Mickey Mitchell wasting no time in making an impact after his hiatus

TEMPE – Mickey Mitchell is easy to spot.

From the top to the bottom of his 6-foot-7 frame, the sophomore forward is distinguishable. His scruffy beard is unique on ASU’s most clean-shaven roster and he is the only Sun Devil to wear different colored shoes, running up and down the court in a maroon and gold pair of sneakers.

Likewise, Mitchell’s game stands out too.

Since making his debut at “Guard U” three games ago, the Ohio State transfer has added a versatile edge to coach Bobby Hurley’s lineup. He is physical, yet passes the ball with an elite preciseness. He can protect the rim and defend athletic guards at the arc. There isn’t a loose ball he isn’t attacking.

It’s a blue-collar style of play that he credits to his “natural instinct.”

“If I see it on the ground, I’m going to go get it,” he said. “If I see a shot I can block I’m going to go try and do it. It’s just how I play, it’s just my nature.”

After sitting out the season’s first 8 games due to NCAA transfer rules, Mitchell has taken little time to carve out a niche for himself on ASU’s 3rd-ranked team.

“I never really feel like I have pressure on me. I just feel like I have to go out and do my job, as long as I give my effort shots may fall, but all I know is I’m going to give my effort.”

On Tuesday night, Hurley waited less than two minutes to put Mitchell in the game. ASU needed a two-way big man who could pass the ball to break down Longwood’s stifling zone defense.

“Mickey, in the high post, was a better move,” Hurley said. “Just because he can pass well and he can drive to the hoop from that position.”

By the end of the first half alone, he had a breakaway dunk, a block, a steal, a drawn charge, and a handful of pinpoint no-look passes.

“[His passing] is mandatory really,” redshirt freshman forward Romello White said of Mitchell. “We got to get the ball in the middle and then when we get it to him, he is a willing passer that makes good passes. He really helps us.”

His brightest highlight of the night, however, came during the second half in the open court, when he set the 9,036-person crowd at Wells Fargo Arena into a frenzy with a breakaway reverse dunk to stretch ASU’s lead to 54-35.

It was a move he couldn’t come close to pulling off when he arrived in Tempe a year ago.

“When I got here, it was dark days for me,” he said. “I really had no athleticism, could barely run up and down the court, a couple times in practice, couldn’t dunk, I was getting hung.”

Mitchell had to cut weight, saying early this season he dropped more than 20 pounds in preparation for his return to the floor.

“I really had to transform my body and mentally just get myself in shape and physically I had to do it,” he said. “It was hard, but I had to push through it.”

For all of their talent, the Sun Devils roster is thin up front. Mitchell has played significant minutes in just two games but has added sorely-needed versatility to the No. 3 team in the country.

On Sunday against Vanderbilt, he had 13 rebounds (10 of which came in the first half), 8 points, two assists and two steals.

On Tuesday, he filled the stat sheet again with 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one assist in 27 minutes of action. He also started the second half against Longwood, helping ASU burst open the game with a 16-1 run.

“Mickey earned to start in the second half, bottom line,” Hurley said. “It was a close game and he played the best of anybody in the first half, not necessarily just scoring points but just how hard he was playing and competing.”

In the two games combined, Hurley has used Mitchell at various spots on the floor. Against the Commodores, Mitchell would be the designated big man in small ASU lineups. On Tuesday, he partnered with either Romello White or De’Quon Lake in the frontcourt, delivering penetrating passes to break down Longwood’s zone defense.

“He’s a great passer, great energy, great on the boards, hustle all the time,” White said of playing with Mitchell up front. “It’s amazing.”

On the defensive end, he can guard the perimeter, be part of a full court press, and rise up around the rim to swat shots. In virtually every spot on the floor, he operates with a reckless abandon for his body, adding a rough-and-tumble presence to ASU’s finesse lineup.

“I think that is some of the football player in me, just wanting to go do it, not worrying about the consequences,” he said. “Just playing hard really is my mentality.”

He’s taken that same approach to rebounding, where he has provided the Sun Devils with another option on the glass despite usually battling against taller players down low.

“I try to crash as much as I can to put us in a position to get either a kick-out or a putback or just an extra possession,” he said. “Every possession matters.”

Before his appearance against the Jayhawks, Mitchell hadn’t played since March 20, 2016. Three games into his ASU career, he has done more than shake the rust off his game. Instead, he’s become the latest reason for the Sun Devils remarkable emergence as one of the country’s best teams this year.

“As a team, we know what we can be and there’s a reason we’re ranked No. 3,” he said. “We just have to pick it up as a team and it starts in practice. We have to focus more and we have to take the approach more seriously now.”