NCAA Basketball: 5 most underwhelming coaching jobs so far in 2020-21

Bobby Hurley – Arizona State Sun Devils

Another man who had great success at the mid-major level is Bobby Hurley. In only two years at Buffalo, he lifted the Bulls to a MAC Championship and an NCAA berth. His instant triumph led to a PAC-12 position at Arizona State.

After his first two seasons with the Sun Devils, Hurley has led them to three straight 20-win seasons. Hard to argue those results, but in a very lackluster and uninspiring league, they have yet to make any noise in March. They have not appeared in the conference championship game in the PAC-12, and to boot, they only have “one” tournament win.

I put the one in quotations because that win came in Dayton in one of the First Four games. It counts as a tournament win on his resume, but everyone knows the tourney doesn’t start till Thursday (Friday this year). They ousted St. John’s in the First Four, but then followed suit by getting crushed by those Buffalo Bulls he left.

To say the least, this year has been extremely disappointing. You could argue that this may be his best team too. Remy Martin is still somehow in school and Alonzo Verge is a great scorer. To go along with them, the freshmen duo of Josh Christopher and Marcus Bagley is as flashy as any two in the country.

Hurley’s squad is currently 4-8 and on a six-game losing streak. Their home and home with in-state rival Arizona was a microcosm of their season. Last Thursday at home, the Sun Devils blew a seven-point lead with under five minutes to go. On Monday night, they were trailing by 22 at halftime. He can pout, stomp, and act like the world is against him, but Bobby Hurley has been so-so and is only regressing.