Goodman: Arizona State set to be a top-15 team next season

There was a serious shift for Arizona State and the Pac-12 conference as a whole on Monday night when five-star guard Josh Christopher committed to the Sun Devils.

Enough of a shift to make ASU the favorites in the Pac-12 and a likely preseason top-25 team.

“There’s a little bit of separation,” Stadium’s Jeff Goodman told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo Tuesday of ASU at the top.

“As long as the chemistry in Tempe is strong, yeah, I do think Arizona State is probably the favorite.”

That’s the x-factor for Goodman.

“I think they’re deep and they’ve got enough really good players from one to like nine now. And the key is going to be accepting roles,” he said. “Because Josh Christopher is going to come in as a guy. He’s gonna have to play a lot of minutes. And Marcus Bagley is gonna come in and want to play some minutes, his dad is going to make sure of that, trust me.”

That will likely come down to their point guard Remy Martin, if he returns. Martin declared for the NBA Draft, but Goodman expects him to come back for his senior season.

“I would be shocked if he left, especially now with the team he’s got around him,” Goodman said.

And with that, Martin could improve his NBA Draft stock by shining in a new role.

“Remy’s biggest job is going to be to facilitate next year and turn from a scoring point to a guy that really makes sure that everybody is happy because there’s going to be a lot of mouths to feed,” Goodman said.

Assuming Martin is back, it’s ASU’s conference to lose.

“I think this is a preseason top-15 team now,” Goodman said.

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