Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena
Tempe, Arizona, is home to one of the most competitive teams in Pac-12 men's basketball. The Arizona State Sun Devils play out of the Desert Financial Arena, which opened as the ASU Activity Center in 1974, was then known as the Wells Fargo Arena from 1997 to 2019, and has a current capacity of 14,198. They are coached by Bobby Hurley, who starred at Duke in the early '90s before playing five seasons in the NBA, joining Arizona State in 2015 after two seasons coaching Buffalo.
Arizona State Sun Devils Men's Basketball History
Tempe Normal School fielded their first men's basketball team in 1911. From 1949 to 1957, Arizona State College's basketball team was coached by Bill Kajikawa, a longtime part of the school's community who also once coached Arizona State baseball and freshman football. Ned Wulk took over in 1957, and the newly christened Arizona State University had a taste of success on the court, winning four times in the Border Conference in five seasons before moving to the Western Athletic Conference in 1962. The Sun Devils would add four WAC titles before ASU and the University of Arizona joined what was then known as the Pac-8 Conference in 1978.
NBA superstar James Harden played for two seasons under Herb Sendek at Arizona State, before declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft. Other notable Sun Devils basketball players include Lafayette "Fat" Lever, and former NBA head coaches Lionel Hollins and Byron Scott. ASU has reached the NCAA Elite Eight three times � in 1961, 1963 and 1975 � and the Sweet 16 twice more � in 1973, with an appearance in 1995 which was later vacated due to a point-shaving scandal. Since the Pac-10 became the Pac-12 in 2011, Arizona State has continued its tradition of success, with NIT appearances in 2013 and 2015, and NCAA appearances in 2014, 2018 and 2019.
