ASU AD Graham Rossini: End of season playing into Bobby Hurley’s future with men’s basketball

The fight of Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State Sun Devils this season, with the head coach in a contract year that’s so rare for college basketball head coaches, has kept the flame of a potential return to ASU lit.

Arizona State started 9-2 but went on a 2-9 start to begin Big 12 play. But the Sun Devils are now 14-12 and have gotten their footing, winning three of four with five regular-season games left. Where does that leave Hurley’s job status in the eyes of his boss?

“It’s not complicated at all. I mean, we’re going to see how the season plays out,” ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told Bickley & Marotta on Thursday. “I’m really proud of how these guys have played hard all season long. And a lot of people wanted to write them off after last season. They were begging for us to make a change after last season. We didn’t want to do it.

“He’s left a tremendous mark on this program, and so we’re not ready to make a decision either way. We want to see how the season plays out.”

“We’re going to see how the season plays out. I’m really proud of how these guys have played hard all season long … I’ve got a ton of respect for Bobby.”

ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told @Bickley_Marotta he’s not giving up on Bobby Hurley yet on the AD Update,… pic.twitter.com/fbyhEfAodW

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While many fans have become frustrated with Hurley’s Sun Devils in their transition to the Big 12, they’ve performed better than they were expected to this season despite massive roster turnover.

ASU had some expectations in its first year in the Big 12, but dealt with numerous injuries and turmoil throughout the season. With plenty of turnover, including the transfer of former five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance, the Sun Devils were picked to finish dead last in the conference this season.

ASU finished 4-16 in conference last season and is 5-8 with five games remaining this year. The Sun Devils finished 15th in the Big 12 last season and are 11th in the conference this year. They are coming off their biggest win of the season Tuesday over No. 13 Texas Tech.

“They’ve been incrementally playing harder and harder, and you see that manifest into a huge win against Texas Tech a few nights ago,” Rossini said. “So the way that this schedule sets up the rest of the way, get a couple more wins, make some noise in Kansas City, back door in the tournament and we’ll see what happens.”

Graham Rossini on the historical significance of Bobby Hurley’s tenure

While many have called for coach Hurley’s job over the last couple of years, Rossini is very aware of Hurley’s historical significance in college basketball and at ASU.

“He’s been there for 11 years. That’s hard to do in college basketball,” Rossini said. “I think if you look at maybe the traditional Pac-5, you know, including the old Pac-12 days, 13th-longest head coach in college basketball, second-winningest of all time at ASU.”

Hurley’s nine years in the Pac-12 make up the ninth-longest coaching tenure since 2000. The ASU men’s basketball coach is the second-winningest in school history behind only Ned Wulk, who spent 25 years at ASU from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Hurley took over in 2015 and has taken the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament three times in the last 10 years. ASU had been to the tournament just three times in the previous 20 years before Hurley.

However, Hurley’s never gotten ASU past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with his only win coming in the First Four during the 2022-23 season.

The Sun Devils haven’t returned to the tournament since that season and have finished with a losing record each of the last two years.

The transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 hasn’t helped, as ASU is now in arguably the most competitive conference in college basketball.

That, combined with Hurley being in the final year of his current contract, has his seat as hot as it’s ever been.

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