Arizona Sun

Arizona State College Basketball Squad To Open Drills November 1st

TEMPE (Special) - Arizona State College Coach Bill Kajikawa, starting his eighth year as head basketball coach here, began mapping plans for the pending basketball season this week and announced that drills will start November for some 28 local hardwooders.

Kajikawa, who was named Border Conference "Coach of the Year" last season, faces one of the roughest schedules of his career this season. The Demons have 23 games carded to date, including two with Pacific Coast Conference schools. They are UCLA and the University of California.

Six lettermen, including three starters, will be back from the 1954-55 team which finished third in the Border Conference. And Coach Kajikawa thinks he might have the combination this season to break the jinx which has kept the Sun Devils from ever winning a BC loop title.

Lettermen who will be back include John Burton, a 6-0 junior; Dave Graybill, a 6-1 junior; Charles Holland, a 6-2 senior; Jerry John, a 6-4 junior; Bob Roth, a 6-2 senior; and Tom Futch, a 6-3 senior.

Burton, Graybill and Futch all were starters last season.

In addition, six sophomores who won freshman numerals will be back in uniform this season. They are Layton Ducote, Paul Highs, Bob McLendon, Tom Morrisroe, Ed Poorman and Garth Wilson. Jerry Stiteler, a letterman from former years, is back from the service and will play for ASC.

Ten freshmen will be added to the roster this season. They are Frank Growther, Holbrook, Arizona; Bob Daudet, Midway, Pa.; Dan Greener, Phoenix, Ariz.; Pete Homer, Phoenix, Ariz.; Warner Lee, Riley, Ind.; Norman Ostrin, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Henry Sprick, Hoboken, N.J.; Sherill Stephens, Coolidge, Ariz.; Wes Wilson, Tucson, Ariz.; and Lolly Vucichevich, Miami, Ariz.

The Sun Devil squad will open their 1955-56 season on December 2, when they host Arizona State College at Flagstaff. They will play all their home games in ASC's new $1 million gymnasium.

Kajikawa, in compliance with the current NCAA ruling, will start practice sessions on November 1, and plans to put 26 men through their paces. Two of his stars, Graybill and Futch, will start the season late, as both are playing varsity Sun Devil football this season.

Last year's basketball squad for the first time in 13 years defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats in both games played.

Basketball Schedule
Dec. 1 Open.
Dec. 2--Flagstaff at Tempe.
Dec. 3 San Diego at Tempe
Dec. 8-Whittier at Whittier
Dec. 9 Los Angeles State at Los Angeles State
Dec. 10--Pepperdine at Los Angeles
Dec. 13--Hamline at Tempe