Randy Bennett, Sun Devils land top Serbian big man

Earlier this month, when Randy Bennett held his introductory press conference as the Sun Devils' new head coach, he alluded to having 12 players on the roster. Simple math determined Arizona State had only 11 announced players, hinting there was a silent commitment out there somewhere.

On Thursday, that silence went public.

The Sun Devils secured a commitment from Serbian center Filip Malesevic. Associate head coach David Patrick, whom Bennett called "one of the best recruiters in the nation" during his press conference, recently took a recruiting trip to Serbia. Now, we know who he was after.

At 21 years old, Malesevic has experience playing for two different Serbian pro teams, both KK Dynamic and FMP Beograd. Between both teams, he averaged 5.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.

Malesevic also played for the Serbian national team with the FIBA U20 EuroBasket circuit. There, he held down a backup role and averaged 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Serbia has produced quite a list of impressive basketball players over the past decade, with Nikola Jokic being the biggest name. Malesevic was considered by many to be one of the three best big men playing in Serbia at the time.

Depending on the team, Malesevic has been listed between 7'2" and 7'4" in official programs. It'll be interesting to see what Arizona State lists him at, but Malesevic is definitely above 7' tall.

That makes him the Sun Devils' third seven-footer, alongside Cal Baptist transfer Nate Garcia and Boston transfer Ben Defty, the latter of whom is expected to start. Arizona State has routinely rolled out smaller lineups in the Bobby Hurley years, so having three players above seven feet in Year 1 of the Randy Bennett era is a visual representation of how much things have changed.

It also brings this roster, officially, to 12 players. The Sun Devils have three remaining scholarships to allocate, though they may opt not to hand out that many. For now, though, Bennett appears to have built a very strong roster.