Boston College leading scorer Jay Heath commits to the Sun Devils
The Arizona State basketball team may have several significant pieces to replace on its roster, but its efforts to do so have certainly paid dividends. On Saturday afternoon, Boston College's leading scorer, sophomore Jay Heath, who averaged 14.5 ppg for the Eagles last season, has committed to ASU.
“Coach Hurley really believed in me,” Heath said. “When I talked to him and the rest of the coaching staff, you could tell that they really wanted me to come in there and be a great player and get me to the next level. And he (Hurley) was a point guard, and I’m a point guard, so why not just learn from the best? So that's, that's mainly the reason why I committed.”
As a sophomore at Boston College, aside from being the leading scorer, Heath started and played 19 games (out of a total of 20 played by the school). In his freshman season, he set a new school freshman record with 65 made 3-pointers, ranked second on the Eagles in scoring (13.1), logging 26 games in double figures - including the final 15 games of the season. Among all ACC freshmen, Heath finished the regular season third in scoring (13.1) and 3FG made (65).
“Coach Hurley said that I’m a player that can get to paint and create for others and myself,” Heath described. “He said that I defend at a high level, and getting everybody involved and bringing a lot of energy to the game. He that he sees me as a true point guard. But for him, he probably wants me to do both, just because I was a scorer at BC. But he said at the next level; I'll have to play point guard. So he definitely wants to transform me into a true point guard.
“I have a high motor; I play downhill with a lot of energy. Since I got to college, I would say I got better at being patient, looking at different reads, finding others, and create off the dribble for myself more.”
Heath said that he entered the transfer portal some three weeks ago and that Arizona State contacted him with the first 24 hours of him making himself be recruited by other teams. The guard mentioned that he chose the Sun Devils over the likes of Memphis, Florida, Pitt, LSU, Ole Miss, Colorado, Clemson, and VCU, among others. Heath said that ASU was able to distinguish itself from his other suitors in other areas aside from the pure basketball aspect.
“When we had our Zoom calls, I could tell it’s really beautiful out there,” heath noted. “It was more of a family vibe when I was on the Zoom call with them. We didn't even talk about; we talked a lot about basketball, but it was also about academics, making me better on and off the court, branding myself, and getting me prepared for the next level. I just felt a connection with Hurley and the school that I cannot explain. You just hear it in their (ASU coaches’) voices when they talk to you, and it’s different.
“Bobby Hurley showed me that he cared a lot, and that just drew me in. The distance didn’t matter to me because I felt Arizona State was just the better fit than all the others and just happened to be on the West Coast. I guess this is another step in my career just growing up.
“I knew about his (Hurley’s) career at Duke and being an NBA draft first-round pick, and I saw a documentary about his dad (Hall of Fame Coach Bob Hurley Senior). I caught some of Arizona State’s games last year too. So I knew about him and the school.”
Heath admitted that the decision to transfer from Boston College, especially in light of being the leading scorer for the team, was anything but an easy decision. The new Sun Devil addition was undoubtedly thankful for the time he spent at Newton, Mass.
“I thank them for everything they did for me,” Heath said. “They gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent. So I'm really thankful for Boston College, and it was hard leaving them. I just felt like it was time for me to leave, and they did everything they could for me. There aren’t any hard feelings.”
Heath has three more years of eligibility left and is expected to arrive in Tempe in the summer. The guard is Arizona State’s seventh addition in the 2021 recruiting cycle and the second transfer player for the school, joining Robert Morris forward transfer AJ Bramah, who made his decision yesterday. Other additions are signees Justin Rochelin, Will Felton, and Demari Williams, as well as fellow commits Enoch Boakye and Jamiya Neal.
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