Oct. 8, 2008

The Arizona State men's hoops team is ranked 15th by Sporting News in its preseason magazine, and it also tabs 6-5 sophomore guard James Harden with first-team All-America honors on its five-man team.

It marks the fourth top-25 preseason ranking for ASU and second selection at No. 15, as Blue Ribbon Yearbook also has ASU 15th. Athlon had the Sun Devils 16th while Rivals.com has ASU 25th in its preseason rankings.

ASU returns its top seven scorers from last year's 21-13 team that tied for the nation's lead in win improvement (13), as ASU was 8-22 in 2006-07 but went on to beat NCAA Tournament teams Arizona (twice), Xavier, Stanford, USC, Oregon and Coppin State last year. ASU is led by senior Jeff Pendergraph, a 2008 third-team All-Pac-10 selection and Harden, a first-team All-Pac-10 pick and the only returning All-Pac-10 first-team player from last season.

The Sun Devils open their season at home on Friday, Nov. 14, against 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Mississippi Valley State.

SPORTING NEWS PRESEASON TOP 25
1. UNC
2. UConn
3. Louisville
4. Gonzaga
5. Michigan State
6. Texas
7. Duke
8. UCLA
9. Pitt
10. Memphis
11. USC
12. Notre Dame
13. Purdue
14. Miami
15. Arizona State
16. Florida
17. Wake Forest
18. Marquette
19. Xavier
20. Davidson
21. Tennessee
22. Oklahoma
23. Saint Mary's
24. UNLV
25. Baylor

ALL-AMERICANS
First team
Tyler Hansbroug, UNC
Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
Austin Daye, Gonzaga
James Harden, Arizona State
Stephen Curry, Davidson

Second team
Luke Harangody, ND
Earl Clark, Louisville
Chase Budinger, Arizona
Sherron Collins, Kansas
Kalin Lucas, Michigan State

Third team
Jon Brockman, Washington
Hasheem Thabeet, Uconn
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
Patrick Mills, Saint Mary's
DeMar DeRozan, USC