ASU to retire number of former All-American January
The Arizona State basketball program will retire the number 20 jersey of former All-American Briann January, who has gone and excelled in the WNBA. Festivities will take place on Nov. 12 at Desert Financial Arena when the Sun Devils take on Minnesota.
January will be just the third ASU women's basketball player to have her jersey number, 20, honored, joining Ryneldi Becenti (No. 21) and Kym Hampton (No. 32).
"I am incredibly thrilled that we finally get to honor Briann January's jersey in Desert Financial Arena," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said of January, who later joined Turner Thorne's staff for two seasons as an assistant coach. "Briann is one of the most decorated players to come out of this program, and she is beyond deserving of this honor. During her time as a Sun Devil, she helped elevate our program to elite prominence and helped make incredible runs in the NCAA tournament.
“Beyond basketball, Briann has done everything the 'Sun Devil Way.' She spent countless hours in the community, enjoyed spending time with our donor group and fan base, and was an incredible teammate & leader. There was no doubt in my mind that Briann would go on to have a great professional career —
both in the WNBA and overseas."
January earned honorable mention all-America honors from the AP in 2008 and 2009 and from the WBCA in 2009. She was a two-time Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and named first-team All-Pac-10 in 2009. As a senior in 2009, January, who was named to the Pac-12 Women's Basketball All-Century Team in 2016, was second in the nation in 3point FG pct. (.469) and 12th in assist-toturnover ratio (2.1).
During her time in Tempe, the Sun Devils won 77 percent of their games (104-32), including 72 percent of their Pac-10 games (59-13). They qualified for the NCAA Tournament all four years, including the program's first two Elite
Eight appearances (2007, '09).
—Michelle Gardner