Peery to replace Musselman
After spending two seasons at Arizona State working under Herb Sendek, former NBA head coach Eric Mussleman has resigned and is pursuing other opportunities according to multiple sources directly familiar with the development.
In Musselman's place, the Sun Devils are set to hire Indian Hills Community College head coach Barret Peery, who coached that school to a 34-3 record and the NJCAA championship game as the Tournament's No. 1 seed last month, a source said.
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Indian Hills star guard Roosevelt Scott signed with the Sun Devils in November and is expected to be an impact addition in 2014-15. ASU is also pursuing former Rivals100 recruit Savon Goodman, a 6-foot-6 forward who is sitting out the year at the school after playing at UNLV as a freshman.
Indian Hills sent out a press release Monday that said Peery, 42, had resigned his post at the school to accept a job at an unnamed Division I school. His hire at Arizona State is expected to become official later this week.
Musselman was promoted to ASU's Associate Head Coach in May of 2013 following his first season in Tempe. He has extensive head coaching experience at the CBA and NABDL levels in addition to coaching the Gold State Warriors from 2002-04 and the Sacramento Kings in 2006-07.
It's unclear as yet whether Musselman will land at the college or pro level in his next stop.
Peery took over at Indian Hills in 2011 and went 93-11 in three years. Prior to that he spent three years as an assistant at the University of Utah, his sixth coaching stop as a college assistant following a playing career at College of Southern Utah.
Peery has a friendship with ASU assistant coach Stan Johnson, whom he coached during Johnson's three years at Southern Utah.
In addition to working at Utah and Southern Utah, Peery's coaching stops include five years at prominent two-year school College of Southern Idaho, including three as its head coach, and one-year stints at Snow College and Utah Valley State.
Signee won't play for Sun Devils
Arizona State has officially released fall junior college signee Octavius Ellis from his Letter of Intent due to academic considerations according to a source, allowing him to be recruited by other colleges.
Ellis, a 6-foot-9, 205 pound power forward at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, averaged 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds last season.