Ten years ago, Bobby Hurley led Buffalo to the NCAA Tournament, capping off an extremely impressive season for those Bulls. A few weeks later, he left the program in the capable hands of Nate Oats while taking the opening at Arizona State, his first power conference coaching gig. Hurley won a pair of national championships while playing at Duke and spent time in the NBA, though this last decade has been a different type of challenge.
Hurley’s first decade in Tempe has been an up and down affair for the most part. Arizona State has some truly impressive wins and notable moments and did grab a pair of nice finishes in the Pac-12 before the pandemic, but the total results have been underwhelming. He’s made just three trips to the NCAA Tournament and his Sun Devils haven’t gotten out of the opening round.
Arizona State fled the Pac-12 for the Big 12 this past season and the results weren’t pretty in their debut. The Sun Devils finished just 13-20, their worst record under Hurley’s leadership, while claiming 15th place in the 16-team conference. That result was actually the fourth time in the last five seasons that Arizona State has finished the season below .500.
Part of Hurley’s saving grace last season was a highly-regarded recruiting class, including Top 25 prospects in Jayden Quaintance and Joson Sanon. Both players had sparks at times but largely underwhelmed and entered the transfer portal once the season ended. Things will look very different for Arizona State this upcoming season as a result.
The incoming transfer class has numerous new bodies but only a few names that really jump off the page. Moe Odum did sensational work at Pepperdine and likely becomes Arizona State’s new point guard while Marcus Adams Jr. flourished at Cal State Northridge. Players like Oakland’s Allen Mukeba and 6-11 freshman Mor Massamba Diop from Spain have great chances to make an impression this season.
We saw a full season of play so it’s hard to make a fair comparison, but you can easily argue that last year’s Arizona State squad was more talented and that was only good enough for 15th place. Hurley hopes that this season proves to be a more cohesive unit and that year two in the Big 12 produces better results.
However, it’s easy to look at this situation and wonder how Hurley even got this 11th season. Sure he’s a former NBA point guard and All-American who’s been a solid recruiter but the results just haven’t been showing up on the court. Arizona State needs a turnaround with this new-look roster or it’s unimaginable that he’s back for another year.
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