Arizona State's James Harden was selected by Oklahoma City with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft Thursday. Jeff Pendergraph was the first pick of the second round. [details]
HEADER JAMES HARDEN Shooting Guard Arizona State University Sun Devils #13 6:05.0-218 Los Angeles, California Lakewood Artesia High School
OVERVIEW Harden entered Arizona State, the first McDonald's All-American to sign with ASU out of high school since 1984, came to the school as one of the most coveted recruits ever. After two seasons, he left as one of ASU's most decorated players.
Harden became the first Sun Devil to earn consensus first-team All-American honors in 2008-2009 and was just the third player in school annals to earn Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year honors, joining Eddie House (1999-2000) and Ike Diogu (2004-2005).
Harden also earned first-team All-American accolades from the Associated Press, The Sporting News, United States Basketball Writers Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Basketball Times among many others. He posted at least 20 points in 34 of 69 career contests, and ASU was 27-7 in those games (14-4 in 2008-2009).
Prior to Harden's arrival, ASU compiled an 8-22 record and had lost 15 consecutive games the previous season. He led the Sun Devils to back-to-back 20-win seasons (21-13 in 2007-08 and 25-10 in 2008-09) for the first time since Jimmy Carter gave up his seat to Ronald Reagan (officially on Jan. 20, 1981), as ASU was 24-4 in 1980-81 and 22-7 in 1979-80.
Harden led the Sun Devils to a 5-0 mark against Arizona in his two seasons, the first time ASU had won five straight against the Wildcats since a nine-game streak from 1979-83. He shot 13-of-23 from the floor (.565) and averaged 19.5 points in two wins over UCLA, ASU's third sweep of UCLA in the Sun Devil's 31-year Pac-10 history. He also led Arizona State to an 11-7 Pac-10 home mark in his two years. In their previous four years, the Sun Devils went 9-27 in conference home games.
Harden became just the fifth player in Pac-10 Conference history to lead the league in scoring (20.1 points per game) and steals (1.69 per game) when he accomplished the feat in 2008-2009, and he also led the league in steals in each of his two seasons with 132 in his career. In 69 career games, he led ASU in scoring 46 times, in rebounding 21 times and in assists in 29 times.
Harden was a standout guard at Lakewood Artesia High School, where he was ranked as high as the 11th-best player in the nation (Rivals.com). Artesia is the same school that produced Ed and Charles O'Bannon and Jason Kapono. He came a long way from the youngster who showed up at Artesia overweight and slowed by asthma that has since subsided.
"A 6-1 fat kid who could stand in the deep corner and shoot floater 3s," said Derek Glasser, the former Artesia point guard who, like Harden, followed onetime Artesia coach Scott Pera to Arizona State after Pera was hired as coach Herb Sendek's director of operations. Pera since has been promoted to assistant coach.
"He couldn't put the ball on the floor. Could barely touch the backboard," Glasser said. "It's hard to be a slasher when you're not athletic, so he couldn't really slash yet. But he grew and he lost his baby fat. Say good night, that was it."
Harden led his team to a 33-2 record in his senior year and a second-straight state title by averaging 18.8 points, 7.9 boards and 3.9 assists en route to a trophy-case full of Player of the Year honors. He averaged 18.8 points, 7.7 boards and 3.5 assists in his junior year as the state title team went 33-1 and shot nearly 60 percent from the floor. As a sophomore, he averaged 13.2 points, as that team went 28-5.
He exploded on the 2006 summer scene, which led to the label of best prep player in California prior to his prep senior season. Combine his AAU team (Pump-N-Run) and Artesia records in the past few years and you have more than 100 wins and less than five losses. Harden won MVP honors at the Adidas 64 Tournament in Las Vegas that summer, playing for ASU assistant coach Scott Pera in high school and for former UCLA coach Jim Harrick on the AAU circuit.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Harden always looked up to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. And after Harden won two state titles at Artesia, he could have been a hometown hero in a Bruin or Trojan uniform. But, when his mother moved to Phoenix, living closer to his biggest supporter (coach Scott Pera) while creating his own legacy became more appealing.
