Hurley on Martin’s return, gelling his most-talented team in his Tempe

Perhaps there was one downside in Remy Martin’s return to Tempe.

Forget for a second that Martin testing the NBA waters was like diving into a kiddy pool, no in-person workouts, and meetings to vault his stock. Also, throw to the backburner what a stellar senior year could do for Martin, not only boosting his national profile into a legit NBA prospect but likely capping a career worthy of his no. 1 jersey being lifted the Desert Financial Arena rafters.

Most of that was glossed over when Martin’s decision went public on Sunday. For good reason. ASU fans and national critics agreed: With Martin back, ASU may have its best team ever.

“He’s about winning,” Hurley said of Martin. “I could talk about all the personal accolades that I think are in reach for him. But, in his mind, all he’s thinking about is, “Can we compete to try and win a Pac-12 Championship? Can we go to a Final Four this year? Do we have what it takes to do that?’”

Remy Martin, Josh Christopher, Alonzo Verge Jr. Marcus Bagley and Jalen Graham is without question ASU’s most-talented lineup in coach Bobby Hurley’s time in Tempe. It’ll garner top-15 preseason rankings across the board for the Sun Devils. And there will be no chuckles should an overzealous ASU fan think a Final Four is in the cards. There’s that much hype.

And that brings us to the downside of Martin’s reentry into the ASU roster. It all may for nothing. All the polls, the excitement, the potential. Whoosh.

Hurley knows the COVID-19 is fluid. Trying to determine how it will impact the college basketball season feels like putting in a bet now for the 2022 Kentucky Derby. The whole landscape may be unnoticeable by then.

For the record, Hurley said he was confident there will be a season. Hell, that’s all he can do right now, be optimistic. The more his pessimism erodes, the better chance of there being a season. The more precautions he and the Sun Devils take with the pandemic now, the higher likelihood Hurley, entering his sixth season at ASU, will find out what his hyped superteam can actually accomplish.

“All these things are really uncertain. I just wanted to get back to the most organic level of what we do as coaches and athletes as, ‘let’s just get in the gym. Let’s start working on our game. Let’s start putting in every procedure to keep us safe.’” Hurley said.

“We talk about protecting each other and making good decisions when we leave the facilities to not expose us to setbacks.”

Following the NCAA’s decision teams could start practicing, Hurley told his team the Weatherup Center would be open, and those who wished could come in for non-mandatory workouts -- and not the typical collegiate “non-mandatory” activities that are practically must-attends.

So far, he said, none of his players have voiced concerns about their safety amid a pandemic. Regardless, only about half of his roster has suited up in Tempe so far. The other half -- including Christopher and his brother, Caleb -- are waiting to trek to Tempe until class starts in a little over a week.

Hurley is fine with that. He won’t argue with extra caution. Already, the precautions are lengthy with daily interviews about symptoms and contact tracing, weekly COVID tests, quarantines for out-of-state players, groups of two working out at a time, and the sanitization of everything from a basketball to a chair to a water bottle.

By this point in the summer, Hurley should be winding down his five-week conditioning program. He should have a pretty clear idea of the strengths and weaknesses of his time, lineup configurations already being tinkered with, and no questions about conditioning. Instead, it’s August, and he still hasn’t seen everyone on the floor.

Still, he can speculate.

“I think we have the potential to be one of the best offensive teams in the country, maybe one of the top-scoring teams,” Hurley said. “When you talk about guys like Remy Martin, Alonzo Verge, and Josh Christopher, who are so good off the dribble and at making plays. And then you have other guys who can finish and make shots; it really opens up the offense.

“I’m really excited to see what it all looks like on the practice floor … But on paper, it looks dynamite.”

It does. Despite forward Romello White transferring to Ole Miss, the Sun Devils return their top two scorers from last year in Martin (19.1 ppg) and Verge (14.6). Add in the additions of two five-star recruits (Christopher and Bagely), Portland State transfer Holland Woods (Who still awaiting the verdict of his transfer waiver to be eligible right away), soon-to-be sophomores forward Jalen Graham and guard Jaelen House and there’s reason to be excited.

“We’re not going to sneak up on anybody this year,” Hurley said.

Getting all that talent to mesh is a challenge Hurley said he’s excited for. At this point, though, he just hopes he has the chance to tackle the challenge of coaching what could be the best team in school history.

“I have to show poise in these situations and be adaptable, and understand that there’s going to be setbacks; and that there’s going to be some adversity that we’re going to have to work through with the virus,” Hurley said.

“With our sport being a winter sport, that gives me a lot more hope … If those vaccines and treatments aren’t available, then we’re going to have some Plan A’s, Plan B’s, and Plan C’s.”