2023-2024 Hoops Preview

Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley will be the first one to tell you about how the new landscape of college basketball since the introduction of the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) aspect and its effects on an ever-growing transfer portal, which resulted in many rosters across the country virtually unrecognizable from last year’s squad. For some, this is a positive, while others have been adversely impacted. If there’s a middle ground, that’ll be where the Sun Devils lie.

Having lost four of its five leading scorers from last year’s NCAA Tournament team as part of a whopping nine departures, mainly via the transfer portal, Arizona State has plenty of questions to answer on the hardwood. Much of the college basketball world agrees with that premise, as ASU didn’t receive a vote in the preseason AP poll and was picked no higher than fifth in most major preseason Pac-12 polls. Hurley, though, is no stranger to proving people’s initial predictions wrong.

“If I didn’t think we were any good,” Hurley said, “then I would maybe saying about these polls that they’re right. But I get to see these guys every day. So, I know it’s a bunch of BS.”

It’s easy for Hurley to state this, too. Last year, in a campaign where his team made the NCAA Tournament, October forecasts had them nowhere near that level. With the help of a handful of key newcomers, most of them transfers, the Sun Devils were able to reach one of the sport’s biggest stages in spite of their doubters.

In order to replicate that run, though, the ninth-year head coach had to work some extra hours in the offseason. Four starters from last year’s squad are now out of town. Among them was ASU’s leading scorer Desmond Cambridge (graduated), its go-to guard DJ Horne (transferred to NC State), defensive anchor Devan Cambridge (Texas Tech), and seven-foot center Warren Washington (Texas Tech). Compensating for those losses, Arizona State was active in the transfer portal early and often in an attempt to replenish its personnel. To do that, he constructed a roster that can affect its opponents in every which way, which Hurley views as this team’s identity.

“You don’t want to be just kind of a 90-mile-per-hour fastball every time,” Hurley explained. “You want to have a change up and a slider and all those things., I just think when you have versatile players, and you have good size, you could do a lot of things with a roster like that. So, I think that there are different combinations that we could go to and play a variety of different ways.”

While much is different with this 2023-24 Sun Devil team, its primary ball-handler remains a familiar face. Having transferred from Michigan to Tempe, guard Frankie Collins filled his role nicely in his debut season at Arizona State. As the starting point guard, Collins exhibited quality playmaking skills to lead last year’s team in assists by a wide margin, while his active hands and overall bounce made him valuable on the defensive side as well. The big question for the talented junior will be his scoring. Collins has shown the capability of taking over the scoring load in pinches both with the Wolverines and Sun Devils, and with ASU having lost so much of its production in that aspect, Collins’s ability to put the ball in the hoop will be something to watch for.

Down the stretch last spring, perhaps nobody had as big of an impact for the Sun Devils as Jamiya Neal. Having missed multiple games early in the season with an injury, the then-sophomore wing could only make a minimal impact off the bench through December and January. However, he elevated his game at some of the most crucial moments of the season. He scored 12 points in the stunning February road upset of Arizona, posted another nine in the Pac-12 Quarterfinal against USC, and tallied a season-high 16 points to propel ASU in its First Four victory against Nevada. Neal’s evolution as a scorer only sharpens up his natural athleticism, which he can use to establish a hard-nosed defensive perimeter. With his development, Neal has been turning eyes around the country as a breakout candidate, and Hurley agrees, especially after Neal’s reportedly outstanding showings in preseason scrimmages.

“What I loved about Jamiya’s performances is just the efficiency of it and how he did it,” Hurley said of Neal’s 35-point explosion against San Jose State. “He didn’t force anything. And he’s just had a lot of growth in that area. Like, he’s always been very talented. And I think the light bulb has really come on for him to just understand that, with his exceptional athleticism and ability to create that. He needs to make sure to get good shots, quality shots still, and that was the real plus about what I saw. He just didn’t force the action. It all came to him in the flow of the game, and he put on a great performance.”

The last of the key returners, forward Alonzo Gaffney, will have a delayed start to the season, as Hurley noted that the senior will miss the “first couple of weeks” with an injury suffered in practice. When he’s healthy, Gaffney’s 6-9 frame will be vital in rim protection, but it’s his athleticism that allows him to guard out on the perimeter as well. ASU will need Gaffney to step up on the offensive end, where he shot just 35 percent from the field, including a glum 23 percent mark from beyond the arc. Without the polished paint game of Warren Washington, the manner in which Gaffney can be effective in the post, or even in the pick-and-roll game, will be critical in preserving the team’s ability for easy baskets down low. According to Hurley, though, prior to his injury, Gaffney had been making these major strides.

“We’re dealing with that (injuries) a little bit with Alonzo Gaffney,” Hurley commented. “He came down on a player’s foot, and so it’s going to be most likely a couple of weeks. I feel terrible for him personally; he’s had a great offseason, he’s been one of our better players in practices and our European trip, and he’s a senior. But he’s got a great attitude about it. He’s already making strides to get back.”

As the only impact returners from last year’s team, Hurley expects Collins, Neal, and Gaffney to form a solid nucleus that can not only help the roster build chemistry but also use their postseason experience to the team’s advantage. When they’re all on the court, Hurley foresees that unit as good as any.

