Devils’ Hurley guardedly optimistic
Arizona State basketball coach Bobby Hurley admits he’s excited and can’t wait to see what the new season brings.
The Sun Devils were playing well and poised for a third straight NCAA tournament appearance when the coronavirus pandemic brought an abrupt halt to the season as ASU was prepping for its Pac-12 tournament opener in Las Vegas in March.
Since then Hurley, entering his sixth year heading the Sun Devils, snagged two of the country’s top 50 high school prospects in Marcus Bagley and potential NBA lottery pick Joshua Christopher and landed a couple of quality Division I transfers as well.
Most have ASU pegged as a Top 25 team nationally and a favorite in the Pac-12, particularly if senior guards Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge opt out of the NBA draft and return.
But will there be a season? If so, will it start on time? Will teams be relegated to a conference-only schedule? Those are questions yet to be answered.
Right now the focus is understandably on football, which is the moneymaker for athletic departments. Other fall sports are in jeopardy as well, already being called off or delayed in some minor conferences.
Hurley tries to remain optimistic since basketball is a winter sport, but his enthusiasm is tempered with a bit of restraint.
“I really like what we have and I’m pretty excited to see how it plays out,” Hurley said. “We just have to wait and see. This situation seems to be changing so much one day to the next it’s hard to tell where we’re going to be a couple of months from now. There is no telling.”
Usually by now players have returned from their summer hiatus and Hurley is running them through basic skill work at ASU’s practice facility. It’s an important part of the process, particularly for a team relying on newcomers. But the Sun Devils have hit the pause button though with players due to report the first week in August instead.
They’ll be tested for coronavirus upon their arrival, just as other athletes from other sports who already have reported have been with subsequent tests coming on a weekly basis.
Until then Hurley holds occasional film sessions with his players over Zoom. It’s better than nothing.
“It’s tough, but you have to do the best you can do with the hand your dealt,” said Hurley, who says the magnitude of the virus has hit him hard. “We have had to adapt but it’s the same for everybody. We’re dealing with something no one has had to deal with before. You can’t be too careful.”
No doubt the Sun Devils should be a good, maybe even an elite team if both guards return. NBC Sports and Yahoo had them pegged No. 18 in their preseason Top 25 while CBS Sports and USA Today had them at No. 25 — although the USA Today ranking came out before Hurley landed Christoper, who had been rumored to be declaring for Michigan.
The summer sessions looked important this season with the Sun Devils, 2011 overall and 11-7 in Pac-12 play a year ago, breaking in a large number of newcomers. If the two guards don’t return, ASU will have just four players returning who got significant playing time last season — Kimani Lawrence, Taeshon Cherry, Jalen Graham and Jaelen House. Cherry, who will be a junior, started some games early but Lawrence was in the starting lineup at the end of the season when the Sun Devils were playing their best and surged into first place in the conference.
Graham, a local product out of Mountain Pointe, is going to be a big part of the equation moving forward with Romello White defecting in favor of Mississippi.
Players have until Aug. 3 to withdraw from the draft, so by the time players report to Tempe Hurley will know the status of his guards. Then preparation begins, albeit in slightly different mode, with players likely practicing in small groups rather than as a full squad.
Hurley said he isn’t sure where Martin and Verge, who combined to average 34 points a game last season, stand since they aren’t on campus yet.
“I really can’t offer anything on that because they haven’t been here,” he said. “I’ll have a better handle on that once players get here. Obviously, they make us better, but I think this team will have a lot of potential one way or another. I’m really hoping we get to see it through.”