Last Saturday evening, Sam Cunliffe found himself walking out of Viejas Arena fresh off a momentum-starting comeback win over San Diego State. Before heading off to the busses that would drive them home to Tempe, he offered a quick wave to the media still completing their rounds of postgame interviews.

Maybe only he knew it at the time, but he had just played his final game as a Sun Devil.

Cunliffe stunned many on Monday by requesting his release from his scholarship with the intent to transfer. He tweeted later that night, saying he had no indication what the future would hold but that he had to return home to Seattle.

The four-star prospect, who had been the crowning jewel of head coach Bobby Hurley’s first full recruiting class at ASU and represented the bright future that had been promised, was gone after just 10 career games. He had started each game this season, averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while playing largely out of position.

Hurley sensed his future star was unhappy but was still rattled with the timing – fresh off a major win, with things finally starting to click with the young squad.

“It’s something that we were working through for a short period of time,” Hurley said of his relationship with Cunliffe. “It was not completely unexpected. There were some conversations had, leading into the decision. The timing and way that it happened was not expected, based on the way we had won and the progress that we made in that game. But it does not come as a complete surprise to our staff.”

Cunliffe’s departure immediately puts an extreme stress on the remaining Sun Devils, who already have struggled with depth issues. The development of Cunliffe’s fellow freshman newcomer, Jethro Tshisumpa, has been promising, but will suddenly face a tougher test.

It also means they miss out on the promise of Cunliffe fulfilling his potential. Numerous scouting sites have projected Cunliffe as a player who could find himself at the next level, which is something Hurley echoed throughout the preseason.

For now, Hurley said his only hope for Cunliffe is that he is able to find what he is looking for.

“I sincerely do wish Sam the best in finding his happiness playing basketball,” he said. “It’s kind of my message to players. It was a great four years when I played [at Duke], the greatest four years of your life. You want to be happy. You want to try to get the most out of it. It wasn’t my decision. I loved coaching him. I enjoyed having him in the program. I enjoyed getting to know his family. I think the potential is definitely there. Everything I’ve said about Sam could still be achieved individually wherever he ends up.”

The transfer market has become a regular part of college basketball, as the ASU program can attest to with players such as junior guard Shannon Evans and senior Torian Graham regularly contributing. ASU also recently landed the commitment of Ohio State transfer Mickey Mitchell, who will be eligible next December.

“It’s happening everywhere,” Hurley said. “I think just about every program deals with it. I think there were around 700 transfers last year [in college basketball]. A majority of them come from guys who have been in the program one, two years and maybe aren’t getting the playing time and that kind of thing so it just doesn’t work out. It’s part of the culture. Players have options, and they have a right to do what’s in their best interest.”

In losing his best-ever recruit, Hurley said he will have to reevaluate his process.

“It just makes us work harder to try and identify the right people that want to be here, that appreciate the opportunity of being here, that don’t feel it’s beneath them to be here and want to be a part of winning championships. As a product of winning championships and contending and being a winning program, then the individual glory comes there as a result of that. I hope we can do a good job to find those guys that want to do it here.”