Big 12 Basketball: Arizona State Picked for Last
College basketball season is upon us. Big 12 Men’s Basketball is lining up to be a show of top teams that can make a run at the National Championship. However, for the Arizona State Sun Devils it is a season to possibly prove the narrative about them is wrong. Arizona State has been picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference by the media.
Sun Devil head coach, Bobby Hurley, is entering his 11th season in Tempe. Hurley is also in his last year of his contract. Many questions surround this version of Arizona State. The squad only returns one scholarship player from last season, so Coach Hurley went into the transfer portal to fill out the roster. Hurley went after scorers in the portal.
One of those players that Coach Hurley went after was a JUCO player by the name of Vijay Wallace. Wallace is a good scorer. Unfortunately, Vijay Wallace went down with a lower leg injury during a pre-season game and will be lost for the season.
Players to watch for ASU
Adante’ Holiman (5-foot-11, senior): Holiman is a proven scorer who averaged 16.9 points per game and hit 81 3-pointers at Georgia Southern last season. He can put the ball in the basket when he wants to.
Allen Mukeba (6-foot-8, graduate): The Belgian forward played at Oakland last season, where he averaged 14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Solid player who does a bit of everything on the court.
Moe Odum (6-foot-2, senior): The addition of Odum should be a massive help at point guard. He averaged 13.1 points and was fourth nationally with 7.5 assists per game at Pepperdine last season. He’ll push the tempo for the Sun Devils.
Marcus Adams Jr. (6-foot-8, sophomore): Adams is another steady scorer who averaged 16.5 points on 53% shooting and 4.9 rebounds at Cal State Northridge last season.
Massamba Diop (7-foot-1, freshman): The Senegalese big man has a high ceiling and played in Europe before moving to the United States.
Departures from the Sun Devils
The biggest departure from last years team is certainly Jayden Quaintance, who had an injury filled year in Tempe, transferred to Kentucky. Alston Mason, B.J. Freeman, Basheer Jihad, Joson Sanon and Adam Miller have also departed Arizona State. These players accounted for about 96% of the offense for the Sun Devils last season.
Hurley and his contract
Bobby Hurley has spent 11 years in Tempe. This season he is in the final year of his contract. By going out and essentially retooling his entire team the expectation is a bit of an unknown. Even Hurley admitted as much.
“My team is a little bit mysterious,” Hurley said.
With the unknowns about the team so apparent will Arizona State be willing to extend Hurley? I am not so sure. He hasn’t made any deep runs into the NCAA Tournament. He’s made the Big Dance, but he also has made a quick exit after losing three times in the First Four games. The program has been average for the majority of Hurley’s tenure. Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, and national runner up, Houston are all in the same conference. It will be extremely tough to make a dent into the upper half of the Big 12 Conference. If Hurley can’t crack the upper echelon of the conference Hurley just may be looking for a new job.
Michael J. Wilson-The Daily Waiver
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