Sendek, Abbott honored by Pac-10 coaches

Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and junior guard Ty Abbott was selected to the first-team all-league squad in a vote of the 10 conference coaches, the Pac-10 announced Monday.

Sendek's honor is the first for the program since Ned Wulk was pegged Coach of the Year in 1979-80, just two years after the Sun Devils joined the Pac-10.

"I'm certainly flattered," Sendek said following practice Monday afternoon. "It's obviously a team award in many respects. Our coaching staff is so heavily relied on, and obviously our players play the game, so it's flattering but most certainly shared."

Sendek previous earned league Coach of the Year honors at N.C. State in 2004, and Miami of Ohio in 1995.

For winning the award this year, Sendek is due to receive a $22,000 bonus.

After being picked to finish seventh in the league by Pac-10 media members, the Sun Devils went 22-9 overall and 12-6 in league play in the regular season, resulting in a second place finish in the conference for the first time since 1981.

Abbott was one of four underclassmen to make the 10-man first-team squad. He averaged 12 points and 4.4 rebounds during the regular season, and emerged as ASU's top offensive perimeter threat in conference play.

"It's hard to say that you want to play and not be mentioned with the best guys in the conference," Abbott said. "It was definitely a goal for me coming into the year, espcially after a year like last year. I wanted to set goals and have high expectations for myself and it was good to be able to achieve it."

After averaging 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds last season, Abbott improved his 3-point shooting percentage from .285 to .416. He's also widely believed to be among the top defensive guards in the Pac-10.

Trent Lockett was one of five players named to the first-team Pac-10 All-Freshmen team after averaging 7.0 points and 3.6 rebounds during the regular season.

Senior Derek Glasser earned Pac-10 honorable mention honors after averaging 10.2 points, 4.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds. He became the first Sun Devil to score more than 1,000 points and have more than 500 assists in a career late in the season.

Cal's Jerome Randle won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors.

ASU will play No. 7 seed Stanford in the first-round of the Pac-10 Tournament Thursday at 9:30 p.m. (Arizona time) at Staples Center in Los Angeles.