Post by mhbruin on Jul 26, 2021 9:02:59 GMT -8
Next are the 9th Place Arizona State Sun Devils, the biggest disappointment last season. They started the season ranked #17 in the country. They finished the season 11-14. Their best win was over Grand Canyon by 1 point. (They won the game, but they are losing 2 players to Grand Canyon.) They lost to 9-12 UTEP by 13.
What went wrong? For a start they had no front line.
Then, they had players miss a lot of games due to injury, COVID, and family issues.
Also, I wrote this in my preview, "There is one other looming problem. Martin, Verge, and Josh Christopher all like to shoot the ball. They REALLY like to shoot the ball. And all of them will be auditioning for the NBA. Will this be one huge ego battle, or will they develop chemistry?"
Clearly it was an ego battle, but it was even worse than I anticipated. Bagley was also auditioning for the NBA. One basketball wasn't enough for this team. And NCAA rules don't let them use more than one basketball.
Now they lose a ton of talent and experience. Ten players from last year's team are leaving. They are going to need some of the transfers to step up, but a couple could be ready to do that.
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT
Will Alonzo Verge return? No. He is in the transfer portal as well.
Marcus Bagley and Remy Martin are in both the transfer portal and the draft.
TRANSFERRING OUT
In addition to losing 4 players to the draft, they are losing 4 significant rotation players to the transfer portal.
House is a legacy, but he was also a 4-star recruit out of high school. He was playing well by the end of the season and he was their best 3-point shooter. He was a pest of a defender and led them in steals, even with only 16 minutes a game. He will be missed.
Cherry was a 4-star they expected big things from, but it never materialized. He was ranked #34 out of high school. He left the team in December for personal reasons. At least he won't have to travel far to get to Grand Canyon. It is in Phoenix.
Osten was the only real size on the roster.
Holland Woods is not a picnic area. He was a grad transfer who was a decent player for the Sun Devils. He also has a very short move to his new school.
Dziuba, 17, was seen as a raw recruit with the distinction of being the youngest player in Division I basketball. He was late in arriving to ASU in the fall because of international travel restrictions connected to COVID. He also missed a chunk of games in the middle of the season due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols. He was seen as one of the top international prospects after averaging 13.8 points and nine rebounds at the FIBA under-16 Division B European Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro. He didn't play enough to be missed.
Bobby Hurley only recruited Caleb Christopher to get his younger brother, Josh, to come to ASU. Now that Josh has left for the pros, apparently Hurley wants his ride back.
Feit is a walk-on who put his name in the portal last season, only to return. Maybe the second time is the charm.
RETURNING
Arizona State returns exactly ONE player who played 10 or more minutes a game for them.
Marcus Bagley didn't surprise a lot of people when he pulled out of the NBA draft. However, he did shock people when he also pulled out of the transfer portal and returned to the Sun Devils. I wonder if he found there was a lot of NIL money waiting for him in Phoenix.
Jalen Graham was forced to play out of position, due to the lack of a center, and he didn't really get the chance to shine with all the "stars" on the team. He may be better than he has looked.
The same goes for Kimani Lawrence, who will take advantage of the NCAA ruling and come back for a fifth year.
Olmstead only played in 12 games. The fact that they desperately needed size and didn't use a 6-10 235 guy much tells you a lot about how good he is.
They are returning THREE players from last season's rotation. That may be the worst in the NCAA, particularly for a team that isn't losing their coach. Could it be that players don't like playing for Bobby Hurley?
(#27 class, #3 in Pac-12)
There are two transfers here, who could contribute a lot: Jackson and Muhammad. Hurley will need them to.
Luther Muhammad transferred a year ago, but had to sit out a year. He picked the Sun Devils over UCLA, Seton Hall, West Virginia, and New Mexico. (*Since he didn't transfer this year, CBS didn't rank him. However, ESPN ranked him #10 last year.)
