Transfer Bethley fills void in ASU secondary
Khoury Bethley admits there are times he thinks back to his high school days when he excelled as a running back. Yes, he played on defense and special teams as well but everyone likes to score and Bethley did plenty of that.
He is one of Arizona State’s dozen Division I transfers, coming over after four stellar seasons at the University of Hawaii where he was team captain and a two-time first-team All-Mountain West selection. Last season he had five interceptions, one returned for 79 yards for a touchdown in a 48-34 win over New Mexico State. It was the highlight in a season that saw him finish with 100 tackles, 73 of those solo.
“Last season at Hawaii I had an interception for a pick-six and I ran it back,” Bethley said, after wrapping up a practice session last week. “That did give me a lot of flashbacks of my high school days, being able to run with the rock. Any time I get a chance to carry the ball, it always brings back good memories.”
Bethley is indeed one of the more intriguing additions for the Sun Devils, who are coming off an 8-5 showing and a second-place finish in the Pac-12 South behind Utah. Given the number of veterans the team had, most see that as a disappointment.
Bethley is expected to play a prominent role in a position group that is in transition. Gone are veterans that anchored the back end of the defense in Chase Lucas, Jack Jones and DeAndre Pierce. The unit also has a new coach in Aaron Fletcher, who came over from Missouri.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder was one of the team’s late arrivals along with another safety, Chris Edmonds, a transfer from Samford, who is also expected to be a major contributor. But Bethley says the transition has been rather seamless.
“At first, once I got here, I was behind the 8-ball with the team but now the transition is smooth, I’m picking up on the defense, starting to play faster and
make plays on the ball,” he said. “With a new position coach, everyone pretty much has a new resume as (head) coach Herm (Edwards) says, so we go out there and write our resume, go out there, have fun and play football like we’ve been doing our whole lives.”
Fletcher can see Bethley having an important role, particularly when it comes to providing veteran leadership.
“He anchors us. He’s a guy that stabilizes us. When there seems to be emotions
going one way or another, he’s a guy that can really step in, communicate with everyone. He hasn’t been here long but he already has the respect of everyone in the room,” Fletcher said.
Bethley was recruited to Hawaii by then-coach Nick Rolovich after finishing his prep career at Don Lugo High School in Chino, California, 35 miles east of Los Angeles. He racked up 3,674 career rushing yards and 46 touchdowns, and that was just his showing on the offensive side of the ball.
He was his league’s most valuable player as a senior, totaling 1,430 yards and 19 touchdowns to go with 75 tackles, six sacks, and a fumble recovery despite playing injured much of the season.
Most of his offers were from lower profile Division I schools such as New Mexico, Idaho, Northern Arizona and Montana State, the latter being a school where his older brother, Steven, played defensive back.
He committed to Hawaii in July before his senior season despite not having visited the school.
The Rainbow Warriors had some good years under Rolovich, most notably a 10-5 mark in 2019, which ultimately helped him later land a job at Washington State. The coaching carousel kept turning and it was former ASU coach Todd Graham that wound up succeeding Rolovich at Hawaii.
Over 46 career games at Hawaii, Bethley recorded 217 tackles with seven sacks, seven interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Graham resigned in January, after finishing the second year of a five-year contract amid some controversy as to his abrasive coaching style.
Bethley said he didn’t necessarily have a problem with that and had nothing bad to say about his experience at the school. With a coaching change coming, he just thought it was better to finish his career elsewhere and he wanted to challenge himself at a higher level. He admitted that the NFL acumen on Edwards’ staff played a major role in his decision.
He said spending four years at Hawaii forced him out of his comfort zone, in a good way.
“It was a great four years in my life. I met some great people out there, tried things I never thought I’d do like snorkeling, jumping off boats into the ocean, surfing,” said Bethley, who earned his degree in kinesiology.
“Hawaii put me in the position to be where I’m at now as a man. Got to grow out there and learn, be on my own, got to do what it is I love to do and that’s play football.”