Jared Cohen
New Orleans Hornets guard Eric Gordon made a lot of headlines over the summer after he expressed interest in wanting to come to Phoenix to play for the Suns. Being a restricted free agent his contract offer from the Suns was matched by the Hornets so he did not end up in the Valley.
But there is another Gordon that is here in town that could become a house hold name by the end of basketball season. Evan Gordon, Eric Gordon’s younger brother, will make his first appearance in a Sun Devil uniform this season after sitting out a year when he transferred from Liberty.
“One thing Evan can do is score,” said ASU head coach Herb Sendek. “If he’ll take good shots, he’ll really give us a scoring dimension.”
“He’s a guy that can change the game and affect the offense,” added ASU freshman point guard Jahii Carson. “I think he is going to be a sleeper guy. People need to watch out for him.”
As a sophomore with Liberty, Gordon led the team in scoring with 14 points per game shooting 38 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range. Scoring at the guard position will be what ASU hopes Gordon will add to the team this season.
“I just take what the defense gives me,” explained Gordon. “Growing up I would drive first but as I’ve gotten older I’ve become shoot first and then drive.”
But shooting and scoring is not all that Gordon brings to the table. He is also a very skilled ball-handler and could be given point guard reps this season behind Jahii Carson. Having a player that can be versatile at the guard position is something this team lacked a season ago. Adding Jahii Carson as well as Evan Gordon to the roster, allow the Sun Devils to do things on the floor that they weren’t able to do a season ago.
“I have been playing the point guard and the two guard my whole life,” mentioned Gordon. “I think I can play both positions very well.”
Evan’s older brother Eric has been a great mentor to him as he has grown as a basketball player. Eric was a standout performer at Indiana University, a lottery draft pick and is now one of the top scoring guards in the league. Evan has had the opportunity to learn from Eric every step of the way.
“All the workouts and how tough it is,” said Gordon. “The difference between college and NBA and growing up from hight school to college. I got to see it first hand.”
While Gordon’s role with the team whether starting of coming off the bench is not yet defined, it is expected that he could play a big impact for the Sun Devils for the 2012-13 season.
