In late October, Duke basketball treasure Bobby Hurley returned to Durham for the inaugural Brotherhood Run, and his 10th batch of Arizona State Sun Devils left with a 103-47 loss to Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils.
At the time, the media’s outlook on the 2024-25 Sun Devils was quite dim.
Now, though, Arizona State looks primed to potentially return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 season. And Hurley has joined the 200-wins club as a head coach.
On top of holding their own in an 88-80 road loss to the No. 4-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs on Sunday, the Sun Devils (3-1, 0-0 Big 12) have picked up a couple of encouraging wins. They include Thursday night’s 87-76 home victory over the previously unbeaten Grand Canyon Antelopes, earning high praise from national college hoops expert Jon Rothstein:
“Two and a half weeks ago, Arizona State looked like it was headed for purgatory after its Charity Exhibition at Duke. It now owns a pair of likely Quad 2 wins over Grand Canyon and Santa Clara. Bobby Hurley has rallied the Sun Devils.”
The Valley’s Finest 😈@SunDevilHoops defeats Grand Canyon at the Footprint Center 🔱#ActivateTheValley /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/HJmyqRpI5F
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 15, 2024
Hurley, who remains the all-time NCAA assists leader (1,076) and is one of 13 Duke basketball players with their jersey numbers hanging from Cameron Indoor Stadium’s rafters, boasts a 158-132 record at Arizona State.
Counting his two seasons leading the Buffalo Bulls, the 53-year-old New Jersey native is now 200-152 overall (56.8 winning percentage).
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