Bordow: ASU hoops needs to prosper

The tea leaves are changing color at Arizona State.

"When I'm on campus, no knock against football, but there are a lot of people that are kind of glad basketball season is starting," said Jeff Pendergraph, the Sun Devils' senior center. "They're getting tired of football. I think that's pretty cool."

It's also pretty unusual.

ASU is a football school. Always has been. But in just two years, coach Herb Sendek has created a buzz about ASU basketball. Ticket sales are up. Sophomore James Harden is on magazine covers and All-American lists. There's talk of not just an NCAA tournament berth, but a Sweet 16 run.

Folks are so excited about the Sun Devils, they're not even grousing about another unappealing nonconference home schedule.

"There's sizable interest now," Sendek said. "People are aware. They're looking forward to it. I don't know that was the case two years ago."

This is a pivotal season for ASU. Everyone around the program expects Harden to jump to the NBA next year, and Pendergraph will be gone, too. It's not now or never for the Sun Devils, but it might be now or wait a couple of years.

It's also an important year financially for the program.

ASU is not immune from the economic slowdown that's crippling the country. The university already has made $30 million in budget cuts, and it recently announced it will lay off at least 200 faculty associates in anticipation of another state budget cut of at least $25 million. President Michael Crow has asked for a five percent tuition increase, as well.

A successful basketball program can generate enough revenue to help the university in hard times. According to the Department of Education's Athletics in Equity report, the University of Arizona's basketball program brought in $16.7 million in the 2006-2007 school year. Take away operating expenses, and the Wildcats still put more than $13.2 million into the university's coffers.

By comparison, ASU's total revenue was $5.3 million, and after expenses, it only gave back $1.2 million to the university.

"We'd love to be a program that generates revenue for the athletic department and ultimately the university," Sendek said. "That would be a win-win for everybody."

As much as Sendek appreciates the excitement building around campus, he's not going to put his foot on the accelerator. In a press conference Monday, nearly every response was punctuated with the phrase, "we have a lot of work to do."

"We've covered a lot of ground but it's not like we can exhale, like we've arrived," he said. "It's great that there's excitement and there's some euphoria and everyone has high expectations for us. But trust me, we have a lot of work to do on every level, on every front, and to think otherwise would be absolute foolishness of the highest degree."

OK, Herb, we get it.

But we look around the Pac-10 and see a UCLA team that lost Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, a USC team that lost O.J. Mayo and an Arizona program in disarray.

And there you are, with the conference's best player in Harden, one of the top big men in Pendergraph and your top eight players returning from last year.

So you'll understand why we think you should win at least 20 games, challenge for the Pac-10 title and take your fate out of the hands of the NCAA selection committee.

"Now we're expected to beat some teams," guard Jamelle McMillan said.

Yes you are, Jamelle.

And with the football team being in nearly as bad shape as the economy, ASU could really use the boost.