It’s been a slow start to the school year for Arizona State athletics. If you’re following the Sun Devils college football season, you might be disappointed. So far, they played one game where they blew a late-game lead against USC, and each of their next two games have been canceled due to Covid-19 outbreaks within the program. The Hockey team has played three games losing twice to Michigan to open the season and tied against Michigan State to begin their first season competing as a member of the Big Ten. For a university that has a hard time producing powerhouse teams, there has been one bright spot for the university in recent years, and that’s the basketball program led by Bobby Hurley.
Hurley was hired by the Sun Devils prior to the 2015/2016 season, and after a bumpy start, has turned a lackluster Sun Devils team into a perennial competitor. In his first two seasons, Hurley went 15-17 and 15-18, respectively. His conference record in his first year was 5-13, resulting in a dismal 11th place finish in the Pac-12 Conference, and 7-11 his second year and 8th place in the conference. Those first two years left fans questioning whether Hurley was the right man for the job. Though, over the course of the next three seasons, Hurley earned his stripes and eased the worries of the diehard Sun Devils fans.
Bobby Hurley has led the Sun Devils to three straight 20-win seasons, and all with mixed results. In the 2017/2018 season, Hurley’s Devils went 12-0 to open up the season and ranked 3rd in the AP top 25, but went 8-10 the rest of the way and tied for 8th in the conference. Despite the abysmal conference record, the Sun Devils still managed to make the NCAA Tournament before losing in the round of 68 against historic powerhouse Syracuse. For the 2018/2019 season, Hurley’s team underperformed in non-conference games compared to the previous season but still managed to go 12-6 in conference play (2nd in the conference), 23-11 overall, and another trip to the NCAA Tournament. They beat St John’s in the round of 68 before a blowout loss against Buffalo in the Round of 64. The Sun Devils went 20-11 with an 11-7 conference record (3rd in the conference) in the 2019/2020 season and were in a position to make it three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in 60 years, but the tournament was nixed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in America. Quite simply, Bobby Hurley in five seasons has put ASU basketball back on the map, and with a significant number of returning players, he seems poised to build on the success of the last three seasons. Hurley’s sixth season at the helm will begin Wednesday, November 25th, when the Sun Devils take on the Baylor Bears.
Hurley had coached two seasons at Buffalo prior to his arrival in Tempe. His Buffalo team would win the MAC regular-season titles in both 2013/2014 and 2014/2015.
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