Marreon Jackson was the MAC player of the year. He played 3 games against quality opponents, Michigan, Xavier and, in the NCAA Tournament, Richmond. He was terrible in each of them.
Hurley seems to have a unique transfer strategy. Find the best player on the worst team in a league. Heath and Horne fit that patters.
Jay Heath was the leading scorer on the worst team in the ACC and BC plays a very slow style. It remains to be seen how he adapts to Hurley's faster style. Heath had 10 games in which he scored 20 points or more with a season-high of 28 in a 93-64 loss to Florida State. He looks like he could contribute.
D.J. Horne (who is no relation to DJ Kahlid) was a 42% 3-point shooter on the worst team in the Missouri Valley Conference. He led the team in scoring and steals.
(Fortunately Jeriah Horne is leaving Colorado. Having D.J. Horne and Jeriah Horne in the Pac-12 is too many Hornes, even if Buffaloes and Devils both have horns. I'll have to deal with SC's Harrison Hornery.)
Gaffney is the second former Buckeye on the roster. He was highly rated out of high school but wasn't getting PT at Ohio State and moved on to a JUCO. He looks to be as thin as rail (whatever that means).
CONCLUSION
Javian Hamlet is leaving North Texas. Hamlet is coming to the NBA. And Birnam forest is coming come to Dunsinane.
Holland Woods is leaving ASU. Holland Woods is coming to Grand Canyon. No comment so far from Lady Macbeth.
The Sun Devils' next season could be a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions. Could Bobby Hurley lose his job at the end of this season? Bobby should beware the Ides of March.
Is this a basketball preview or is it a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?
Bobby Hurley is bringing in TEN new players. He is trying to build a roster almost from scratch. Who does he think he is, Dana Altman? Chip Kelly?
He has some returning talent to build upon and hs some talented kids coming in. Will this be enough?
While he has had some success in rebuilding quickly, this a going to be a really tough rebuild. He might find it hard to get to .500 in a pretty strong Pac-12 and his seat will be getting hot.
I predict they will finish 9th. Less1Brain predicts 10th. Wilner and Torvick predict 7th and 6th.
Any way you look at it, no one predicts Hurley's team will finish in the top half of the league or make the tournament.
In his six seasons at ASU he has won 63% of his games. Although he has won 20 or more games three times, he has never made it past the Round of 64 in the NCAA tournament. 2021 was supposed to be his year. It wasn't.
Here is Hurley's record at ASU:
Barring a big surprise next season, the Bobby Hurley era at ASU may be coming to an end.
What went wrong? For a start they had no front line.
Then, they had players miss a lot of games due to injury, COVID, and family issues.
Also, I wrote this in my preview, "There is one other looming problem. Martin, Verge, and Josh Christopher all like to shoot the ball. They REALLY like to shoot the ball. And all of them will be auditioning for the NBA. Will this be one huge ego battle, or will they develop chemistry?"
Clearly it was an ego battle, but it was even worse than I anticipated. Bagley was also auditioning for the NBA. One basketball wasn't enough for this team. And NCAA rules don't let them use more than one basketball.
Now they lose a ton of talent and experience. Ten players from last year's team are leaving. They are going to need some of the transfers to step up, but a couple could be ready to do that.
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Might Return? |
| Josh Christopher | 30 | 14 | 5 | 1 | No |
Will Alonzo Verge return? No. He is in the transfer portal as well.
Marcus Bagley and Remy Martin are in both the transfer portal and the draft.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Remy Martin | 34 | 19 | 2 | 4 | Kansas |
| Alonzo Verge | 30 | 14 | 4 | 4 | Nebraska |
| Jaelen House | 19 | 5 | 2 | 2 | New Mexico |
| Taeshon Cherry | 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Grand Canyon |
| Chris Osten | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Northern Illinois |
| Holland Woods | 26 | 7 | 2 | 2 | Grand Canyon |
| Kyle Feit | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pavlo Dziuba | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Maryland |
| Caleb Christopher | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Tennessee Tech |
In addition to losing 4 players to the draft, they are losing 4 significant rotation players to the transfer portal.