“They had a taste of the NCAA tournament last year,” Hurley stated. “And they know what that feels like. And they know we need to have quality players and options. When we get Alonzo back, especially after the consistency that he showed all summer and what he did at the end of last year, this team has an extremely high ceiling. With the new addition of Jose Perez a West Virginia guard transfer) and then the summer we’ve already had under our belts, I have high expectations.”

While much of the team’s performance will revolve around its returners, the newcomers, like last year, will have to make an impact for the team to succeed. Perhaps the most important of those is the last (chronologically) but certainly not least of ASU’s transfer portal haul: guard Jose Perez committed to the Sun Devils in the preseason after not being eligible to play at West Virginia last year.

In his four-year career at Manhattan, Perez was a walking bucket for the Jaspers, averaging just under 19 points per game in his final year there. At 25 years old, Perez’s seasoning will be just as key of a component to the team as his scoring prowess, and Hurley had very high praise for who could become the focal point of his offense.

“I think we have a really good core on the perimeter with the addition of Jose Perez,” Hurley noted. “He’s a very versatile player, too. He’s a very physical guard, he’s older, and he’s strong. He could really guard one through four, and you can do a lot of things with him from an offensive standpoint to take advantage of some matchups…I got a good feeling about what he’ll bring, like a lot of toughness to our team and a lot of maturity. He was preseason Player of the Year in his conference before he had to sit out last season…he was a guy who was almost a 20-per-game scorer. So, it’s rare that a guy like that is available this late to be picked up, and I’ve noticed in practice his voice, his toughness and maturity.”

“He kept it real from day one,” Perez said of Hurley. “He needed a veteran guy to just come in, needed facilitating to score, and I felt like that’s something over my college career that I’ve done at a very high level.”

In another move that got them a Power Six player, Hurley brought in former four-star recruit Kamari Lands from Louisville to fill Devan Cambridge’s void of defense and athleticism at the forward spot. While his freshman season with the Cardinals didn’t live up to expectations, Lands’s raw athleticism matches him up effectively with all five positions on the floor. Hurley raved about his ability to put the ball in the basket as well.

“How he plays, he understands everything we do,” Hurley noted. “He picks up things quickly. He’s just a natural scorer who could do a variety of ways. And he’s really added a punch to our team in that way. He’s just hungry. He was a top-rated prospect, and it didn’t work out for his last season. I think he’s got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder to reestablish himself and who he is. He’s had a lot of great games already for us to show us there’s some potential there for him to have a really good year.”

“Just trying to be a leader and definitely just trying to be one of the main impact guys both offensively and defensively,” Lands added. “From last year, I didn’t really have that role like I wanted to, so I feel like this year is kind of like a prove-it year for me to show what I can actually do.”

While Lands can play at the four, the five was a major question following the loss of Warren Washington. Rather than an experienced and polished paint player like Washington, Hurley recruited the raw talent of 7-footer Shawn Phillips and the experience of Bryant Selebangue to lock down the paint. On opposite ends of the experience spectrum, Phillips comes into Tempe having played just 7.5 minutes per game as a freshman at LSU, while Selebangue finished top-35 in the nation in rebounding in 2023 in his first year at Tulsa. Selebangue may be more seasoned, but Hurley was very complimentary of Phillips’s progression as he looks to enhance the raw talent out of the lanky center.

“Our interior game I was concerned about, losing Warren very late last year,” Hurley recalled. “Shawn Phillips has really come on, and he’s shown a lot in this offseason and a lot of development, and he’s gonna get better and better as we go. But he’s kind of bridged the loss of a guy like Warren, so that was a real positive.”

One unknown that Hurley wasn’t able to address was the case of Adam Miller. The former Illinois and LSU guard was a double-digit scorer at the Power Six level in past seasons, and while the Sun Devils were able to score a commitment on the former four-star, the program is still awaiting a decision on Miller’s two-time transfer waiver application to the NCAA. If approved, Miller’s contributions on the offensive end would be game-changing for a program that’s thrived off defensive prowess in recent years.

If Miller can’t be a part of the team, though, Malachi Davis will be even more important on the perimeter. As one of the top-ranked junior college transfers in the country, Davis was at his best when the lights were brightest, as he dropped four-straight performances of 30+ points in Tallahassee CC’s run to the NJCAA Final Four. With a sweet shooting stroke from deep and the ability to knife through a defense like butter, expect him to see plenty of run on the wing in scoring spells.

With the roster set, it won’t take long for ASU to see how it stacks up to some of the nation’s best, as a quality non-conference schedule is comprised of multiple tournament teams from a year ago, including Mississippi State, Northwestern, and TCU.

“When you are playing against other power conference schools, try and do the best job you can so that you get some quality wins in a non-conference,” Hurley said. “We didn’t really duck anyone in that regard. We have our work cut out for us.”

Time will tell if all these pieces can fit a winning puzzle, but Hurley has been more than satisfied with what he’s seen in practice, and all that’s left for him is to roll the balls out.

“You start to count down how many more practices you have before the ball goes up,” he said. “So I think they’re seeing that it’s right in front of them. We’ve been at it a while and then going all the way back to June on a foreign tour. So, it’s been a lot of practice. I’m sure they’re maybe even tired to hear me about just the practice situation and look excited for the opportunity of starting the season.”