Hurley views Josh Christopher as a 'game-changer' for the Sun Devils
On the day of April 13, Josh Christopher was home just hanging out. It was his father Laron’s birthday, and while Laron was preparing dinner, Christopher played basketball with his brothers, Caleb and Patrick, in their Southern California backyard.
Across the country, Josh Christopher’s name was searched and written on Twitter an absurd amount of times. He said he would announce on his dad’s birthday, just not what time.
And, naturally, people were loudly buzzing in anticipation and speculation.
He was trending in the United States. Fans of Michigan and Arizona State endlessly argued with each other on why he would choose their school. Ironically, while doing absolutely nothing, Christopher caused a nationwide frenzy.
He waited until 8:24 p.m. in order to honor his idol, Kobe Bryant. And, then, he made his long-anticipated announcement. All of Christopher’s smoke screens. All of the waiting. It all came to an end. He was going to be a Sun Devil. He posted an announcement video on Twitter -- which now has almost a million views -- for the world to hear his decision.
Christopher kept the cloak of secrecy tight. Even if it was for a few hours, his tight-lipped approach to recruiting put his name in the public consciousness.
Little did many know, that was how ASU found out, too. Christopher had given Sun Devil head coach Bobby Hurley no heads up. No official word on his decision. And, so, Hurley was just like the rest of us, refreshing Twitter for hours and hours before finding out via social media.
“Usually, Easter is a very peaceful day for me. And I can’t say that I was at peace on Easter Sunday knowing Josh was making that decision on Monday,” Hurley said. “Like everyone, I sat on my phone. With the (corona) virus and not having much else to do, I kept refreshing his name on Monday to see what news was out there.
“Certainly, it was a big deal. I followed it closely and saw all the people talking about his decision and how big of a deal it was. It was a tremendous marketing move for Josh and his family.”
Just under a month later, Christopher -- along with transfers, Luther Muhammed and Holland Woods – were officially announced as signed with the Sun Devils.
Yet the addition that truly moved the needle out of the bunch was Christopher. Despite the fact his brother, Caleb, just finished up his freshman season with the Sun Devils and he attended nearly a dozen of games at Desert Financial Arena, there was always skepticism around his decision.
He is the No. 11 player in the country. He’s Instagram famous with more than 700,000 followers. He expects to be a one-and-done player. He’s not the type of recruit to choose Arizona State. He’s the type who, historically, doesn’t give the Sun Devils the time of day. Christopher bucked the trend, tying James Harden as the Sun Devils highest-ranked signee.
“With Josh’s decision, it certainly elevates everything that we’re doing,” Hurley said. “I think it shows the confidence that he has in the program and what we’re doing at Arizona State. But it was a terrific moment. The possibility and excitement on my end of coaching a player of his talent level, it’s a game-changer for us.
“A couple of years ago, our team mantra was ‘fearless’ and that’s how I view Josh. He’s fearless. As a competitor, a fierce competitor, both ends of the floor. Dynamic athlete, super skilled. Really gets after it, is about winning. So he checks all the boxes there. I just think he’s not afraid of the challenge to try and go to Arizona State and help us take another big step.
"And I think that challenged intrigued him, and he’s not the type of guy that needed a blue-blood name or a program that has tremendous tradition. He’s a trailblazer and he wanted to leave his mark on the program. You love that as a coach, because I know how he’s prepared to compete for us every time we go to battle this year.”
And what are the Sun Devils getting? An ultra-athletic scorer with innate play-making ability who automatically elevates ASU to a preseason top-25 team. At Mayfair High in Southern California, Christopher averaged 29 points, 11 rebounds and four assists a game and earned myriad accolades including a McDonald’s All-American selection.
“Maybe the only guy who I’ve coached that approaches (Christopher’s level of physicality) is Lu Dort,” Hurley said. “He’s got great ability to finish at all levels, especially around the basket … I think one of his underrated skills is that he’s a really good teammate. He’s unselfish. He will pass the ball. He enjoys passing the basketball.”
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Christopher surely draws another comparison to Dort in terms of the expectation that he too will be preparing this time nest year for the NBA draft after a sole season with ASU. Nonetheless, Hurley doesn't see the program branding itself as a recruiting magnet for players who aspire to begin their NBA career following their freshman year of college, yet still a desirable destination for high caliber prospects.
"We have a lot of the components that you would think that kids would look that we market greatly," Hurley remarked. "We’ve won 20 games three years in a row, would’ve been three straight (NCAA) Tournaments. We’ve started to now build a tradition of winning, a component that would make it more attractive.
