Harden says he'll be back

 by Alex Espinoza
 published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Jeffrey Lowman / THE STATE PRESS

SOON TO BE SOPHOMORE: Freshman guard James Harden dunks the ball against Washington State on Jan. 26 at Wells Fargo Arena. Harden said the NBA is “out of the picture right now.”

In today's world of NCAA men's basketball, freshmen are considered to be kings.

You know the names.

Kansas State's Michael Beasley, UCLA's Kevin Love, UA's Jerryd Bayless, Indiana's Eric Gordon. The list could go on for days.

While many of the nation's premier freshmen jump onto the one-and-done fast track to the NBA, Sun Devil fans should be ecstatic to know their first-year phenom will be playing at Wells Fargo Arena next season.

"Big Game" James Harden said Tuesday that he isn't considering a jump to the pros just yet.

"[Making it to the NBA] is my dream," Harden said. "It's every basketball player's dream. But I'm really not paying attention to that right now, I'm loving college right now. We're winning, I'm having fun, it's a great experience. I guess that'll come later down the road, but right now I'm focused on college."

Harden added that he wouldn't even weigh his options during the offseason.

"It's out of the picture right now," Harden said. "I'm not even considering it. I won't consider it in the offseason either."

When asked if he'll be back next year, Harden said "Yeah, definitely."

Harden has lived up to the hype in his first year while donning the maroon and gold.

He is ASU's leading scorer (18.0 points per game), second-leading rebounder (5.2 rpg) and assist man (73 total) while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. He is also one of just two players in the conference to average at least 18 points and five rebounds a game (Cal sophomore forward Ryan Anderson is the other).

Harden's defense is equally impressive, as evidenced by his 1.92 steals per game — good for second in the Pac-10.

His 25-point effort in the 77-63 win over Washington Saturday also set a new ASU record for 20-point games by a freshman. It eclipsed the mark of 12 set by former Sun Devil great Ike Diogu in the 2002-03 season.

But Harden's impact has gone far beyond any box score or statistic can tell. When the clock is winding down to its final ticks, there's no doubt who is going to take the ball for the Sun Devils.

Harden is ASU's crunch-time killer.

He has shown time and time again that he can get to the bucket at will, with the uncanny ability to hit tough shots in traffic or go to the line for two free throws.

"[Harden] definitely doesn't get as much publicity as some of those other guys like Gordon or Beasley," sophomore guard Derek Glasser said. "But I think he deserves every bit that they get. He's as good as any of them."

ASU puts it all together ASU's victory over UW was its first wire-to-wire win since beating Saint Francis 95-56 on Dec. 19. Freshman forward Rihards Kuksiks hit a three-pointer to start off the game and the Sun Devils led the rest of the way.

"That was one of our best games," Harden said. "We just played our hearts out. We played real well defensively, we rebounded the ball real well. Guys stepped up and made big shots, and it showed on the scoreboard."

Kuksiks has given Sendek another option in ASU's deep rotation and looks to have cemented his role as the starting power forward. At 6 feet 5 inches, he's usually the second-tallest player on the floor for ASU at any given time, which creates mismatches for opposing big men.

"He can shoot the ball real well," Harden said. "And he's got 6-feet-7, 6-feet-8 inch guys guarding him, so it's a great match-up for him."

Kuksiks' playing time has spiked since the last time ASU played UCLA on Jan. 31. He has started the last five contests and is averaging 11 points and 2.5 made three-pointers in the last four games.

Reach the reporter at: alex.espinoza@asu.edu.