"People were shocked," said Harden, the first McDonald's All-American to sign with Arizona State out of high school since 1984. "They were like, 'Why are you going to go there?' I still get questions, people asking me why I decided to go here."
Harden enrolled at Arizona State in 2006, becoming the fifth Sun Devil McDonald's All-American in school history, but the first to sign with ASU out of high school since Chris Sandle in 1984. Prior to his freshman campaign, he was overshadowed by other noted Pac-10 first-year players like Kevin Love (UCLA), O.J. Mayo (USC) and Jerryd Bayless (Arizona), but by the end of his first campaign, it was a consensus by pro scouts that he was the elite performer in the conference.
The most famous Sun Devil southpaw since Phil Mickelson and the youngest player in the Pac-10 in 2007-08, the tattoo-less Harden was all that was advertised and more in his freshman season. Even though he only turned 18 in late August, he earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors and the other four honorees are collecting NBA first-round paychecks. Not only was he a great freshman, but he had to be a great freshman leader, as his Sun Devil classmates made a league-leading and school record 96 starts and played more than 47 percent of the minutes, yet the team still posted a 13-win turnaround from their previous year, tied for best in the nation.
Harden had an ASU freshman record 16 20-point games (tied for third-best in the Pac-10, and included five straight from Dec. 29-Jan. 17, a first for an ASU freshman). His 17.8 points per game is eighth-best in conference freshman history (fifth in the league overall that season) and he led the conference with 73 steals. He averaged 18.2 points (tied for fifth) and 5.1 boards in Pac-10 games.
Harden was second on the team with 110 assists, including a 3.5 per game mark in the league. He was the first freshmen in league history with 70 steals and a 17.0-point per game average. He set the Pac-10 tournament record with seven steals against USC (March 13), the most steals by a Sun Devil since 2008 NBA World Champion Eddie House had seven vs. Kansas State on Nov. 24, 1998, in the Maui Invitational. His 73 steals also tied for fourth-best in school history and was just three shy of the ASU record of 76 set by Fat Lever in 1981-82.
In 2008-09, Harden earned first-team All-American honors from the Associated Press, the first Sun Devil to earn the accolade. Also on the first team were Blake Griffin (Oklahoma), DeJuan Blair (Pitt), Stephen Curry (Davidson) and Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina). The Pac-10 Player of the Year also earned first-team All-American by The Sporting News, the USBWA, CBSSports.com and FOXSports.com, as he finished the year averaging a Pac-10 best 20.1 points per game to go along with 5.6 boards and 4.2 assists. He led ASU to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons. Its 25 wins are second-best in school history and the most since the 1974-75 team went 25-4.
ASU stayed in the Associated Press rankings all season for the first time in school history. ASU peaked at No. 14 and fell to No. 24, but never fell out, closing out the year ranking 19th for the 2008-2009 season. He also led the league in 20-point games (18) and steals per game (1.69) and was eighth in the league at 4.2 assists per game.
Harden became just the third sophomore in Pac-10 history to earn league Player of the Year honors, joining Jason Kidd (1993-94) and Mike Bibby (1997-98). He exploded for 40 points against UTEP in the Anaheim Classic on Nov. 30, 2008, tied for the fifth-best scoring night in ASU history, on 14-of-25 shooting. He was 16-of-21 from the free throw line in win over Brigham Young on Dec. 20, 2008 and posted 36 points at Oregon on Feb. 5, 2009, the most by a Pac-10 player all season.
