Exactly one month after Arizona State made a shocking recruiting addition by landing five-star center Jayden Quaintance, the top center in the 2024 class and the overall No. 8 prospect, Sun Devils continued to pile on newcomer talent. Four-star wing and Vermont Academy standout Joson Sanon, a former Arizona commit, flipped his pledge to the Wildcats' in-state rival.
This is the first time this century that ASU has added two Top 25 prospects in the same class, as the Sun Devils' class is currently ranked No. 4 nationally. It is Arizona State's highest ranking since its No. 9 recruiting class in 2020, which featured two five-star recruits, No. 12 Josh Christopher and No. 30 Marcus Bagley.
Along with Jayden Quaintance, ASU has also landed four-star forward and Top 100 recruit Amier Ali, fellow four-star forward Sammie Yeanay, and three-star guard Ketraleus "Bo" Aldridge.
"He is a skilled 6-foot-5 three-level scorer who has become a more viable physical at and above the rim scoring threat," said Recruiting Analyst Zach Smart in a recent analysis feature of Sanon. With his length, pull-up jumper, and adeptness for creating space off the dribble, Sanon has tuned up his on the ball scoring repertoire. At Vermont Academy, Sanon has registered his presence as a floor spreader with a knack for straight-away 3-pointers. While his catch-and-shoot game creates a mismatch at this level, he's become a vertically explosive scorer and refined his game by adding a mid-post factor to it, and has developed a smooth handle. Sanon is intriguing because of how quickly his game has grown and evolved during a short period of time. While he's played primarily off the ball. His game is still growing, and nobody can deny the upside."
Sanson’s decision was prompted by the return of Arizona guard Caleb Love, who withdrew earlier today from the NBA draft, and the unexpected addition of Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso. The wing player reclassified from the 2025 class and will be NBA draft eligible at the 2024-25 season. He's currently averaging 29.5 points for his BABC AAU club, shooting 48% from three-point range, averaging ten attempts per game from that distance.
“Arizona State is getting an extremely talented offensive player,” said CJ Ward, one of the coaches of the BABC AAU club that Sanon plays in. “He’s a four-level scorer; he scores at the rim and above the rim. He has probably the most advanced mid-range game in all of high school and is a gifted scorer. He’s an over 40% 3-point shooter from NBA range. He’s able to guard 1 through 3 defensively, and he’s a very good rebounder from the guard position as well. This past summer, he’s taken a big leap forward, becoming a secondary point guard and a well-rounded player right before he gets to Tempe.
“The biggest jump he’s made this spring and summer is becoming a guy that’s able to initiate offense as a secondary point guard and play make for others. Those are two areas he wanted to improve on this spring and summer, and he definitely has.”
Ward mentioned BYU, Villanova, Kansas, and Arkansas as schools that were also pursuing Sanon in recent months. He added that Sanon committed sight unseen to the Sun Devils and thus applauded the manner in which head coach Bobby Hurley and assistant coach Jerrance Howard handled the recruiting process.
“Bobby is a relentless recruiter,” Ward described. “The Hurleys have a long lineage of basketball. His vision for Joson is to come in, play right away, and put him in a position to make shots where he’s comfortable was a good fit. Players that Hurley coached who are now in the NBA, like Lu Dort, who is Haitian, just like Joson and Josh Christopher, are names that came up during the recruiting process.
“Coach Howard had the same message as Hurley. He’s well-traveled and had a lot of big-time years at Kansas, where he was able to bring in a lot of players who made it to the pros. He knows what that next level looks like, and that’s where Joson is trying to get to.
“Hurley, being a former lottery pick from the point guard position, sees the game through a different lens. He’s going to be able to know how to get the ball for his players to score. Playing in the Big 12, which is the best conference in basketball, made a lot of sense too. Hurley has constructed a nice roster with guys who have had success in college and talented young guys. I think he has a nice blend, and he needed one more scorer, so it made sense for him to add a player like Joson.”
Sanon did reclassify in recent months from the 2025 to the 2024 class, and since he’s 18 years old, he will be draft-eligible following the 2024-25 season. Ward said that Sanon was intent on playing in college rather than the G-League or overseas, and while playing in the NBA is naturally the guard’s ambition, being the one-and-done player isn’t an etched-stone game plan for the guard.
“He’s just focused on getting better every day,” Ward commented. “I think he still needs to get a little bit better at everything every day. He needs to be a little more comfortable playing with the ball in his hand, making reads off the pick and roll, which a lot of that stuff is through getting a lot of game reps, which is why he’s playing this summer. He also needs to get better off the dribble. I think he’s on his way, and I don’t have any doubts that he will get better because as talented as he is, he works harder than his talent is. I think that’s a special combination.
“Hopefully, if he puts a lot of good days together in a consecutive stretch, he gets there (to the NBA after his freshman year). He wants to be a one-and-done because who doesn’t? But he tries to stay locked in day to day. (NBA Draft Analyst) Jonathan Givony put out his early ESPN 2025 mock draft, and Joson is in the first round; I think he’s gonna be a first-round pick, and that is the feedback we get. So, it’s a goal we’re working towards, but we’re just trying to get to Arizona State, work hard and win games.”
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