Herbert Joseph Sendek Jr. of Slovak descent,[1] grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Penn Hills High School.

He starred as a point guard in basketball, lettering two years, serving as team captain, and earning All-East Suburban honors.

Sendek's father, Herb Sr., was a teacher and basketball coach at both the high school and junior college levels.

He graduated summa cum laude in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in industrial management and earned the Carnegie Merit Scholarship.

[3] After three seasons at Miami, Sendek was hired at North Carolina State in 1996, becoming the youngest head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

The Wolfpack ended the season winning eight of 11 games, advanced to the finals of the ACC tournament, and earned a trip to the postseason in the NIT.

Sendek coached NC State to the NCAA tournament five consecutive years from 2002 until 2006 (tying the school record).

Due in part to an 8–38 record against Duke and North Carolina combined with failing to win an ACC championship, fan and booster support was in steep decline.

Sendek and freshman guard James Harden led the Sun Devils to fifth place in the Pac-10 Conference, including a sweep of rival Arizona.

[7] The season became even more troublesome as Sendek dismissed his leading scorer, Keala King, from the team on January 7, 2012, for undisclosed reasons.