If there is a theme that sums up the short couple of weeks that have passed since the Devils loss to Jacksonville, it might be one of abandoning ship. It has been a tumultuous offseason so far with 3 players defecting from the Devils and finding a new gym to call home. Brandon Thompson, Demetrius Walker, and Taylor Rohde have all decided to hang up their Sun Devil jerseys and move on from Herb Sendek's system.
It is understandable, to me, that Thompson left, as he rarely saw the court and with the influx of talent entering the system this year would likely have been buried on the depth chart a la Christian Polk, Kraidon Woods, and other players who've left the Devils. Rohde seemed somewhat lost on the court and I don't think he truly is the answer down low. With Pateev and Bachynski, the Devils aren't much worse off with the loss of Mr. Rohde.
Walker...hmmm. Could this be one of those situations where in 2 years we wonder what could've been of the Devils had Walker stayed? I'm not sure. He showed flashes of his athleticism, but showed the weakness of his jump shot. It would've been nice to see what would've come of Walker, as his time of the court most likely would've been increased next year. We lost some talent, but hopefully can make it up with this years incoming recruiting class.
Speaking of the recruiting class, it isn't complete. Herb is working hard to pull-in another player or two. He is chasing after the #7 SG in the nation Trey Zeigler. Zeigler will visit Tempe this week along with JUCO PF Dwight McCombs. McCombs is deciding between Arkansas, Auburn, Minnesota, Murray State, and of course, ASU. McCombs originally went to Miami of Ohio, before transferring to play at the junior college level. Either Zeigler and/or McCombs would make a very good incoming class a great incoming class.