Jeff Pendergraph: Hoops Warrior, Snake Lover, Emotional Wreck?
Jeff Pendergraph plans to shed at least one tear this season—and it won’t be the kind of tear Sun Devil fans are used to shedding during basketball season.
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Jeff Pendergraph doesn’t seem like the type of guy to cry at weddings. After all, he is a 6-foot-9 240-pound behemoth with two pet snakes.
But prior to yesterday’s preseason men’s basketball media event, he told the Arizona Republic that he’ll probably cry on senior day this season. Hey, who could blame him?
After winning just 19 of 58 games in his first two years in Tempe, he led the Sun Devils to a 21-win season and the cusp of legitimate national recognition for the first time since Big Smooth Ike Diogu hit those two 3-pointers against Memphis in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
ASU seems a lock to be ranked in the AP preseason top 25 later this month for only the fourth time in program history.
The road to respectability has been particularly difficult on the intense Pendergraph. He even considered leaving the program twice—once in the summer following the departure of Rob Evans and once this summer when he was tempted to enter the NBA Draft.
Herb Sendek noted his perseverance yesterday. Quoth Sendek: “It’s always a little bit more special when you go through some challenging times and then you start to see some breakthroughs.”
Now, Pendergraph seems to have his sites set on winning a rare place in the hearts and minds of ASU fans—the kind of place typically reserved for Rose Bowl quarterbacks and a handful of ballplayers from the Winkles and Brock eras.
Quoth Pendergraph: “Whenever I come back here, people are going to know who I am. I’m going to have a name here, and that’s going to be pretty cool.”
A lasting legacy for a basketball player? If it means we’re dancing this spring, we’re for it. We’d love to see Pendergraph shed a tear or two as he cuts down a net in March.
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Check back this afternoon for more ASU hoops links and to vote for how well you believe the Sun Devils will do this season.
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[...] you want to read more about the hoops team, read our post on a season that will end with Pendergraph in tears or check out our preview with links from the Valley’s media [...]
[...] We already knew that Arizona State senior Jeff Pendergraph was an emotional sort from his fiery demeanor and from his admission that he will cry on senior night this season. [...]