James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph received some impressive kudos from the Pac-10 office yesterday. We’re honoring the Sun Devils’ dynamic duo as well—by counting down our top four stories on the all-conference first-teamers this season.

(Photo courtesy Arizona Republic.)

By now you’ve likely heard that James Harden has been named Pac-10 Player of the Year, joining Eddie House and Ike Diogu as the only Sun Devils so honored. It’s easy to see why. Harden is averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Harden is joined on the all-conference first team by Jeff Pendergraph, who’s averaging 14.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 66.5 percent from the floor.

From a team standpoint, Harden and Pendergraph have led ASU to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1979-80 and 1980-81. The Sun Devils posted 11 conference wins for just the second time in the past 14 seasons to finish in a third-place tie with Cal.

We’ve written a lot about Harden and Pendergraph this season. So here are links to our top five Harden and Pendergraph posts of the year:

1. James Harden in blue and gold? After he was profiled in Sports Illustrated we learned how a twist of fate nearly led the greatest Sun Devil hoopster ever to play his college ball on the other coast.

2. Jeff Pendergraph career retrospective. On the eve of senior day, we took a look back at a tumultuous career that included a benign tumor, a near transfer and (finally) a place among ASU’s few elite big men.

3. James Harden leads by beard. During a decent winning streak, Harden sucked his teammates into the ultimate display of masculinity – commitment to splotchy facial hair – with mixed success.

4. Jeff Pendergraph’s cure for the blues. A slow start to his senior season had Pendergraph taking a beating from a teammate, singing the blues and offering up a surprising destination for a morale boost.

5. What’s Your Take, Sun Devils? Do you have a favorite memory or story about Harden or Pendergraph? If so, spill the beans in the comments below.

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Tags: ASU Men's Basketball , Eddie House, ike diogu, James Harden, Jeff Pendergraph // 2 Comments »