Transfer Kearney quickly swayed by ASU visit

By Hod Rabino
DevilsDigest.com


After deciding to transfer out of Michigan State, Brandan Kearney planned to embark on a tour of a few schools before he settled on the program of his choice. As it turns out, the first stop on that circuit was the team he ultimately chose. Earlier this week, Kearney talked to Devils Digest about his decision to be part of the Arizona State program.

“I wanted to visit Arizona State because of the location and it has nice weather,” Kearney said of his visit early last week to Tempe. “When I got there it was even better than what I thought because it’s a great university. Basketball team is doing well now, so it was definitely an interesting visit. Their facility and atmosphere really surprised me.

“The relationship I have with the coaches is great, as well as the relationship with the players, and that was big in my decision. Even though it’s a business, they treated me like one of the guys. They really listened to what I had to say and were asking me questions.”

Because of ASU's academic calendar, Kearney knew that he was in a time crunch as far as choosing the Sun Devils or pursuing other opportunities. He visited Texas A&M late last week and was planning to visit Iowa State and possibly Xavier and Boston College.

“Even though I had to make a decision fast, I did feel confident about it,” he said. “I’ll be eligible to play in January (2014) and I’ll have a year and half left. But if I sit out the whole season (2013-14) I’ll have two years. I haven’t decided what I want to do, and the coaches pretty much left it up to me.”

Kearney said that his ability to play multiple positions on the floor was attractive to the Sun Devil staff.

“Coaches said I’m versatile and they can use me in a lot of different ways playing the 1, 2, or 3,” Kearney described. “They also like my defense and shooting. They said if I get stronger and put on weight I could post players up and come off ball screens. They really think I can help the team.”

As a sophomore at Michigan State, Kearney averaged 2.3 points and 16.9 minutes per contest in 13 games. Kearney prepped at Detroit Southeastern High School, where he averaged 18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in his senior season.

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