2008-09 SEASON Became the first player in school history to earn Associated Press All-American first-team honors (Ike Diogu was a second-team pick in 2005; Lionel Hollins gained third-team status in 1975)...Also received All-American first-team honors from The NBA Draft Report, The Sporting News, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, Basketball Times, NABC and Dick Vitale...All-Pac 10 Conference first-team choice and became just the third sophomore selected Pac-10 Player of the Year, joining Jason Kidd of California (1993-94) and Mike Bibby of Arizona (1997-98)...Led the league in scoring average (20.1), 20-point games (18) and steals per game (1.69) and was eighth in the Pac-10 at 4.2 assists per game...Started all 35 games, leading the team to a 25-10 record, the second-highest victory total by an ASU squad in school history...Scored 704 points on 221-of-452 field goals (48.9%) that included 58-of-163 from 3-point range (35.6%)...Also made 204-of-270 free throws (75.6%), as he had 195 rebounds (5.6 rebounds per game), handed out 148 assists (4.2 assists per game) and registered 59 steals (1.7 steals per game) to go with 11 blocked shots...Charged with 99 fouls and 118 turnovers.
2007-08 SEASON Earned Freshman All-American first-team honors from The NBA Draft Report, Scout.com and collegeinsider.com, adding second-team accolades from CollegeHoops.net and Rivals.com...All-Pac 10 Conference first-team pick...Started 33-of-34 games at shooting guard, coming off the bench vs. Washington after suffering a groin pull the previous contest vs. Stanford...Helped the Sun Devils improve their victory total by thirteen over the previous season...Became the first freshman in league history to register over 70 steals (73) and average more than 17.0 points per game (17.8 points per game) in a season, as his scoring average rank eighth in league annals among freshman...Set a school season-record for freshman by scoring at least 20 points in 16 games...His 73 steals were the most by an ASU freshman and were just three shy of the ASU record of 76 set by Fat Lever in 1981-82...Became just the fifth freshman to lead the Pac-10 in steals. The others are Jason Kidd of Cal (3.8 steals per game/1993), Baron Davis of UCLA (2.4 spg/1998) and USC's Errick Craven (2.1 spg/2002) and Gabe Pruitt (1.9 spg/2005)...Also had 19 blocks, seventh on the ASU freshmen list....Scored a total of 605 points on 196-of-372 field goals (52.7%), making 44-of-108 three-point attempts (40.7%) while connecting on 169-of-224 free throw chances (75.4%)...Averaged 5.3 rebounds (179) per game, as he handed out 110 assists, turning the ball over 89 times while recording 72 fouls...Averaged 34.1 minutes per game...In ASU's four overtime games (all wins; three of them in Pac-10 games), Harden averaged 24.8 points per game and 5.5 rebounds and had 10 steals.
CAREER NOTES Arizona State has had three McDonald's All-Americans in its history prior to Eric Boateng and James Harden joining the program in 2007-08 -- Byron Scott (1979), Chris Sandle (1984) and Jamal Faulkner (1989). Boateng earned the honor in 2005 and then transferred to ASU after attending Duke in 2005-06 while Harden earned the honor in 2007. Jamal Faulkner attended prep school prior to attending Arizona State (1990-1992) and transferred to Alabama. Chris Sandle transferred to UTEP after playing at ASU for two seasons (1984-1986)...In 2008-09, Harden became just the 16th player in Pac-10 history to earn consensus All-American recognition, joining 1978-79, David Greenwood of UCLA (1978-79), Steve Johnson of Oregon State (1980-81), Sean Elliott of Arizona (1987-88, 88-89), Gary Payton of Oregon State (1989-90), Harold Miner of USC (1991-92), Jason Kidd of California (1992-93), Damon Stoudamire of Arizona (1994-95), Ed O'Bannon of UCLA (1994-95), Mike Bibby and Miles Simon of Arizona (1997-98), Jason Terry of Arizona (1998-99). Casey Jacobsen of Stanford (2000-01), Sam Clancy of USC (2001-02), Jason Gardner of Arizona (2002-03), Josh Childress of Stanford (2003-04), Brandon Roy of Washington (2005-06), Arron Afflalo of UCLA (2006-07) and Kevin Love of UCLA (2007-08)...Started 68-of-69 games he played in, scoring 1,309 points (19.0 points per game) on 417-of-824 field goals (50.6%) 102-of-271 3-pointers (37.6%) and 373-of-494 free throws (75.5%)...Pulled down 374 rebounds (5.4 rebounds per game), as he registered 132 steals and handed out 258 assists, as he also blocked 30 shots...His 132 steals rank tenth on the school career-record list and his 373 free throws made rank second in ASU annals to Ike Diogu (671, 2002-05)...His scoring average of 19.0 points per game placed him third in Sun Devil history behind Ike Diogu (21.4 points per game) and Seabern Hill (19.2 ppg, 1967-70)...Harden's 704 points scored in 2008-09 rank fourth on the school season-record list, topped by Eddie House (736 in 1999-2000), Ike Diogu (724 in 2004-05) and Byron Scott (713 in 1982-83)...His 169 free throws made in 2007-08 rank sixth on the ASU annual record chart and his 204 in 2008-09 rank third, surpassed by Ike Diogu's 248 in 2004-05 and 243 in 2003-04...Attempted 21 free throws vs. Brigham Young (Dec. 20, 2008), the fourth-highest game total in school annals behind Ike Diogu (23 vs. Western Michigan, Dec., 30, 2003 and 22 vs. Oregon State, Jan. 24, 2004) and Mario Bennett (23 vs. Washington State, Feb. 5, 1995)...Became the fourth player in ASU history to score 40 points in a game, accomplishing that feat vs. Texas-El Paso (Nov. 30, 2008), joining Eddie House (61 at California, Jan. 8, 2000), Eddie House (46 vs. San Diego State, Dec. 18, 1999; 42 vs. Penn State, Dec. 29, 1999; 40 vs. vs. UCLA, Feb. 17, 2000) and Paul Williams (45 at USC, Mar. 10, 1983)...Scored at least 30 points in a game five times during the 2008-09 campaign, topped only by Eddie House (8 in 1999-2000) and Ike Diogu (6 in 2004-05) on the school season-record chart...His average of 17.8 points per game in 2007-08 rank second in ASU annals among freshman, surpassed by only Ike Diogu (2002-03, 19.0 ppg)...That average also placed eighth on the Pac-10 Conference season-record list for freshmen...Averaged 35.9 minutes of playing time as a freshman, a school season-record for first-year players...His 73 steals in 2007-08 rank fifth in Pac-10 annals by a freshman in a season, topped by Jason Kidd of California (110 in 1992-93), Baron Davis of UCLA (77 in 1997-98), Brevin Knight of Stanford (77 in 1993-94) and Mike Bibby of Arizona (76 in 1996-97).
HIGH SCHOOL Attended Lakewood (Cal) Artesia High School, where he was a teammate of Arizona State's Derek Glasser and coached by present ASU head coach, Scott Pera...Ranked as high as the 11th-best player in the nation (Rivals.com)...Led his team to a 33-2 record in his senior year and a second-straight state title by averaging 18.8 points, 7.9 boards and 3.9 assists en route to a trophy-case full of Player of the Year honors...Averaged 18.8 points, 7.7 boards and 3.5 assists in his junior year as the state title team went 33-1 and shot nearly 60 percent from the floor...As a sophomore, he averaged 13.2 points, as that team went 28-5.
INJURY REPORT 2008: Suffered a groin pull vs. Stanford (1/20) and was limited to reserve duty the following game vs. Washington (1/24).
OTHER TOURNAMENTS/TEAMS SUMMER: He exploded on the 2006 summer scene, which led to the label of best prep player in California prior to his senior season. Combining his AAU team (Pump-N-Run) and Artesia records in the past few years, the team posted more than 100 wins and less than five losses. Harden won MVP honors at the Adidas 64 Tournament in Las Vegas that summer, playing for ASU assistant coach Scott Pera in high school and for former UCLA coach Jim Harrick on the AAU circuit.
PERSONAL Communications major...Son of Monja Willis...Born 8/26/1989...Resides in Los Angeles, California.
