Bobby Hurley looks to stay off the hot seat as Arizona State basketball transitions to the Big 12.
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Arizona State basketball.
After back-to-back losing seasons in 2020 and 2021, it seemed like Bobby Hurley was at the top of any hot seat power rankings and needed a winning season to save his job. He did so, winning 23 the following season and making the tournament. However, after a 14-18 performance last year, the seat may be warm again, and Hurley will need another big season for any comfort.
They’ll have to do it with a different team, losing 8 players from last year’s roster, including three of the top four scorers. Scoring won’t be an issue for next year’s team, however, as Bobby Hurley went to work in the portal and brought in three guys who averaged 17 or more for their teams last season. For grades on all five Arizona State transfers, click here.
The most notable part of the new roster is the recruits. They had a little bit of luck, with the two recruits both originally committing to Kentucky and Arizona, but both will be suiting up for Arizona State basketball. The most notable is Jayden Quaintance, the 247Sports #9 recruit, who at just 17 years old, shows a lot of potential. They also bring in Joson Sanon, a 6-5 guard ranked 24th in his class.
This team has a lot of various talent, but they’ll need it to all come together to compete in a Big 12 conference that is looking as dangerous as ever. This is a big year for Bobby Hurley, so the pressure is on.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Bobby Hurley (12th season overall, 10th at Arizona State)
2023-24 record: 14-18 (8-12)
2024 postseason finish: No postseason appearance
Notable departures:
- Frankie Collins (13.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.2 APG)
- Jose Perez (13.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.7 APG)
- Jamiya Neal (11.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.8 APG)
- Alonzo Gaffney (6.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.4 APG)
- Kamari Lands (4.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0.8 APG)
- Bryant Selebangue (4.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 0.4 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- N/A
Projected Rotation
PG: Alston Mason (6-2, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 17.5 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.0 RPG (Missouri State)
SG: Adam Miller (6-3, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 12.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 81.8 FT%
SF: BJ Freeman (6-6, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 21.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, 82.4 FT% (Milwaukee)
PF: Basheer Jihad (6-9, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 18.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.1 BPG, 1.1 SPG (Ball State)
C: Jayden Quaintance (6-9, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #9 ranked recruit
6: Joson Sanon (6-5, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #24 ranked recruit
7: Austin Nunez (6-2, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 0.7 PPG, 0.6 RPG, 0.6 APG, 6.7 MPG (Ole Miss)
8: Shawn Phillips (7-0, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 5.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.4 APG, 1.1 BPG, 55.3 FG%
9: Brandon Gardner (6-8, Fr.)
2023 247Sports Composite #93 ranked recruit
10: Brycen Long (6-2, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 4.0 PPG, 0.5 RPG, 0.3 APG
Arizona State Basketball team MVP: Adam Miller
It’s hard to pick an MVP on a team that brings in so many new players, but Adam Miller should be the top contributor, at least early on due to his experience under Hurley. Miller has had an interesting career, showing a lot of promise as a freshman at Illinois, then suffering a knee injury and missing the next season, then joining LSU for a season before finally ending at Arizona State.
Miller was only allowed to play about half the season due to the NCAA two-time waiver rule. He had a lot of good and a lot of bad. He’ll need to be more consistent as the leader of this team this season. Defensively, he can be sharp when he turns it on, the issue will be making sure he is focused and not taking plays off. At the end of the season, the team MVP could look different, but if Miller can put up 13-15 PPG, that’ll be enough to make Coach Hurley happy.
Arizona State Basketball make-or-break player: Jayden Quaintance
At 6-9, 230 pounds, Quaintance is an imposing physical threat down low. He’ll be used to setting screens, being a lob threat offensively, and being a rim protector defensively. He turned 17 in July, so he’s extremely young, but that means he has a lot of room to grow, and there’s no better way to grow than in-game experience. Expect him to get better and better as the season goes on.
With that being said, he’ll have to go up against guys who are four, five, or even six years older than him. In the NBA, that might not matter as much but in college that plays a big factor. Hunter Dickinson, the Kansas center, will be 24 when he matches up against Quaintance. These experienced bigs like Dickinson will fully know how to take advantage of this mismatch, which could force Quaintance out of the game. If he can hold his own though, not only does that give Arizona State a huge boost, but also boosts his draft stock when his time comes.
Key analytic: Turnovers per game
Despite the overall poor performance last year, Arizona State actually did a good job limiting turnovers last year. They averaged 10.5 a game, 66th least in the country, and 1.2 a game less than the previous year. The problem is, that the guys they brought in through the transfer portal don’t have that same level of ball security. Freeman and Jihad combined averaged 7 a game, both finishing top 15 in the country. Alston Mason had 2.4 a game himself, so between just the three of them, they nearly total the same amount the entire Arizona State basketball team had last year.
So, which side wins? Does Coach Hurley find a way to limit turnovers from these players and keep them on a path to success, or does this remain an issue throughout the year? All three of these players were very ball-dominant last year, so the turnovers per game will definitely go down for all three, but this will still be an area for concern for this program, especially when they have to play defensive-minded programs like Houston and Iowa State.
Arizona State Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 13th in the Big 12
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 64