"Our staff has gone in a number of different directions when it comes to recruiting, whether it’s a guy like Alonzo Verge from the junior college ranks or Zylan Cheatham as a transfer or Dort who was an international prospect. Remy Martin was rated (in the recruiting rankings) around 100 to 125, and I think that’s turned out fantastic. We’re going to look at it, what works best for us? And what is our team going to look like after next year and what do we have to do to continue to get better? If that means we can get involved with those types of (one-and-done) players, then we’ll continue to explore that. And if that means we have to go in different directions, then we’ll be prepared to do that as well.”
With Christopher's fellow five-star recruits Isaiah Todd, Jalen Green and Daishen Nix opting to sign the NBA's developmental G-League, even as some of them already signed a Letter of Intent with the school of their choice, one can certainly wonder if ASU's crown jewel of the 2020 recruiting class could ultimately follow suit.
"They’re things that are being discussed at our level and we’re still trying to figure out what the impact will be in regards to the G-League," Hurley admitted. "But they’re certainly stepping up their efforts to attract top talent. Right now at the moment, there’s a very specific, targeted group of players. So we’ll have to see where it leads but certainly is on our radar.”
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Luther Muhammed, one of the transfers who signed with the Sun Devils, was once a four-star prospect out of high school. In 2018, the Jersey City, New Jersey native decided on Ohio State. Two years later, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard chose to continue his basketball career at ASU over, namely, West Virginia, UCLA, and Seton Hall.
On Wednesday, Hurley said that Muhammed will have to sit out next season -- he’ll have two years of eligibility after that -- following the path that Zylan Cheatham and Rob Edwards set: integrating themselves as fierce practice players before seeing the court. And, Muhammed has some improving to do. In two seasons in Columbus, Muhammed only averaged seven points, two rebounds, and an assist despite playing 25 minutes a night.
“Luther Muhammed is a guy we've known about, a Jersey guy who's had a really good career at Ohio State. Made an impact, particularly as a defender,” Hurley said. “I think in the year that he’ll redshirt and sit out, he’s going to get after it and work in our player development to be ready to be an impact player when he’s eligible. It’s a formula that we’ve had in the past.”
For his final season of college basketball, Holland Woods is returning home. The Phoenix native who was lightly recruited out of Apollo High, despite putting up 27 points a game. In a short time at Portland State, Woods showed his output at Apollo was no fluke.
After not being recruited by ASU out of high school, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard heads to Tempe after a stint as one of the most lethal scorers in the Big Sky Conference. Last season, Woods notched nearly 18 points, five assists, two steals a game and, foreign words to ASU fans, shot almost 85 percent from the free-throw line.
Though he hasn’t graduated, Hurley said he’s spoken to Woods about trying to receive a waiver, which would add his versatility alongside Christopher’s next season.
“The experience of a guy like Holland Woods, who now has a chance to come back to the area and has had a very, very good career,” Hurley said. “He’s a guy who has produced at a very high level and he fits to a ‘T’ what I look for in a point guard.”
But, add in the fourth 2020 signing -- five star guard Marcus Bagley -- and it’s clear the Sun Devils have a problem. Hurley is going to have to construct an offense built all around his guards. It’s a philosophy he’s executed before but never with this many play-makers, this talented of a roster.
“That’s going to be a challenge because we have so many guys that can make plays,” Hurley said. “We’re going to have to convince everyone to coexist well and share the ball. It's always my job to figure that out and that's why the offseason is so critical. We're not sure where we stand with that at the moment. I've always used the month of July to try and get a handle on how we need to play and what our strengths are and anything to that nature. I'm not sure about the status of that at the moment.
"But as I put it all together and think about it and see the ability of the guards to go off the dribble and create, the ability for a guy like Josh Christopher to create a shot any time he wants. A guy like Marcus Bagley that is so athletic that he can rebound and really shoot the ball. You have this nice mixture of talent "
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Today's good news followed a less pleasant update last Sunday where junior forward Romello White announced that he is entering the transfer portal which was a heel turn of sorts from his previous decision a few weeks ago to enter his name in the NBA draft.
ASU only now has one player -- sophomore Jalen Graham -- who has primarily played in the post.
Hurley said he is currently in discussions with big men in the transfer portal and with two scholarship spots open, the Sun Devils still have some work to do on the recruiting trail. Regardless, while White’s departure hurts ASU, Hurley thinks it’s only a minor speed bump.
“It was obviously not great timing in terms of Romello’s decision. Mello was a guy that I anticipated being back and I’m a little bit blindsided by his departure,” Hurley said. “It’s any guy’s prerogative to explore their options and we appreciate everything that Romello did for our program over the three years on the court. He’s graduated and I’ve done my job in that department and we wish him the best in finding what he’s looking for next year.
"That being said, that opens the door for the possibility of current players on our roster to have more of a chance to impact what we’re doing. That should be exciting for the guys returning because we do have a strong nucleus of players that now would have a stronger chance of getting time on the floor.
“I still truly believe that that puts us in a position to be one of the better teams in the country next year.”