House is a legacy, but he was also a 4-star recruit out of high school. He was playing well by the end of the season and he was their best 3-point shooter. He was a pest of a defender and led them in steals, even with only 16 minutes a game. He will be missed.
Cherry was a 4-star they expected big things from, but it never materialized. He was ranked #34 out of high school. He left the team in December for personal reasons. At least he won't have to travel far to get to Grand Canyon. It is in Phoenix.
Osten was the only real size on the roster.
Holland Woods is not a picnic area. He was a grad transfer who was a decent player for the Sun Devils. He also has a very short move to his new school.
Dziuba, 17, was seen as a raw recruit with the distinction of being the youngest player in Division I basketball. He was late in arriving to ASU in the fall because of international travel restrictions connected to COVID. He also missed a chunk of games in the middle of the season due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols. He was seen as one of the top international prospects after averaging 13.8 points and nine rebounds at the FIBA under-16 Division B European Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro. He didn't play enough to be missed.
Bobby Hurley only recruited Caleb Christopher to get his younger brother, Josh, to come to ASU. Now that Josh has left for the pros, apparently Hurley wants his ride back.
Feit is a walk-on who put his name in the portal last season, only to return. Maybe the second time is the charm.
RETURNING
Arizona State returns exactly ONE player who played 10 or more minutes a game for them.
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Marcus Bagley | 30 | 14 | 5 | 1 | So | 4 | 28 |
| Jalen Graham | 24 | 8 | 5 | 0 | Jr | 4 | 109 |
| Kimani Lawrence | 24 | 8 | 5 | 1 | Sr 5 | 4 | 55 |
| John Olmsted | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Jr | Unranked |
Marcus Bagley didn't surprise a lot of people when he pulled out of the NBA draft. However, he did shock people when he also pulled out of the transfer portal and returned to the Sun Devils. I wonder if he found there was a lot of NIL money waiting for him in Phoenix.
Jalen Graham was forced to play out of position, due to the lack of a center, and he didn't really get the chance to shine with all the "stars" on the team. He may be better than he has looked.
The same goes for Kimani Lawrence, who will take advantage of the NCAA ruling and come back for a fifth year.
Olmstead only played in 12 games. The fact that they desperately needed size and didn't use a 6-10 235 guy much tells you a lot about how good he is.
They are returning THREE players from last season's rotation. That may be the worst in the NCAA, particularly for a team that isn't losing their coach. Could it be that players don't like playing for Bobby Hurley?
RECRUITS
(#27 class, #3 in Pac-12)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Enoch Boakye | 6-10 240 | C | 5 | 27 | UCLA, Michigan State, Arizona, Texas Tech |
| Demari Williams | 6-6 210 | SG | 3 | 173 | Baylor, Buffalo, Louisiana, Oral Roberts |
| William Felton | 6-8 220 | PF | 3 | 214 | Appalachian State, College of Charleston, Elon |
| Justin Rochelin | 6-4 175 | SF | 3 | 211 | California, Florida, Houston |
| Jamiya Neal | 6-6 185 | SF | 3 | 219 | Grand Canyon, James Madison, Kent State |
Boakye is the star of this class and fills a desperate need for size. Boakye de-commited from Michigan State in February, apparently because he saw a lot of immediate playing time in Tempe. He re-classified from 2022 to 2021.
Justin Rochelin, is the son of Charles and is the best of the 3-stars. He is likely underrated by quite a bit. He should probably be a 4-star, though not a top 100 player.
The rest are probably going to get some PT this season, but won't be coming close to carrying this team.
Justin Rochelin, is the son of Charles and is the best of the 3-stars. He is likely underrated by quite a bit. He should probably be a 4-star, though not a top 100 player.
The rest are probably going to get some PT this season, but won't be coming close to carrying this team.
