Blue Devil to Sun Devil

He turned to a Chinese student and said hello.

In Chinese.

"I started to ask her a couple things," he said. "She said, 'Oh my God, you speak it so well.' "

You couldn't blame the student for being surprised. Boateng, a 6-foot-10-inch black Brit, is more than he appears.

"Eric is a beautiful person," ASU coach Herb Sendek said. "He's somebody you enjoy being around. He has a really good heart. He's caring. He's considerate. He's the ultimate gentleman."

After moving to America his sophomore year in high school to play basketball, he attended St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Del., where the movie "Dead Poets Society" was filmed. He took two years of Mandarin Chinese. He still remembers his teacher, Mrs. Chang, fondly.

A McDonald's All-American, Boateng first attended Duke University, where he took another year of the language.

"It's great — I love it," he said with a laugh. "Sometimes it shocks people."

Boateng stunned people himself last year when, after deciding to leave Duke, he chose to attend Arizona State. Sendek, who had pursued him as the coach at North Carolina State, had a good rapport with Boateng.

"When he decided to come to Arizona State, shortly after I did, he certainly served as a lightning rod, because it helped establish initial credibility," Sendek said. "When he decided to leave, he once again was potentially America's guest.

"He once again had the opportunity to go just about everywhere he wanted. When he chose the Sun Devils, he helped establish some early credibility in recruiting circles. I think it was the same among our fans."

After Boateng committed, the Sun Devils landed Los Angeles guard James Harden, one of the best recruits in the country. Jamelle McMillan, son of Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan, signed up, too.

Boateng isn't the sexiest of Pac-10 newcomers; he probably trails UCLA's Kevin Love, USC's O.J. Mayo and Arizona's Jerryd Bayless.

But none of those players means what Boateng means to his team. His commitment might have changed the perception of Arizona State.

And it all started with a random meeting on the street.

Boateng was 15 years old, probably about 6-4 or 6-5. He had finished playing a game of pick-up soccer with his friends at a park in London. He chatted on his cell phone and started walking home.

He bumped into a man who noticed Boateng's size; he asked if he played basketball. Boateng didn't, but had been the tallest player on his soccer team for years. He loved playing soccer and watching his favorite team, Arsenal.

The man told Boateng to call his friend, the coach of the local Brixton Topcats basketball club. The coach lived right down the street from Boateng, the man said.

"I got home, and I said, 'Mom, I met this weird guy who said I'd probably be good at basketball," Boateng said. "A couple weeks later, I was loafing around the house. Mom said, 'Why don't you try it out? You might be good at it.' "

He went to practice, and was welcomed with the task of sitting perpendicular to the wall to test his leg muscles. He did it for two minutes, and was welcomed to the team.

"I was used to people using their feet, and those people were using their hands," he said. "But something about the culture, the game, the team atmosphere, kept me coming back."

At the club, he befriended teammate Luol Deng, member of the Dinka tribe of the Sudan whose family had been granted political asylum in England. Deng moved to America to play basketball in high school, then attended Duke for a year before going pro. As a member of the Chicago Bulls, Deng averaged 18.8 points last year.

Boateng, 21, considers Deng a "great mentor."

Like Deng, Boateng moved to America — but to Delaware, where he lived at a boarding school. He lectured at the local middle school about European affairs.

"Academically, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I'm very grateful for the experience," he said. "What I miss more is family and friends. But it's really good when I can go home in the summers and spend time with my family and aunts and uncles and cousins. I really don't get to see them much during the course of the year."

At Duke, Boateng "wasn't particularly happy," saying he wanted to go somewhere "where I could develop." He chose Arizona State because he liked the coach and the school, where he majors in global studies. Boateng spent last year sitting the bench as a redshirt.

"People ask me if it was frustrating — no," he said. "I kinda used the time to work on my weaknesses, develop my strengths. It was a new school; it was kinda like being a freshman all over again.

"I was more focused on squeezing as much out of my potential as I could."

He and Harden lead a team that could be the dark horse of the West. The Sun Devils went 8-22 last year, but 14 of their final 15 Pac-10 games were decided by 10 points or fewer. Sendek had planned to run a Princeton-style offense and play man-to-man defense last year but scrapped it for a zone and more conservative offensive attack when it became clear his talent didn't match up.

"Last year we were in survival mode much of the season," he said.

This year should be different, as far removed as London is from Tempe.

"Whatever I can do to add to the team's success — be it rebounding, scoring, setting screens, running the floor hard, blocking a shot here or there — I will do," Boateng said. "I'm looking forward to the journey."

The big six

The top half-dozen newcomers in the Pac-10 this year:

1. Center Kevin Love, UCLA — The center with the great outlet pass and Beach Boys bloodline could be this year's Greg Oden — swoop in, set the league on fire and play in the NCAA title game.

2. Guard O.J. Mayo, USC — Coach Tim Floyd has said Mayo has "a lawyer's mind." One good year at USC and he'll have a millionaire's wallet.

3. Guard Jerryd Bayless, Arizona — Were it not for Chase Budinger, Bayless would be the UA's best player right this second.

4. Guard James Harden, Arizona State — He already owns McKale Center. In May 2006, Harden was the MVP of the first Cactus Classic AAU tournament.

5. Center Eric Boateng, Arizona State — London native says he misses fish and chips but admits it's good for his health. And no, he's not nuts about the Tempe In-N-Out.

6. Center C.J. Giles, Oregon State — The junior trasnfer from Kansas could carry a bad Beavers team.