHO) than what we have had up there in Tempe but, supposedly, our new AD was instrumental in hiring Willie to return some SWAG to our once elite baseball program...

Which brings me to the key question related to our program under Willie and one I hope that you will respond to as fans and boosters of our baseball program...

And, the question is this...will having 34 scholarships available to Willie next season mean much in terms of finally being able to elevate our baseball program or not under Willie's guidance..??

Or, will we be throwing more good money after bad given Willie's tenure at ASU thus far..??

And, is there any reason why ASU cannot find a coach like what the Cats found in Jay Johnson when he was hired by them from Nevada in 2016..??

He was making $335K and ended up taking the Cats to the postseason three times, that included two trips to the CWS and a second place finish there once...

I don't think he had more scholarships than the Sun Devils and they played in the same conference, too...:cool:

I know we don't have the same financial resources as LSU, that hired Jay away from AU, but are we also that far behind in resources as our in-state rival the Cats..??

I don't know if the Cats will extend Chip Hale, who was hired the same time as Willie, after this season, since the Cats were expecting much bigger things this year than what they have achieved so far...

But, somehow, thanks primarily to our poor efforts against the Cowboys this past weekend, the Cats have a conference tournament BYE in the first round, while we have to play BYU in order to move on in the tournament...

So, I ask you once again...will having 34 scholarships help to elevate our program under Willie or will it mean just having more of the same, since the head coach and his staff will still be there running the team next season..??

I await your feedback as always...:)

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

Big 12 Baseball Awards

Arizona State's Matt King and Oklahoma State's Harrison Bodendorf shared Co-Newcomer of the Year.

King led the Sun Devils with 27 multi-hit games in the regular season as he posted the second-best batting average in the Big 12 (.401). In Conference play, he was the league's leading hitter with a .424 batting average and was the only player to break the 50-hit mark in league play with 53 hits in 30 games.

ASU players in bold


Of the Year
Player - Kerrington Cross, Cincinnati
Pitcher - Antoine Jean, Houston
Co-Newcomers - Matt King, Arizona State & Harrison Bodendorf, Oklahoma St.
Freshman - Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
Scholar-Athlete - Tony Pluta, Arizona
Coach - Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas


All-Big 12 First Team
C: Logan Sauve, West Virginia
IF: Matt King, Arizona State
IF: Tyriq Kemp, Baylor
IF: Kerrington Cross, Cincinnati*
IF: Brady Ballinger, Kansas
IF: Core Jackson, Utah
OF: Isaiah Jackson, Arizona State
OF: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
OF: Damian Bravo, Texas Tech
OF: Logan Hughes, Texas Tech
DH: Noah Franco, TCU
UT: Landon Hairston, Arizona State
SP: Harrison Bodendorf, Oklahoma State
SP: Tommy LaPour, TCU
SP: Colter McAnelly, Utah
SP: Griffin Kirn, West Virginia
RP: Cole Carlon, Arizona State
RP: Gabe Craig, Baylor
RP: Antoine Jean, Houston
*- unanimous selection

All-Big 12 Second Team
C: Jack Natili, Cincinnati
C: Nolan Traeger, TCU
IF: Mason White, Arizona
IF: Kyle Walker, Arizona State
IF: Antonio Jimenez, UCF
IF: Maximus Martin, Kansas State
IF: Robin Villeneuve, Texas Tech
OF: Jackson Hauge, Kansas
OF: Keegan O'Connor, Kansas State
OF: Chase Brunson, TCU
OF: Kyle West, West Virginia
DH: Dariel Osoria, Kansas
UT: Karson Bowen, TCU
SP: Ben Jacobs, Arizona State
SP: Cooper Moore, Kansas
SP: Sean Youngerman, Oklahoma State
SP: Jack Kartsonas, West Virginia
RP: Tony Pluta, Arizona
RP: Sean Youngerman, Oklahoma State
RP: Jack Cebert, Texas Tech

Ties resulted in two catchers on the second team.

