ASU coach Hurley: I’m disappointed I can’t coach Sam Cunliffe going forward

It was big news when the Arizona State Sun Devils landed a commitment from Sam Cunliffe.

A four-star recruit from Seattle, the 6-foot-6 wing player was seen as one of the top players in the country, and was the best get for the program since James Harden in 2007.

Ten games into his first season, Cunliffe was solid, averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 25 minutes per game.

That’s why, in part, it was a shock when it was learned that he was transferring from ASU.

Since the initial report came out, Cunliffe sent a tweet mostly saying that there is plenty of speculation out there, but that as of now the only thing he’s done is leave Tempe to head home for personal and family reasons.

“Any decisions about my future beyond me coming home right now have yet to be made,” he wrote.

However, if that led you to hold out hope that maybe he was just taking a break and would be back at some point, it looks like that is not the case.

“We wish Sam the very best in his future and we thank him for everything that he’s done for the program over the time that he’s been here,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Wednesday. “He’s worked hard, he’s been very coachable, he’s been a good student; he’s done everything that we could have asked for him and so we’re hoping that he finds happiness with his decision, that I still believe what I had said about his future and his upside and I’m sure that he’ll reach all the potential that I thought he had.

“I’m disappointed that I can’t coach him moving forward, but that’s really mostly all I’m prepared to say about it.”

Hurley went on to add that these days coaches have to be prepared for players to leave, because it is not uncommon for exits to happen over playing time, scheme, family or other reasons.

“You’re not completely sure that all the reasons are that the kids would make their decisions, but I truly enjoyed coaching him when he was here,” Hurley said.

After a slow start to the season in which he failed to reach double-digit scoring in any of the first three games, Cunliffe had a stretch of five straight contests with at least 10 points — including a 23-point outburst against the Citadel on Nov. 23. Over the last two games, however, he has scored five and three points, respectively, while shooting a combined 3-of-16 from the field.

But though he had been struggling some, Hurley said he was surprised by the timing of Cunliffe’s announcement given that the team was coming off a good win over San Diego State.

“I thought we would be enjoying that this week, and we still are, we’re hoping to build off that victory and move forward,” he said.

As for why Cunliffe made the decision to leave, Hurley said it has nothing to do with the player not being ready to play at and handle the rigors of being with a Pac-12 program. Noting the player was challenged quite a bit in high school, he said he felt Cunliffe was adapting to college life the way most players do.

“There’s a very, very small percentage of college freshman that are ready to come into any program and just dominate a program as a freshman,” he said. “You might get a couple guys, a handful of guys in college basketball right now that are doing that. Over time, it would have played out.

“I still think, for his future, wherever that takes him, that he certainly has a chance to be every bit of what we thought he would be here.”

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