After spending the past week at Tempe St. Luke's, things are finally starting to look up for Kenny Crandall.
The ASU sophomore guard was released from the hospital Tuesday night, just hours after being sedated with a pair killer. Crandall had been confined to a hospital bed since last Wednesday following surgery to repair a broke fibula just above his right ankle.
The Mesa Mountain View High School product sustained the injury April 14 when dirt bike riding with his brother-in-law for the first time. Doctors project Crandall will be sidelined for approximately three months. He will then have to undergo six weeks of rehab before returning to full strength.
Coaching staff to remain intact
Sun Devil assistant coach Tony Benford is reportedly not interested in filling the head coaching vacancy at Portland State. He has withdraw his name from consideration for the position, which opened up April 12 when ASU graduate Joel Sobotka resigned to pursue other coaching opportunities at the collegiate level. Wyoming assistant Heath Schroyer and former Fresno State assistant Danny Tarkanian have emerged as the leading candidates.
Benford was excluded from serious consideration for the New Mexico position last month since he had not worked as a head coach at a Division I program. ASU head coach Rob Evans eventually became the leading candidate for the job, and later turned down a lucrative offer estimated to be worth roughly $4.9 million over seven years.
Recruiting class ranked highly
ASU's 2002 recruiting class was tabbed as the 25th-best in the nation by fansonly.com. Duke ranked first with five top 100 prospects, while North Carolina, Villanova, Florida and Illinois followed behind. Other Pac-10 teams that came in ahead of ASU included UA and USC, while UCLA grabbed the No. 30 spot.
Sun Devil fall signee Ike Diogu was listed as a top 100 prospect by www.fansonly.com and was tabbed as the nation's 89th-best prospect by www.cnnsi.com and www.TheInsiders.com. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound product from Garland High School (Texas) was named first team all-area after averaging 23 points and 11.5 rebounds per game this past season, while shooting 77 percent from the field.
ASU fall signee Allen Morill, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward out of Sam Houston High School (Arlington, Texas), was named second-team all-area upon averaging 18.3 points per contest last year.
Controversy surrounding signee
The Albuquerque Tribune reported earlier this week that an official with the U.S. Embassy in the West African nation of Cameroon said Sun Devil fall signee Serge Angounou and his teammate at Rio Grande High School (Albuquerque, N.M.) lied to get into the country two years ago. The Tribune reported that Angounou intended to enter the United States to enroll in a four-month English class and had no desire to play basketball.
Angounou has since obtained a new visa allowing him to enroll at a university as a full-time student. He passed a college entrance exam, solidifying his eligibility to play with the Sun Devils this fall.
Angounou is not expected to face any disciplinary action. He ranked tops in rebounding and was fourth in scoring at the New Mexico high school ranks last season with averages of 21 points and 13.1 boards per game.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