All- Freshman Team

Smith Bailey, Arizona
Landon Hairston, Arizona State
Pearson Riebock, Baylor
Quinton Coats, Cincinnati
Aj Evasco, Kansas St.
Mason Brassfield, TCU
Kade Eudy, TCU
Noah Franco, TCU
Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
Nolan Traeger, TCU
Austen Roellig, Utah
Gavin Kelly, West Virginia


Honorable Mention:

Arizona: Adonys Guzman, Owen Kramkowski, Brendan Summerhill, Aaron Walton
Arizona State: Brandon Compton, Josiah Cromwick, Lucas Kelly, Jack Martinez, Jacob Tobias, Kien Vu
Baylor: Pearson Riebock, Travis Sanders
BYU: Parker Goff, Ryder Robinson, Cooper Vest
UCF: Edian Espinal, Dylan King, DeAmez Ross, Andrew Williamson
Cincinnati: Kellen O'Connor, Nathan Taylor, Landyn Vidourek
Kansas: Brady Counsell (INF/UT)
Kansas State: Seth Dardar (INF/DH), Jacob Frost, James Guyette
Oklahoma State: Colin Brueggemann, Ian Daugherty, Mario Pesca, Nolan Schubart, Brayden Smith,
TCU: Mason Brassfield, Kade Eudy, Anthony Silva
Utah: Austen Roellig
West Virginia: Reese Bassinger, Chase Meyer, Jace Rinehart, Sam White

Texas Tech's website perspective on ASU

The Texas Tech website on the network posed the question: Which of Texas Tech's road games scares you the most?

ASU is at No. 2 behind Kansas State, and I thought you might be interested to see what the arguments were for ASU to be ranked that high in reply to this question:

I, however, actually feel the game against Arizona State will be an even greater measurement for where Tech could finish in the conference.

As it stands right now, the Red Raiders still hold bragging rights over the Sun Devils from last season’s win in Lubbock. The only caveat behind that win, though, was it came in September, long before ASU had fully formed into the eventual-Big 12 champs. That team came together much later, like mid-October/early November before they actually started making some noise.
If memory serves, it wasn’t until then that the Sun Devils even making it to the championship game was a real possibility.

Fully considering where ASU was at the time the two played last season, you have to imagine a later in-season matchup could have potentially been more compelling and maybe even swung the other way.

ASU is likely to be selected to win the Big 12, returning with 16(!) starters from the championship team a year ago, along with coordinators Marcus Arroyo and Brian Ward. Quarterback Sam Leavitt is being tabbed as one of the best returning signal callers in the country, while Jordyn Tyson is being looked at as a potential first-round draft pick type talent at wide receiver.
The Sun Devils, though, are going to be in a similar spot as Tech is with having to replace its program cornerstone running back Cam Skattebo.
ASU, even with returning so much production from their team a year ago, did do some damage in the portal. The big ticket item was running back Kanye Udoh, who performed the frivolous task of transferring from Army. Udoh was a 1,000-plus yard rusher last season and the 6-foot, 215 pound back will directly replace Skat.

By that point in the season, the seventh game on both team’s schedules, you should have a rather well-formed idea of what the Red Raiders and Sun Devils both are. Their successes, their pitfalls, if both teams can replace their respective running back-sized holes, you get the idea. Hypothetically– which this entire conversation is purely hypothetical anyways– Tech could be undefeated, or at least 5-1 if we account for a potential loss at Utah. Tech was also 5-1 when it played host to Baylor on a gloomy Saturday in Lubbock last season.

In theory, ASU could also be a similar boat. Undefeated, or 5-1 at the least, in my eyes for the team in maroon and yellow.
Could ASU face an early slip-up when it heads to Waco to take on a hungry Baylor team? What about the week after when the Sun Devils take on TCU on a Friday night? Also have to mention Utah again, who will take on ASU the week before the Sun Devils host Tech.

While I must again reiterate this is all hypothetical (a lot can change in 3 months) it’s a fun scenario to think about. Should the Red Raiders get out of the gates as expected heading into Tempe, which would probably be a raucous and late night environment, the Big 12 would have one of its marquee matchups arise well before the end of the season.
Given where expectations currently stand for both programs, my early projections point to this matchup being a real contributing factor to Tech’s title aspirations.

Big 12 Tournament game preview: ASU vs. BYU

Following a surprising and disappointing regular season-closing series, ASU will look to turn the page in the opening game of the Big 12 Tournament, facing a BYU squad that they have swept and outscored 36-13 in a series sweep

Spring Snapshot: Arizona

The transition from Jedd Fisch to Brent Brennan as head coach contributed to Arizona's struggling inaugural Big 12 season. Have the Wildcats shown in spring practice that they can rebound from their 2024 four-win campaign? GoAZCats staff writer Troy Hutchison shares his spring takeaways from ASU's in-state rival

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