TEMPE, Ariz.- Six Sun Devil football student-athletes were named to the 2017 Phil Steele All-Pac-12 team, announced by the publication on Wednesday morning.
Sophomore wide out N'Keal Harry led the way with the Sun Devils' lone first-team nod, followed by junior JoJo Wicker and freshman Chase Lucas who received second-team honors. Seniors Demario Richard, Mitchell Fraboni and DJ Calhoun were joined on the third team by junior Christian Sam.
Harry, who earned the John Jefferson Outstanding Receiver Award earlier this month, received first-team recognition following a 73-catch,1000-yard, and seven touchdown season. Harry became just the 14th Sun Devil in school history to eclipse the 1000-yard receiving mark, and capped his sophomore campaign with a two-touchdown effort over Arizona in the final game of the regular season.
Wicker, an All-Pac-12 second-team honoree, came on strong during the second half of the season, finishing third among 3-4 defensive ends with 37 pressures this season while also sitting 20th- among all ends with a 5.9 run-stop percentage. Wicker finished sixth on the team with 39 total tackles, matching his career high from last season with the Sun Bowl still remaining to play. His 12.0 tackles for loss were a career best and were tied for sixth in the Pac-12 Conference.
Lucas, a 2017 USA Today Freshman All-America, earned second-team honors at defensive back after an incredible freshman campaign in 2017, despite never playing a single snap at Division I cornerback in his career prior to this season and not playing as a day-to-day player at the position in high school.
Richard, who became the fifth running back in school history to surpass the 3000-yard career rushing mark, earned third-team honors following a senior season that helped him climb to 3,152 career rushing yards. Richard is second in the Pac-10/12 era in ASU history and needs 147 yards in the bowl game to become ASU's leading rusher all-time in the era (J.R. Redmond at 3,299).
Sam, who joined Richard on the third team, reached double-digit tackles in seven consecutive games prior to the UCLA contest, more than any other Sun Devil had accomplished since the 2000 season. He has nine total games this season with double-digit tackles. In context, over the last three years, there have been 34 times a Sun Devil has reached double-digit tackles and Sam is responsible for 13 of those. This season, his 127 total tackles rank third among Power Five linebackers while his 87 solo tackles are second in the country.
Calhoun, the 2017 recipient of the Ron Pritchard Outstanding Linebacker Award and Mike Haynes Defensive MVP, earned third-team accolades following a 2017 campaign that saw him record a career-high 94 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Calhoun started the year strong, recording a career-high 13-tackles in the Sun Devils' victory over New Mexico State, before reaching the double-digit tackle plateau a week later on the road at Texas Tech.
Fraboni, a senior long snapper from Phoenix, was a sure handed snapper who converted all 84 snaps this season, while adding a pair of tackles.
Sophomore wide out N'Keal Harry led the way with the Sun Devils' lone first-team nod, followed by junior JoJo Wicker and freshman Chase Lucas who received second-team honors. Seniors Demario Richard, Mitchell Fraboni and DJ Calhoun were joined on the third team by junior Christian Sam.
Harry, who earned the John Jefferson Outstanding Receiver Award earlier this month, received first-team recognition following a 73-catch,1000-yard, and seven touchdown season. Harry became just the 14th Sun Devil in school history to eclipse the 1000-yard receiving mark, and capped his sophomore campaign with a two-touchdown effort over Arizona in the final game of the regular season.
Wicker, an All-Pac-12 second-team honoree, came on strong during the second half of the season, finishing third among 3-4 defensive ends with 37 pressures this season while also sitting 20th- among all ends with a 5.9 run-stop percentage. Wicker finished sixth on the team with 39 total tackles, matching his career high from last season with the Sun Bowl still remaining to play. His 12.0 tackles for loss were a career best and were tied for sixth in the Pac-12 Conference.
Lucas, a 2017 USA Today Freshman All-America, earned second-team honors at defensive back after an incredible freshman campaign in 2017, despite never playing a single snap at Division I cornerback in his career prior to this season and not playing as a day-to-day player at the position in high school.
Richard, who became the fifth running back in school history to surpass the 3000-yard career rushing mark, earned third-team honors following a senior season that helped him climb to 3,152 career rushing yards. Richard is second in the Pac-10/12 era in ASU history and needs 147 yards in the bowl game to become ASU's leading rusher all-time in the era (J.R. Redmond at 3,299).
Sam, who joined Richard on the third team, reached double-digit tackles in seven consecutive games prior to the UCLA contest, more than any other Sun Devil had accomplished since the 2000 season. He has nine total games this season with double-digit tackles. In context, over the last three years, there have been 34 times a Sun Devil has reached double-digit tackles and Sam is responsible for 13 of those. This season, his 127 total tackles rank third among Power Five linebackers while his 87 solo tackles are second in the country.
Calhoun, the 2017 recipient of the Ron Pritchard Outstanding Linebacker Award and Mike Haynes Defensive MVP, earned third-team accolades following a 2017 campaign that saw him record a career-high 94 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Calhoun started the year strong, recording a career-high 13-tackles in the Sun Devils' victory over New Mexico State, before reaching the double-digit tackle plateau a week later on the road at Texas Tech.
Fraboni, a senior long snapper from Phoenix, was a sure handed snapper who converted all 84 snaps this season, while adding a pair of tackles.
