The off-season ahead of ASU’s 2024-25 season features a whirlwind of change in Tempe. Highlighted by a Top 10 recruiting class and two Top 25 recruits, Sun Devils ready themselves for a vigorous Big 12 conference. Entering his tenth year in Tempe, the longest tenure of any Sun Devil basketball head coach since the legendary Ned Wulk, Bobby Hurley struck a new opportunity with the challenges the best conference in basketball will present.
And a season of change, has also been defined by a new Athletic Director, Arizona State alumnus Graham Rossini, who has been working in concert with Hurley to advance the program.
“Graham [Rossini] has now taken the reins; he’s been very clear about how important football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball are to an athletic department,” Hurley said at a press conference Friday’s Section 7 High School basketball event at State Farm Stadium. “So, we’re trying to run with that. We’re getting great, donor support,”
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has quickly become the most significant aspect of college sports since it was introduced some three years ago. ASU basketball initially encountered challenges in that arena, and the quality of their roster last year was consequently impacted. With a docuseries that is following the program these days and improved NIL efforts orchestrated by Hurley, the makeup of its roster would certainly suggest that these struggles could be in the team’s rearview mirror.
“I would say I’m a prideful person, and I feel like I don’t need to ask anybody for help and assistance, and that’s just in my nature,” Hurley admitted. “But in our current climate, I had to go out of my comfort zone to reach out to people that I knew personally in my own network and encourage them to try and donate to our collective. I did that with donors.”
The Sun Devils swiped up five-star center Jayden Quaintance ranked as the top center in the 2024 class and 8th overall ranked prospect in that class. This spring addition was coupled with the signing of guard Joson Sanon, the 25th-ranked prospect in the 2024 class. The 6-5 Sanon, who committed to Arizona in March of 2024, switched his allegiance to the Wildcats’ in-state rival in May.
The duo will be joined in Tempe by the class by four-star 6-9 forward Amier Ali, who is ranked No. 27 among 2024 small forwards.
The star-studded freshman class has made for an exciting time in Tempe. This past Friday marked the end of the Sun Devils’ first week of its off-season camp, and its head coach was very pleased with the early returns.
“We were able to target and go after the type of players that we want in our program,” Hurley described. “We had the resources to be able to do that, and that’s translated into putting us in a position that we should have more success.”
The transfer portal had also proved promising for the Sun Devils, as some of the ASU newcomers joining the ranks have bolstered the roster with invaluable experience and notable resumes.
Ball State transfer and 6-9 forward senior Basheer Jihad is an experienced collegiate scorer who averaged 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds, starting all 29 games this past season. Jihad is also adept from long distance shooting 36% from beyond the arc last year on 3.7 attempts per game.
Missouri State transfer senior Alston Mason is making his return to the valley. The Gilbert, Arizona native is the son of former Arizona State men’s basketball player Alton Mason, who averaged 9.3 points per game in three years for the Sun Devils from 1998-2001. 23 years later, the younger Mason will don the ASU jersey after a breakout junior season that saw him average 17.5 points and 3.6 assists.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee senior guard BJ Freeman was an All-Horizon League Second Team selection last season and was a Top 20 scorer in the Division I ranks. In the 2023-24 campaign, Freeman averaged 21.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists. He posted a 42.2% shooting clip from the field, 35.5% from 3-point range, and 82.4% from the line.
Hurley is no stranger to bringing in transfers from mid-major programs, and he’s cognizant of the value they add to his team.
“I coached at that level, and I’ve been in those leagues to know that the very best players in those conferences translate very well to a power conference level,” Hurley stated, “and I’m already seeing that in the workouts.”
Another intriguing transfer is junior guard Austin Nunez, who is making his return to Tempe after spring just one season at Ole Miss. Nunez averaged 4.5 points in his freshman year in the valley, yet a rough sophomore year saw him register just 6.6 minutes per game with no starts. Nonetheless, Hurley has been delighted to have Nunez back on the team, as evidenced by his performance this week.
“[Nunez] has been very vocal in our workouts,” Hurley remarked, “which I like, and there’s a level of comfort there because he’s been at ASU, been with me for a year. He’s like one of those guys that no one even would talk about, really on our roster, but he’s already made an impact this first week.”
A couple of returning players have added to the optimism surrounding the team. Junior center Shawn Phillips Jr and senior guard Adam Miller are poised to play vital roles in the upcoming year. Phillips, the lone 7-footer on the Sun Devil roster, recorded a 12’ 6” running vertical leap this past week in practice, a 2.5-inch improvement since he first stepped foot on campus last season.
The center had a rocky sophomore season at ASU, starting the first three games last season before a foot injury derailed his year for over a month, yet a determined Phillips Jr worked his way back into the fold, being a starter for nine of the team’s last ten games.
“[Phillips Jr] measurables are off the charts,: Hurley said. “I think it’s all about maturity and growth for him. He got some experience under his belt last year, and I think he’s got to have a great off-season.”
Miller’s first season in Tempe had complications. Due to temporary NCAA transfer restrictions at the time, the LSU guard transfer Miller was sidelined in the team’s first nine games of the 2023-24 season.
When Miller made his Sun Devil debut on December 16 against TCU, he instantly proved his value by scoring 20 points and hitting three of seven three-pointers. However, he failed to find consistency, ultimately averaging 12 points per game on 30% shooting from 3-point range. Coming into this season as a returning senior, Miller’s impact on the Sun Devils’ locker room will be vital to the success of this young team.
“[Miller] wasn’t happy with our results last year,” Hurley commented, “our record not getting to the postseason, all things that we’re focusing on this year. So, he’s very motivated to do that as well. Adam is just a natural leader for us. He’s played a lot of games with a lot of big games in his career.
“I think we’ve really put together the type of team in different layers and different types of players; I’m excited to see how that all comes together.”
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