Is Arizona State As Good As Advertised?

Arizona State has come into the 2024-2025 Men’s Basketball Season feeling better about themselves than they have in recent years. People around the program have said that this current squad is better in talent and that they could do something special.

Is that the case though?

Now, the season is very young. I have seen them play twice so far. The first time I saw them play was at Duke where it was probably the most embarrassing loss in school history. The Sun Devils lost that exhibition game 107-47 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Sun Devils were completely outclassed in that game with players and coaching. Granted, that game was an exhibition game. It didn’t count in terms of wins and losses, but things went so bad that you had to wonder if it would have lingering consequences.

On Tuesday night, Arizona State played their first official game against Big Sky opponent, Idaho State in Tempe.

The good news was that the Sun Devils sneaked out a win, 55-48 against the Bengals.

However, this game was a one possession game with about 4:40 left in the game. Idaho State shouldn’t have been this close in any aspect of the game. The Sun Devils have talent for sure. It’s unproven talent though.

Jayden Quaintance, who originally signed with Kentucky, but once John Calipari left and became the coach at Arkansas, Quaintance signed with Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils. Quaintance is the Sun Devils highest rated player in the internet rankings era. Jayden was the number two ranked center in the country and the ninth rated prospect in the country. Quaintance looks like a highly ranked prospect. His broad shoulders, long arms, athletic ability just scream five-star talent. Coach Bobby Hurley had the No. 4 recruiting class this past year. This recruiting class also includes five-star point guard Jason Sanon. Sanon and Quaintance could be a phenomenal guard, big man combination for Arizona State, but young talent needs to marinate a bit more before it gets to the “eating” stage. Keep your eye on those two guys.

The Big 12 Conference is a good basketball conference. This type of play will not go over too well when you play the likes of Kansas, Arizona, Houston, or Baylor. The Sun Devils are going to have to sharpen up their play before Big 12 Conference play begins or this season could go south in a hurry.

Having talent is one thing, but having culture and chemistry is totally different. It’s not there yet for the Devils. We have to let this develop over the course of the season, but right now it just seems disjointed.

Michael J. Wilson-The Daily Waiver