SCOUTING REPORT Positives: Silky-smooth southpaw shooter with a sophisticated game and great ability to be creative off the dribble...Impressive free throw shooter who needs to work on his mid-range jumper but has NBA 3-point range...Has a high basketball IQ and super work ethic, showing the court vision as a passer to create opportunities for his teammates...Shows above-average balance and body control moving up and down the court, but must improve his lateral quickness...Very assertive defender in the passing lanes, ranking as one of the all-time best in steals in Pac-10 history...Shows good shot selection and works well in transition; has the ability to score at will...Still a work in progress as a ball handler, but can bring the ball up the court when playing the point...Crafty shooter with a quick, polished and high release...Does a very good job of drawing contact, having success when he gets to the charity stripe...Aggressive slasher with the ability to shift gears and get the defender to commit reacting to head fakes and hesitation moves...Assertive driving to the basket and has the strength to finish around the basket -- got to the rim more than any other player in the Pac-10 Conference last season...Well-coordinated athlete with the strong frame, wing span and elevation to crash the boards and come up with the tough rebound...Quick to shoot after catching the ball (made 47 percent of his shots in possession, ranking second nationally in isolated situations when going to his left, where he made 44% of his field goals compared to 39% from the right side)...Can be predictable and prefers going to his left, but his angles and balance make him tough to defend...Has a very quick release with above-average rotation with a high arc to get his shot off, even with taller forwards checking him on the perimeter...Compensates for a lack of explosive quickness by moving his feet properly to get into the right position to clog passing lanes...Has a developing frame with good muscle mass and impressive strength for the two-guard position and even bigger forwards find it difficult to box him out or prevent his drive to the lane...Explosive scorer with his left hand...Has the long arms and timing to disrupt the shooter in the passing lanes, staying under control and timing his moves rather than commit too early for the big steal...Not really a flashy passer, plays in control and moves well going forward to execute a quick crossover...Has stop-and-pop agility and the quick hesitation moves to easily redirect when he gets into the lane...Displays superb body control and good strength to finish after drawing contact working through a crowd...Versatile player who can shoot, pass or handle the ball, depending on team need...Team-first athlete who takes great pride in his ability to create for others...Savvy for a 19-year-old, doesn't force his shot and is patient enough to take what the defense gives him...Has become a very efficient passer (especially on the outlet) working in the post and has the step-back skills and vision to push the ball out to the available perimeter shooter...Very good drawing contact, especially against double teams...Gets the defense off-balance often with his hesitation moves and while he lacks that explosive initial step, his balance and body control are highlighted in his change-of-pace dribble...Takes pride in his defensive prowess and is a solid rebounder for a guard...Under the basket, he has a fluid finger roll and a quick floating jumper.
Negatives: Has the ability to fire off 3-pointers from the perimeter, but needs to get better elevation when attempting mid-range shots...Can become predicable with his shot selection, as he more often than not will shoot from his left side and needs to improve his right-hand skills...Lacks the ideal size of a shooting guard and the ideal lateral quickness or ball-handling ability to garner more than a few minutes as a point guard...Excels in catch-and-shoot chances, but has marginal ability to shoot off the dribble and coming off screens...Can spot up, but has too many problems when trying to transition off the dribble and looks a bit awkward when fading back on his pull-up...Does not have the explosive initial step to get past the quick NBA-type guards...Shows good timing, but is more of a flat-footed shooter with just adequate leaping ability (he still manages to make a good percentage of his shots from beyond the arc).
Compares To: MANU GINOBILI, San Antonio -- Like Ginoboli, Harden might not be the most explosive player on the court and lacks great leaping ability, but he is a crafty, sophisticated shooter with the defensive instincts to come up with the big steal. He shows good vision and an all-around polish to his offensive game, but his 3-point range is better than his mid-range ability. He is slippery driving to the rim from his left side, but could show more confidence shooting with his right hand. It is a weak draft for two-guard types, but his basketball IQ and ability to create his own shot and those for others should see him be the first player at his position drafted in the 2009 NBA Draft.
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