ASU men’s basketball’s frontcourt has been riddled with injuries, illnesses, and missed games in 2020-21.
Forward Marcus Bagley has missed 10 of the Sun Devils’ 21 games, forward Taeshon Cherry has played in just seven games, and forward Jalen Graham has missed four games due to various illnesses.
The absences have led ASU head coach Bobby Hurley to call on a player unlikely to see the floor much, if at all, when the season began.
Hurley has inserted big man John Olmsted into his lineup. The six-foot-ten-inch sophomore out of tiny Morenci High School in the mining community of Morenci, AZ had practically no experience at the Division I level before Feb. 11 when Hurley played him 10 minutes against Oregon.
Before the game against the Ducks, the walk-on had played a total of eight minutes in seven games in his college career. In February, Olmsted has played 69 minutes. While his numbers have not been off the charts, he has done the little things. He has shown he can set solid screens, take charges on the defensive end and rebound the basketball.
Olmsted credits his efforts in practice as a catalyst to seeing time on the floor.
“I try and pretty much be perfect in practice each and every day so I feel like they’ve kind of been able to notice that, and that’s kind of what’s given them some of the trust to be able to trust me in these games,” Olmsted said.
Olmsted had an interesting journey to ASU. Basketball, much less Division I basketball, was not on his radar growing up. Due to his family being in mining, he spent nine years of his childhood in Chile.
“American sports weren’t really a thing,” Olmsted explained. “I was focused on soccer down there because that’s the main sport.”
When Olmsted moved back to the United States at the end of his sixth-grade year, he still was not too interested in hoops.
Olmsted played baseball up until his sophomore year of high school when he became involved with the now-Phoenix Prep AAU team.
“Once I came down to this new club team, It was more of a serious thing and more time intense, so that’s when I realized I wanted to focus more on basketball and give it everything I could, Olmsted said.”
Eventually, colleges came calling. Schools from the junior college to Division I level showed interest, and Olmsted decided to walk-on at ASU.
Morenci does not produce many Division I athletes so Olmsted’s increased playing time has been followed closely by people in his hometown.
“A bunch of my coaches text me,” Olmsted remarked. “Even the wrestling coach. Like he was our strength and conditioning guy, and we’ve been really good friends. It’s a tight knit community, so there’s been a lot of people that have reached out and kind of said, hey, congrats, and it’s awesome that you’re … able to play.”
Olmsted’s increased playing time means higher expectations from Hurley now that the big man has shown he can be a solid Division I player.
“It’s funny how life works,” Hurley stated. “Because now like my expectations for him have gotten higher because I’ve seen him do some things out there.”
As for his goals for the season, Olmsted hopes the Sun Devils can make a run in the Pac-12 tournament.
“We’re trying to win these next (three) games,” Olmsted said. “Just kind of get on a roll …. And then go into the Pac-12 tournament, make a run in that, win and then hopefully be able to make it to the (NCAA) tournament again.”
