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Mahasin intrigued by ASU’s coaches and teaming up with his former QB

Hassan Mahasin’s father took his attention away from his son’s seven-on-seven tournament. He was on the phone with coaches from Arizona State who began inquiring about Hassan’s football future, about the skills he was watching in real-time.


The relationship eventually translated from ASU and Mahasin’s father to the 5-foot-10, 175-pound athlete himself. And, in March, the three-star prospect out of San Mateo, Calif.’s Junipero Serra earned an offer from the Sun Devils


“It was crazy,” Mahasin said. “I never thought ASU would offer me. After the season they had, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’”

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The Sun Devils are now just one of a quintet of programs that have extended an offer to Mahasin and stand alongside Colorado as the only power-five programs on his list. But the relationship he’s formed with ASU’s coaches has stuck out so far.


“The coaches keep it real with you. It’s like a family, almost,” Mahasin said. “The coaches tell you what’s real, what’s not. We don’t really talk about football; it’s more about life and stuff … The coaches will ask me about my family and how my mom and dad are doing.”


Mahasin mentioned ASU’s ‘Pro Model,’ which is largely spearheaded by coach Herm Edwards and co-defensive coordinators Antonio Pierce and Marvin Lewis. But it’s wide receivers coach Prentice Gill and defensive analyst Anthony Garnett who have been his main recruiters.


Both Garnett and Gill haven’t been to the NFL. They’re not the guys ASU speaks about with the ‘Pro Model.’ Instead, they’re two young guys from Southern California who aren’t decades past being where kids like Mahasin are.


“They give me good advice,” Mahasin said of Gill and Garnett. “I’ll show them videos of me working out, and they give me advice on what I should be doing, and what I shouldn’t, what my strengths and weaknesses are. Stuff like that … I love it. They’ve been through it.”

At Serra, Mahasin said, he was the proverbial Renaissance man. He played outside receiver, slot receiver, running back and returned both kicks and punts. With all those weapons in his arsenal, he noted that schools are recruiting him as a true athlete and likely won’t designate him to a position until he’s on campus.


“Last year, I played running back more because that’s where the team needed me,” he said. “This year, I’m going to be working on my routes, hands, and, as always, my feet.”


One of his biggest skillsets, though, is his speed. He’s also a high school sprinter whose clocked a 100-meter time of just a hair over 12 seconds and a 200--meter time of 25.249 seconds.


Regardless, there’s area for him to improve.


“(Coaches) say that I need to improve on my top-end speed when I’m running routes and putting in some more extra stuff on my routes instead of just running a basic route,” Mahasin said. “I’m the hardest worker. I work out six days a week. All my hard work goes into that.”


ASU does have another factor at work for it in Mahasin’s recruitment. Last season, his quarterback at Junipero Serra was Daylin McLemore, the three-star pro-style prospect who is now in the Arizona State quarterbacks room.


Mahasin said he has yet to really ask his former quarterback much about ASU. Yet, it’s hard to think there wouldn’t be some texts exchanged if the Sun Devils were still on Mahasin’s short list as the 2022 Letter of Intent day drew near.


Even without much info from McLemore, Mahasin has spent the last few months gathering information about Arizona State


“(I’ve learned) that they’re going to be a great football team for the next few years,” he said. “They’re on the up-and-up. They’re getting all the top recruits, so that’s good. Herm Edwards has done a great job over there.”


Though he’s still unsure when he wants to commit, Mahasin has an idea of what he’s looking for in a school.


“(I’m looking for a school that is) family-oriented, has a football atmosphere, great coaching,” he said. “That’s mostly it.”


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