As Hurley and ASU began to structure its non-conference schedule, including a trip to a pair of SEC schools in Georgia and Vanderbilt, sophomore forward Romello White was in their thoughts.

White grew up in Suwanee, Georgia, just an hour away from Athens, Georgia.

“We were happy we were able to set this game up because it gave him a chance for that and we like to try and do that with as many guys from out of the area as possible.”

White and his family have been eager for the time when December 15 rolled out. He’s said 40-50 people are going to be at the Devils’ game in Georgia to come to watch him play, which required the forward to ask a bevy of his teammates for their tickets.

He’s already begun to feel the pressure, prompting enthusiasm and excitement that’s shown itself on the practice courts.

“I can see the way he’s been practicing, the enthusiasm for getting on that plane tomorrow,” Hurley said. “He’s got a lot of family and friends going to the game. So, he’s looking forward to it.”

None of his family and friends have seen him play in-person in college yet. As he talks about what Saturday is going to bring, White begins to smile. His excitement bursting through days before the Sun Devils will step foot in The Peach State.

He knows he can’t get overly excited. But at least if he does his mom will be there this time.

“My mom checks me,” White said. “When I get too hype or when I get in my head, she’ll be screaming out me. I’ve got to chill out.”

Edwards not discouraged by latest performance

Rob Edwards is tired of sitting out.

A year ago, after transferring to Arizona State from Cleveland State and having to miss the entire season due to NCAA transfer rules, he was forced to. His absence over the past month, though, wasn’t in the plans.

His lower back caused mild discomfort weeks before the season started but he kept playing. Then after the Devils’ first game of the season -- a double-overtime win over Cal State Fullerton in which Edwards dropped 14 points -- he couldn’t reach down and take his socks off. His back had gone stiff.

“I got an MRI and we figured out what the problem was, (a bulging disc,)” Edwards said. “From there, it was just bed rest and come in and get treatments and medications and try to feel better. It helped out, eventually. (After) the cortisone shot I felt much better.”

For weeks his routine became repetitive.

“I wake up. Usually before practice, about 8 or 9, I go to physical therapy and I get stretched out,” Edwards said. “Then before I leave, I get loose and I come into practice and get stretched out again and I’ve got to bike before I get on the court and get a sweat going. Then after practice … I take care of my body and go home and rest.”

Edwards would lay in his bed watching the Sun Devils play on TV, shooting the ball on the ceiling as his teammates were battling without him. Friends and family called to lift up the junior as he anxiously waited for the moment he would get back on the court.

In that time, Edwards and ASU head coach Bobby Hurley were at the mercy of doctors. His routine and availability didn’t involve a “feel” or “look” test. It was the doctor’s call.

After a six-game hiatus, they gave him the go-ahead for the Sun Devils’ eighth game of the season against No. 6 Nevada in Los Angeles. Though he was on a specific minutes restriction, the ASU guard was thrown right back in the fire.

“I (thought I) can just come back in and it would be clicking,” Edwards said. “I thought it was going to be easy.”

It was anything but.

Edwards logged 14 minutes against the Wolf Pack and attempted five shots that all missed the mark. He added a pair of rebounds and a steal but his return failed to meet the guard’s lofty expectations.

Hurley, though, knows the integration of Edwards and fellow guard Remy Martin, who also missed time with an injury, is a process that takes time.

“We have to be patient with those guys as they get adjusted from a lot of time off and just finding their niche within what we’re doing and I just know that there are great things ahead for both those guys,” Hurley said. “They’re moving a lot better than they did last week.”

This moment has been looming large for Hurley and the Sun Devils: the time when every member of ASU’s roster would finally be healthy. It hadn’t happened up until the Nevada game, and even then, the Sun Devils weren’t all 100 percent.

In that time, too, the Sun Devils were winning in a lineup that was gaining experience together without Edwards or Martin. Edwards didn’t want to screw up that rhythm that led ASU to a 7-0 record. But after the Nevada game, he’s had a few practices to show his teammates the player he truly is.

“Guys know now that I’m not going to have a performance like that again,” Edwards said.

SEC trip to simulate a Pac-12 weekend

As will be the case when conference season rolls around for the Sun Devils, they’ll play two games at two different locations with just one day of rest. ASU will be in Athens on December 15 to face Georgia and then in Nashville on December 17 to face Vanderbilt.

That scheduling wasn’t an accident.

“It’s going to be a good way to rehearse for conference road scenario and that’s how we’ve approached it,” Hurley said. “Just trying to simulate those conditions. We’re going to have to go on the road really soon in the Pac-12 and play a two-game set.”

The Sun Devils faced a similar scenario with the MGM Resorts Main Event tournament in Vegas right before Thanksgiving. They beat then-No. 15 Mississippi State on Monday and then Utah State on Wednesday. But those games were both at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.

The Sun Devil players have reiterated that they need to take these trips with a one-game-at-a-time mentality, focusing on the challenges Georgia presents to them before looking at Vanderbilt.

“Georgia, they’re long and athletic,” White said. “They have a lot of guys that can rebound. I think they have the No. 2 shot-blocker in the SEC (Nicolas Claxton.) They’re a hard team.”

White mentioned Claxton, a sophomore forward who leads the Bulldogs in blocks, rebounds and minutes per game while coming in as Georgia’s second-highest point-scorer, right behind forward Rayshaun Hammonds’ 14.4 points per contest.

Like the Sun Devils, Georgia boasts loads of size and athleticism with guys like Claxton and Hammonds. And with first-year head coach Tom Crean, who was formally at Indiana, at the helm, Hurley knows Saturday won’t be a game where ASU outmatches its opponent.

“I don’t think we’re going to come close to overwhelming them from a size, athleticism standpoint,” Hurley said. “I just know Tom Crean is an excellent coach and that he’s going to have his team prepared and they’re going to work hard, they’re going to compete.

“It’s going to be a real good test for us.”