ASU AD: Herb Sendek is still our guy for 2014
Mar 19, 2014, 8:26 PM | Updated: 8:26 pm
After a 69-66 double OT upset of No. 2 Arizona in Tempe, Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson said head coach Herb Sendek had the program moving in the right direction.
The team has gone 2-5 since then, leaving some ASU fans wondering if changes are going to be made to a team that will look very different next year without key players Jahii Carson, Jermaine Marshall and Jordan Bachysnki.
But Anderson says the disappointing finish to the season hasn’t changed the opinion of the eighth-year Sun Devil coach.
“Herb is a good coach and when he was the parts he can put them together and do a really, really good job,” Anderson told The Dan Bickley Show with Vince Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “What matters right now is that he’s our coach for 2014.”
Sendek last took ASU to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, where the sixth-seeded Sun Devils beat Temple before falling to third seed Syracuse.
“I’m certainly going to put all the support I can behind him to the extent that we can help better the program, the approach, and the results,” Anderson said. “We’re going to look for nothing but positives going forward and I’m personally confident that Herb is the guy and he will be the guy for us in 2014.”
Anderson, who was named the ASU athletic director in January before officially taking over in February, believes more time is needed to properly evaluate the coaching staff.
“For the folks on the edge who doubt that, we want them to come around and give us their support,” Anderson said. “They don’t have to agree with us per se, but certainly give Herb, and me as the athletic director, an opportunity for a year together.
“Remember, I just came in a month ago. I think I’d like an opportunity for us to work together for a year going into 2014 and see what kind of progress we can make as a partnership for men’s basketball. I’m confident that the next season will show additional progress and we can allay some of the concerns that folks have that we’re not as good as we can be. We will be better.”