TRANSFERRING IN
| Player | Size | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | From | Class | Transfer Rank | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Marreon Jackson | 6-1 200 | 34 | 18 | 6 | 6 | Toledo | Sr | 37 | Unranked | |
| Jay Heath | 6-3 175 | 34 | 15 | 3 | 2 | Boston College | Jr | 74 | 3 | 281 |
| Luther Muhammad | 6-3 185 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 1 | Ohio State | Jr | 10* | 4 | 79 |
| D.J. Horne | 6-1 175 | 30 | 15 | 4 | 3 | Illinois State | Jr | Unranked | ||
| Alonzo Gaffney | 6-9 190 | 8 | 5 | Ohio State via JUCO | Jr | 4 | 50 |
There are two transfers here, who could contribute a lot: Jackson and Muhammad. Hurley will need them to.
Luther Muhammad transferred a year ago, but had to sit out a year. He picked the Sun Devils over UCLA, Seton Hall, West Virginia, and New Mexico. (*Since he didn't transfer this year, CBS didn't rank him. However, ESPN ranked him #10 last year.)
Marreon Jackson was the MAC player of the year. He played 3 games against quality opponents, Michigan, Xavier and, in the NCAA Tournament, Richmond. He was terrible in each of them.
Hurley seems to have a unique transfer strategy. Find the best player on the worst team in a league. Heath and Horne fit that patters.
Jay Heath was the leading scorer on the worst team in the ACC and BC plays a very slow style. It remains to be seen how he adapts to Hurley's faster style. Heath had 10 games in which he scored 20 points or more with a season-high of 28 in a 93-64 loss to Florida State. He looks like he could contribute.
D.J. Horne (who is no relation to DJ Kahlid) was a 42% 3-point shooter on the worst team in the Missouri Valley Conference. He led the team in scoring and steals.
(Fortunately Jeriah Horne is leaving Colorado. Having D.J. Horne and Jeriah Horne in the Pac-12 is too many Hornes, even if Buffaloes and Devils both have horns. I'll have to deal with SC's Harrison Hornery.)
Gaffney is the second former Buckeye on the roster. He was highly rated out of high school but wasn't getting PT at Ohio State and moved on to a JUCO. He looks to be as thin as rail (whatever that means).
CONCLUSION
Javian Hamlet is leaving North Texas. Hamlet is coming to the NBA. And Birnam forest is coming come to Dunsinane.
Holland Woods is leaving ASU. Holland Woods is coming to Grand Canyon. No comment so far from Lady Macbeth.
The Sun Devils' next season could be a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions. Could Bobby Hurley lose his job at the end of this season? Bobby should beware the Ides of March.
Is this a basketball preview or is it a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?
Bobby Hurley is bringing in TEN new players. He is trying to build a roster almost from scratch. Who does he think he is, Dana Altman? Chip Kelly?
He has some returning talent to build upon and hs some talented kids coming in. Will this be enough?
While he has had some success in rebuilding quickly, this a going to be a really tough rebuild. He might find it hard to get to .500 in a pretty strong Pac-12 and his seat will be getting hot.
I predict they will finish 9th. Less1Brain predicts 10th. Wilner and Torvick predict 7th and 6th.
Any way you look at it, no one predicts Hurley's team will finish in the top half of the league or make the tournament.
In his six seasons at ASU he has won 63% of his games. Although he has won 20 or more games three times, he has never made it past the Round of 64 in the NCAA tournament. 2021 was supposed to be his year. It wasn't.
Here is Hurley's record at ASU:
| Record | Conference Finish | Post Season | |
| 2015-16 | 15-17 | 11th | |
| 2016-17 | 15-18 | 8th | |
| 2017-18 | 20-12 | 8th | NCAA First Four |
| 2018-19 | 23-11 | 2nd | NCAA Round of 64 |
| 2019-20 | 20-11 | 3rd | |
| 2020-21 | 11-14 | 8th |
Barring a big surprise next season, the Bobby Hurley era at ASU may be coming to an end.