Coming into the season, there was so many unknowns with this squad. Can they compete in the top heavy Big XII, is their young core good enough, can they compete with only playing a short 7-8 man lineup? So many questions that we thought were put to rest as the Sun Devils played the 62nd hardest non-conference schedule. They had an away game against Gonzaga which came down to the wire, wins against tournament teams in Grand Canyon, New Mexico, and most notably St. Mary's.
After starting the season 9-2, a lot of the media was ranking this team in the Top 25 or just outside it as their only losses were Gonzaga and Florida, both of which are ranked in the Top 25. But a lot has changed since the calendar turnover over to 2025 and the Sun Devils started Big XII conference play, So lets dive into it.
Can ASU Basketball still make the tournament?
After starting off Big XII conference play with a lowly 1-4 record with blowout losses to BYU and Kansas, ASU Basketball's hopes are looking bleak. Even though the Sun Devils started off the season with a 9-2 record with the 62nd ranked non-conference schedule, the Sun Devils didn't really position themselves well enough for this catastrophic fall off. With 15 games left in Big XII play before the tournament in Kansas City, it is going to take all but a miracle for Bobby Hurley and the boys to see any games in mid-march.
Ranked No. 62 in KenPom, the Sun Devils some of the worst metrics on offense when it comes to Turnover %, Block %, Steal %, and Free Throw %. They rank in the bottom 75 schools in all of these metrics. The team that was 9-2 in the end of December is simply not the team that is playing basketball in early January.
The first and most important thing that needs to happen, is the offense needs to stop giving up unnecessary possessions, make shots, and stop relying on one person to do all the work for them.
Who can lead this team to victory?
Joson Sanon who was the team's leading scorer has not played in three of the Sun Devils five Big XII tilts due to an apparent ankle injury he sustained against BYU. Prior to his injury, he lead the team with 13.5 points per game to go along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. More than the points that the Sun Devils are losing, its his presence on the court that is more of a glaring issue. Shooting nearly 50% from behind the three point arc, teams simply cannot leave him open. If you left Sanon open, he was almost always making that shot. Having a player of that caliber on the court, changes a teams entire game plan. If the team wants to be successful, they NEED to get Joson Sanon back on the court AND FAST!
Jayden Quaintance, while looking like one of the best young defenders in the game at just a young seventeen years old has done his job on the defensive end of the court, but in my opinion, has failed to live up to what he could be on the offensive side of the court. In sixteen games this season, he is averaging 9 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 1 assist. In high school playing for Overtime Elite, he was almost doubling those #'s at 17 points and 12 rebounds. While I understand that the talent level playing for OTE is different from playing in the Big XII, missing those points could be the difference between a loss and a win in two of their four losses. While I don't want to put the load solely on the back of a seventeen year old kid, Jayden scoring the rock, would definitely benefit this team.
Is Bobby Hurley on the hot seat?
Since I have read at least 700 tweets about it since their loss to UCF last night, I want to address this. At this point in time, I don't think that Bobby Hurley is on the hot seat. This team was projected to finish 13th in the Big XII this season and while only five games into the Big XII season, they are still projected to finish 13th.
This team has some things to work on without a doubt. What I will say, is that if Sanon, Quaintance, and Ali all come back next season like folks are projecting and the Sun Devils still do little to nothing with the talent, we may be having a different conversation at this time next year.
All in all, I think that Sun Devil fans get all up in arms about a few "bad losses" after the 9-2 start because of the bias to the success of the football team. Fans need to remember that football and basketball are two different sports and have absolutely zero correlation. The Big XII is arguably one of the top basketball conferences in the country if not the best. This Arizona State squad is very young and was never projected to compete with the big dogs this season. Give Bobby Hurley another year to bring in Big XII talent and lets have a conversation at this time next year.
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