With the 2020 NBA draft taking place this week we will spend the days ahead taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From the 1st player in NBA history to score 2000 PTS in a season (70th anniversary) through the 2000 Pac-10 POY (20th anniversary), these stars have all seen their dreams come true in past drafts. We conclude our series with Eddie House. He scored 61 PTS in a game as a senior in Tempe, was named conference POY in 2000, and won an NBA title with Boston in 2008. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with ASU play-by-play man Tim Healey about the 20th anniversary of House getting drafted.
House was born in Berkeley and originally wanted to go to college at Cal: what made him choose ASU? Bill Frieder was the coach at the time and was a terrific recruiter. We always listed “Union City” as his hometown on the roster and he later scored 61 PTS in his hometown. He played for 3 different coaches in 4 years: Frieder, Don Newman (who took the team to the NIT and knocked off Stanford on the road), and Rob Evans (who was head coach at Old Miss).
As a senior he set a school record by scoring 61 PTS/18-19 FT in a 111–108 2-OT win over Cal (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpqUzkRe8as): was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? He was: the fact that proves it is that he only made 1 layup (everything else was a jumper or 3-PT shot). ASU needed every single 1 of those PTS because it was a double-OT game. Both of those teams started a lot of freshmen: Eddie was 1 of the few “grizzled veterans”. It was a remarkable performance: his signature shot was a fadeaway 3 at the end of the 1st OT.
He graduated as the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player he was, and do you think that anyone will ever break his record? The memory I have of his senior year is that he was just having 1 of those years where he could go off for 40 PTS any single night (which he did on 4 separate occasions). He even had 40 PTS against my alma mater (Penn State) in their holiday tournament. He also had 40 when they beat UCLA for the 1st time in more than a decade. He could really create his own shot and had a quick release.
He also holds the school record for career STL: how did he balance his offense with his defense? He had quick hands/feet and was a real pest on defense. He was a really good all-around player.
In 2000 he was named conference POY: what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? I am sure it was a huge honor both for him and the school. ASU has struggled to maintain consistent competitive balance over the years. They had some glory days in the 1960s/1970s with Ned Wulk (basketball)/Frank Kush (football) before they joined the Pac-8 along with Arizona. When Bobby Hurley 1st took his team to the NCAA tourney it was just the 6th time since Wulk was fired, and he is doing a great job on the recruiting trail. It has been an uphill struggle but for a program that was an afterthought to have a player become the league’s leading scorer was quite a feather in the cap. He brought exposure to the program and catapulted himself to the top of the heap. His record might never be broken because if a player is prolific enough at scoring as Eddie was then he will likely not stay in college for 4 years.
In the 2000 NBA draft he was selected 37th overall by Miami (6 spots ahead of Michael Redd): did you see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of his lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? I am sure that it meant everything to him: what kid would not be thrilled? It also meant a lot to ASU: they had several players make the NBA in the 1970s/early 1980s but then had a lull for a long time. When you go 10 years without making an NCAA tourney it probably means you do not have enough good players. Just to get drafted and forge a nice career for a long time was very gratifying/rewarding, both for him and the fans.
In Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals as a player for Boston he overcame a 24-PT deficit on the road to win by 6 PTS: what did it mean to him to win a title? All of the Sun Devils were proud of him. ASU baseball fans take a lot of pride in all of their great players like Dustin Pedroia/Jason Kipnis/Andre Ethier, and ASU football fans love Terrell Suggs, who will probably end up in the Hall of Fame. It comes in the context of a school that has simply not had a lot of NBA players during the past 30 years.
In 2009 he broke Danny Ainge’s Celtics team record for best 3P% in a season with 44.4%: what was his secret to making shots from behind the arc? He just had the God-given gift to fill it up from outside: he had great range. He had deadly accuracy both in college and the pros.
He married Mike Bibby’s sister (before later becoming his teammate), his cousin Danuel House is in the NBA, and his son Jaelen played 30 games for the Sun Devils last year as a freshman: who is the best athlete in the family? I know that Eddie would definitely say it is him! He was a good talker on the floor and will be the 1st to admit it, but he could also back it up.
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As 1 of the greatest players this school has ever produced: the numbers show it. This program has a proud history/tradition but nobody ever scored more PTS than Eddie. He improved each year and his senior year was as good as I have ever seen. When fans think about the greatest I think there are others in the conversation, but House is certainly at the top.