Sun Devils like this return policy

James Harden's awareness has grown considerably in the past year. The Arizona State guard knows when to sleep, knows when to eat, knows how to pay bills.

The basketball hasn't been so bad either.

Those were the things that kept Harden in school after a 2007-08 season rivaling that of any freshman in the country, a considerable achievement considering the crème de crème of first-year players competing in the Pacific 10 Conference a year ago.

But while Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, UCLA's Kevin Love and USC's O.J. Mayo were merely in holding patterns until they waited to become draft eligible -- all were first-round picks -- Harden returned for his sophomore season.

In doing so, he became the stay-in-school poster child for every NCAA Division I coach.

"I just wasn't ready to take the next jump," said Harden, who played at Lakewood Artesia High. "I knew I had more to work on. I wasn't ready to play in the NBA. I wasn't ready to handle the traveling and being out on my own."

Beside, he said, "the NBA will still be there."

Pac-10 opponents probably wish Harden had been as aggressive in his decision process as he is with the ball.

The 6-foot-5 guard leads the conference with a 21.3-points scoring average and with 33 steals. The Sun Devils (14-2 overall, 3-0 in conference play) come into tonight's game at USC ranked No. 16 in the nation, and Harden is basking in the glow of his patience.

He was on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated's season preview. ESPN's Jay Bilas has called Harden "the best all-around player in the country." His biography in the Arizona State media guides begins with, "the most famous Sun Devil southpaw since Phil Mickelson."

Heady stuff, but par for the course for Harden these days.

Fame, though, wasn't the motivating factor in Harden's decision to return.

"I was still young, barely 18 last year," Harden said. "You look at the guys in the NBA and they are all bigger and stronger and they have a lot more moves. I needed the year to mature. I know now how to take care of myself. I know when to eat. I know when to sleep. I take care of my body. I knew I needed to come back this year."

That ran counter to college basketball's one-and-done trend. The first three players taken in the 2008 NBA draft were freshmen -- Memphis' Derrick Rose, Kansas State's Michael Beasley and Mayo. By the time Bayless was taken at No. 11, six freshmen had been drafted.