Sendek made perfect move

It smacked of a funeral home comment when an N.C. State basketball fan said Herb Sendek "is in a better place now," a day after the Wolfpack coach quit to take Arizona State's job.

That was shortly after Sendek's final State team finished the 2005-06 season at 22-10 with a 75-54 second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament to Texas and Rick Barnes, the very coach thousands of Wolfpack fans wanted to hire. (They still do, for that matter.)

Sendek wasn't asked to leave by the school. He could have kept the job, a point N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler has reiterated any number of times during the seasons since.

It was time to move on, however. Sendek realized as much. And although he didn't say so directly, he probably knew he was going to a "better place" even more than those Wolfpack fans deeply anchored in his corner, of which there weren't enough by end of that 10th year in Raleigh.

Sendek wasn't fired. He just wasn't widely wanted. When you can't beat North Carolina or Duke and watch Skip Prosser win 94 games in his opening four seasons at Wake Forest, there's very little breathing room.

When Sendek and his Sun Devils face Duke tonight for a NIT Season Tip-Off game in New York, he can leave the outcome behind when he goes home, win or lose. It won't be another neighborhood loss that demands an explanation or a rare victory begging for duplication.

Sendek and his team eventually will return to a Pacific-10 Conference flock that has one team - No. 14 Washington - among this week's Associated Press top 25 teams. Of the 55 teams that received votes, only two others were from the Pac-10. California was 29th among the vote-getters, and Sendek's ASU team was among the six teams to land one voting point.

By comparison, four ACC teams were among the top 25, and four others received at least 24 voting points.

At 4-0 and with the makings of a near perfectly balanced offensive attack, the Sun Devils could emerge as the best team in the conference this season.

It's a lock that Sendek is building a program that will be a consistent Pac-10 challenger. The team's top scorer, 6-foot-6 swing player Rihards Kuksiks, is a junior, and versatile 6-4 guard Trent Lockett, averaging 11 points per game, is a freshman.

Recruit Keala King (6-5, Compton, Calif.) is rated among the top 10 national prospects and is projected to make as much program impact as 2009 NBA first-round pick James Harden.

Upon signing with the Sun Devils, King described Sendek as "exciting" and the most "inspiring" coach he met during the recruiting process.

"He's the kind of coach all players want to play for," King said.

Rarely did Sendek hear such praise from recruiting targets while at State. He upgraded the talent and coached it up to the extent that the Wolfpack was able to advance in the ACC standings, although rarely at the expense of Carolina and Duke.

In retrospect, Sendek probably saved his coaching career by leaving on a relatively high note and moving as far away from Tobacco Road's high heat as possible.

At 46, he's still a young man as basketball coaches go these days. In 16 years at Arizona State, NCSU and Miami of Ohio, he's won 312 games without having ever developed a league dynasty. Counting his 72-88 record in ACC games while at State, he's 134-134 all-time in conference games.

But in Tempe, Ariz., Sendek seemingly has found the right place at the right time. Sun Devils fans are delighted with his accomplishments and personality. The coach, in turn, has tapped a fresh energy resource and has developed a close rapport with the community. Some folks even refer to him as "Happy Herb."

Arizona State doesn't have a national championship trophy, much less the two State can claim, and its basketball heritage can't compare to the Wolfpack's. Maybe it's a case of being a big fish in a small pond, but it's working to Sendek's advantage.

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