NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early hot seat power rankings for 2021-22

2. Bobby Hurley

With the exception of Kentucky and Duke, no team may have gone from potential title contender to scrambling to put together a winning season faster than Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils, who entered the 2020-21 season ranked 18th nationally and pushed two ranked teams around in Villanova and San Diego State – before dropping six games in a row to kick off the Pac-12 season.

Despite the high preseason expectations, Arizona State finished with its second-worst conference record (7-10) and standing (9th) in Hurley’s six years at the helm.  That comes after three-straight 20-win seasons, and what would have been three-straight NCAA Tournament berths if not for the COVID-19 pandemic – but this season’s team may have been Hurley’s most talented, too.

No team featured more players on the Preseason Pac-12 First and Second Teams than Arizona State, with Remy Martin, Josh Christopher, and Alonzo Verge all earning the distinction – and that is without mentioning Marcus Bagley, star freshman and brother of former Duke one-and-done Marvin Bagley.  Very little went well for the Sun Devils, however, as the team struggled to string together consistency throughout the season, which culminated in an ugly regular season-closing loss at Utah – and an 18-point Pac-12 Tournament defeat to Oregon.

Now, Hurley and his crew will move forward with Martin, Christopher, and Bagley all gone, and Verge currently slated to return.  On paper, Arizona State will bring in an onslaught of offensive firepower, including double-double monster AJ Bramah from Robert Morris, an 18-point, 6-assist player in Toledo’s Marreon Jackson, a double-digit star in Illinois State’s DJ Horne, and Jay Heath, a star guard from Boston College.  In addition, four three-star recruits and a four-star center in Enoch Boakye are all set to join the Sun Devils.

Year after year, it appears as if Hurley will have his most talented and best team – and this coming season may be no exception.  If this past year is any indication, however, then the mixture of Hurley and talent does not always produce winning results – and with Hurley’s inability to get Arizona State out of the first round in both of his NCAA Tournament appearances, the remaining window for him may be growing even narrower.