Devan Cambridge serving as the X-factor for Arizona State men's basketball team
A lot of players are given a nickname by a teammate. In other cases, it is a coach. For Arizona State men's basketball standout Devan Cambridge, his nickname of "Bounceman" came courtesy of a fan.
It was early in his college career which started in 2019 at Auburn and the fan very much appreciated Cambridge's athletic ability.
The 6-foot-6 guard who hails from Nashville, Tennessee liked the moniker so much that it has stuck. It is even part of the players' Instagram which also includes his uniform number "Bounceman35."
"She said I'm going to call you Bounceman and she changed her Instagram to Bouncewoman," Devan said after the Sun Devils wrapped up practice Thursday afternoon at Weatherup Center. "It kind of grew from there."
The regular season is winding to a close, with the Sun Devils having three difficult road games left before taking part in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. The first of those comes at noon on Saturday when ASU (19-9, 10-7) treks south for a noon showdown against rival Arizona (24-4, 13-4) at the McKale Center in a contest to air on CBS.
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Devan transferred from SEC contender Auburn to play alongside brother Desmond Jr. who came to Tempe from Nevada and their games together are now down to a precious few. This is the first time they've had the chance to play together and both have been significant contributors.
Devan is the team's fourth-leading scorer at 10.2 points per game, four points fewer than Desmond who is at a team-leading 14.1. Devan is also second to senior Warren Washington in rebounds at 5.5 per game. Those numbers may be modest but what Cambridge adds doesn't necessarily show up on a score sheet.
He makes what head coach Bobby Hurley likes to call the "hustle plays." He will take a charge and draw the foul on a defender, deflect a pass and create a turnover, make a diving attempt to keep a ball in play and snag a big rebound. His energy is contagious. He is also viewed as a leader in the locker room.
The Sun Devils are going to need a good performance from Devan, and the others if they are to upset the No. 7 Wildcats on their home floor, one of the toughest venues for opposing teams.
"He (Devan) has got that experience and he wants it badly. He's a super athlete. He's got a good IQ for the game and so he's a guy that's been a great leader, has performed well in big games," Hurley said. "He's going to have his hands full, as will all our guys in guarding Arizona in the paint and rebounding and doing the things we need to do to have success."
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Cambridge says he's always had to play with that motor because he was never "the best" at anything — the best shooter, the best ball handler, the best defender. So to get playing time he had to contribute in other ways.
"Me not being the most skilled person as a lot of the players around me, I had to do all the things other people don't. It was my way to get on the court and that was like my freshman year. I couldn't guard a ball screen to save my life. So I had to learn to do different things. When you have a bunch of talented players around you, it's a way you can stand out," he said. "I try to push my teammates to do all those things too. I know that if I am going to push them then I better be a good example."
How important is Bounceman? Well, the Sun Devils are 13-0 when he scores in double figures. The most recent of those was the team's last outing, a 67-59 win over Utah. He had 14 in that contest which included a 3-pointer from the corner with 45 seconds to play to boost the ASU lead to 63-59.
Devan laughs about that statistic and says his brother actually makes more of it than he does.
"It's kind of gotten to be a joke," he laughed. "He (Desmond) thinks about it more than I do. The Utah game when I got up to 10, he's like, 'I guess we're going to win.' "
Devan's season-high of 18 points has come twice, one against Washington in a 73-65 victory that featured his six dunks. That performance also included four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
The brothers can give each other a hard time, and it's usually all in fun.
"I was just watching him and enjoying the show because I had a front row seat on the court so that was cool," Desmond said days after that effort by his brother. "I'm real tough on him. Everyone else is gonna make him feel good so it's my job to make him feel bad so that's what I do. But I was real proud of him. He showed why he's the Bounce Man."
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While that game was noteworthy, Devan's favorite moment actually came in the 60-59 victory at Colorado in which his brother hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"It was one of our best possessions. I still remember exactly what happened. I got the rebound, got it to Jamiya (Neal), back to me, swung it to D.J. (Horne) and he drove baseline, threw to Des and he made the shot."
Devan also singled out the game against UCLA at Desert Financial Arena in which ASU lost 74-62, but one in which he held UCLA's Jaime Jaquez, one of the top players in the Pac-12, to 4-for-12 shooting from the field.
The brothers walked in Senior Day festivities prior to that game against Utah with the two joined by their father Desmond Sr., a former standout at Alabama A&M, and two other brothers. Devan has a year of eligibility remaining and has not ruled out returning. He said there are a lot of factors that will go into that decision. Among those is whether or not Hurley returns as coach, with speculation circulating about his future leading the program.
He'd like to pursue professional basketball at some point but that's further down the road.
"I'd love to play for him (Hurley) again," said Devan, who is nearing completion of his degree in communications. "I'm not ruling anything out. Right now I'm just focusing on the games we have ahead of us. They're all going to be tough but I think we're up to the challenge."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Devan Cambridge serving as X-factor for Arizona State men's basketball
