ASU basketball reset: A look at Bobby Hurley’s roster for 2020-21

Monday evening brought with it the big news that Arizona State basketball was landing its top recruit ever with the commitment of five-star guard Josh Christopher.

The Sun Devils needed it.

Rob Edwards and Mickey Mitchell are graduating. Andre Allen, Khalid Thomas and Elias Valtonen are transferring. And Remy Martin and Romello White declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, although either could choose to come back to school if they don’t get the looks from NBA teams that they hope for.

But with all those key pieces departing, head coach Bobby Hurley has minutes to fill. Here’s a look at the roster for the 2020-21 season — assuming no Martin or White — following Tuesday night’s big news.

Projected Starters

Alonzo Verge Jr., 6-foot-3 senior guard

Verge was a junior college transfer who debuted with ASU last season and quickly became a top option off the bench, eventually earning the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year Award. He averaged 14.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26.8 minutes per game and had seven outings of 20 or more points.

In a game against St. Mary’s on Dec. 18, Verge had 43 points — the fourth-highest single-game point total in school history.

He appears to be the obvious choice to fill guard minutes and production left behind by Martin, assuming Martin proceeds to the pro ranks.

Josh Christopher, 6-foot-4 freshman guard

Christopher is a five-star guard with lofty expectations on his shoulders after his highly-anticipated commitment went in Arizona State’s favor on Monday night. He’s expected to be an impact shooter with potential to be the No. 1 scoring option and averaged 29.4 points per game in high school.

Kimani Lawrence, 6-foot-8 senior forward

Lawrence’s playing time was down last year as the junior played only 17.2 minutes compared to 25.0 per game the year before. He did have more starts, though — 23 compared to 15 in 2018-19 — and averaged 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds.

Incoming recruit Marcus Bagley could start over the more experienced Lawrence, as Bagley is a four-star prospect and the No. 50-ranked player overall in the 2020 class, per 247Sports.

Taeshon Cherry, 6-foot-8 junior forward

Cherry was one of the highest-rated prospects ever to sign with ASU. He has since averaged less than 20 minutes per game in each of his first two years as an underclassman but put up 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in that time.

Jalen Graham, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward

Graham started twice last season and overall averaged 10.9 minutes per game. In that time, he registered 3.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists on 68.9% shooting. He has shown flashes, and also is one of ASU’s only big options.

Depth

Jaelen House, 6-foot-2 sophomore guard

House could be one of the first options on the bench as he enters his second year with some games under his belt now. He played 30 times for Hurley’s Sun Devils in 2019-20 and averaged 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists on 16 minutes.

Marcus Bagley, 6-foot-7 freshman forward

Bagley, as mentioned above, could potentially start over Lawrence. The younger brother of the NBA’s Marvin Bagley Jr., the highly-touted recruit was a key get for Hurley.

Caleb Christopher, 6-foot-1 sophomore guard

Caleb’s brother Josh might steal the spotlight as the prized recruit, but Caleb was on campus first. He played very limited minutes in nine games for the Sun Devils as a freshman.

John Olmsted, 6-foot-10 sophomore forward

Olmsted, a walk-on, played four games in 2019-20 with only a total of five minutes of action.

Micah Burno, 6-foot-0 sophomore guard

Burno, also a walk-on, had six minutes of playing time this past season, spread out over five games.

Luther Muhammad, 6-foot-3, junior guard*

The Newark, New Jersey, native was a sophomore this past season for Ohio State and averaged 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per game. He expects to sit out 2020-21.

Holland Woods, 6-foot-1 junior guard*

Woods is transferring from Portland State and will have to sit out a year unless he receives a waiver from the NCAA.

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