Devils in Detail
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ASU Basketball: Freshmen to Look Out For

By Kynan Marlin

Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky reacts during the second half against the Pepperdine Waves at Wells-Fargo Arena. Sun Devils defeated the Waves 81-74 Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky reacts during the second half against the Pepperdine Waves at Wells-Fargo Arena. Sun Devils defeated the Waves 81-74 Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sun Devils have some new faces that will be looking to make a big impact on the court this season. After Bobby Hurley’s top 25 recruiting class last year he has three very promising players in Romello White, Sam Cunliffe and Jethro Tshisumpa.

All three recruits were ESPN.com Top-100 prospects and they all bring something different to the table for the sun devils.

Sam Cunliffe, the 6’6 small forward from Rainier Beach, was the highest rated recruit at 41 and has the ability to score anywhere on the court. Cunliffe has a great shot from mid-range and behind-the-arc and he is extremely athletic. He also has the ability of getting to the rim and grabbing rebounds.

Cunliffe was named “The Seattle Times’ boys basketball player of the year” last season as he had a great season averaging 21.6 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.

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Hurley described Cunliffe to azcentral.com as, “the type of player that can really change the direction of your program.” The team seems very excited to see what Cunliffe can accomplish this year and what impact he will have on the team.

Tshisumpa is a 6’9″ post from Mountain Mission High School in Virginia is a rim protecting big man. According to Maxpreps he averaged 2.4 blocks a game in high school, and at the NBA Top 100 camp he averaged 2.6 blocks a game.

Tshisumpa may not be the greatest factor on offense as he averaged 6.9 points a game his senior year, but he was very efficient shooting at 52%. He needs to also improve on his free throws as he only shot a disappointing 46% last year.

White is destined to be the Sun Devils’ main big man in the post as they could rely on his great post moves, however, they will have to wait one more season as White has been redshirted after being ruled academically ineligible for the upcoming season. Next year they will look for him to fill a big hole in the offense.

For this year, it will be interesting to see how big of a role the highly recruited freshmen Cunliffe and Tshisumpa will have on the team and what kind of impact they will have. Maybe ASU could be home to the next Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

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