He took North Carolina State to five consecutive tournament
appearances.
He was coach of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference,
arguably the nation’s toughest basketball conference, in
2004.
He led the Wolfpack to more wins in the last five years than any
ACC team other than Duke.
And in 2006, he decided to come to Arizona State, one of the
Pac-10’s perennial bottom-dwellers?
“I love challenges,” said Herb Sendek, the former NC
State Wolfpack coach looking to have an impact in the Pac-10.
“The Pac-10 is clearly one of the top conferences in the
nation, and I think we (Arizona State) can build on
that.”
When the Bruins take on the Sun Devils tonight in Pauley
Pavilion, the teams will feature two coaches, Ben Howland and
Sendek, who built their coaching resumes in power basketball
conferences on the East Coast, but came to the West to bring their
expertise to the Pac-10.
For Howland, Arizona State’s hiring of Sendek is nothing
short of great for the conference.
“I think it’s a great hire,” Howland said.
“Hiring someone who had just gone to the tournament five
years in a row, it’s only going to make our conference
better.”
In 10 seasons, Sendek had a 191-132 record as the NC State
coach, but in recent years, fans were unhappy about his subpar
record against the Wolfpack’s in-state rivals North Carolina,
Wake Forest and Duke.
In his career in the ACC, Sendek only had a 17-54 record against
the teams down Tobacco Road.
“He had a very tough job, having to compete with Duke and
North Carolina,” Howland said. “North Carolina State
has had a great history down there, but he did a great
job.”
While the Sun Devils have struggled with a 6-10 (0-6 Pac-10)
start, Sendek’s presence has already been felt on the
recruiting trail with the commitment of high-profile recruits James
Harden and Jamelle McMillan, both of whom are nationally ranked in
the top 20 at their positions.
Add to the mix 6-foot-10-inch Duke transfer Eric Boateng, a
former McDonald’s All-American, and the Sun Devils will
undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with in the very near
future.
“I think Arizona State is a great job with great
facilities,” Howland said. “It is in a great location
and they are close to a lot of good players.
“He is going to do very well there.”
At NC State, Sendek’s Wolfpack were always compared to the
two standards of college basketball, North Carolina and Duke.
As he has now moved 2,000 miles away to the west, Sendek feels
the Pac-10 can be a similar type of measuring stick.
“You look at Arizona and UCLA, and the tradition both
schools have had,” Sendek said. “I feel like all the
major conferences are pretty comparable these days, and our
conference is definitely up there with everyone else.”
Tonight, Sendek will certainly get a look at one of the premier
teams in the Pac-10 as his Sun Devils take on the No. 3 Bruins in
sold-out Pauley Pavilion.