Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson: Athletics operates under ‘family-first’ core values
May 27, 2015, 3:36 PM | Updated: 5:12 pm
Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson: Athletics operates under 'family-first' core values
Former assistant Arizona State basketball coach Stan Johnson announced his acceptance of a coaching position at Marquette under head coach Steve Wojciechowski earlier this week.
It wasn’t an easy call for Johnson.
SunDevilNation: in recent days I was faced with the toughest decision of my career. Thank u for my time here. Forever in my heart! #forksup
— Stan Johnson (@MUCoachJohnson) May 27, 2015
Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM‘s Bickley and Marotta that it was a decision based on “family-first” values, as Johnson has close familial and friendship ties with personnel at Marquette.
And, Anderson said, that’s fitting, because Arizona State hires coaches that buy into the “family first” mindset.
“Stan went about it the right way,” said Anderson. “He talked to Coach Hurley, he called me very promptly to say, ‘Ray, this is my dilemma,’ and at the end of it, I said to Stan, ‘You know, one of our core values here is family first. And if this is driven by family first then we not only give you our blessing, but we give you our urging, because you have to take care of your family first and foremost, and go and maximize the opportunity.'”
Anderson said the program will find someone for the vacant position who is also “family first,” and head coach Bobby Hurley has started that search.
It’s a process, he said, that includes a key program philosophy.
“Every sport matters. Every head coach has an obligation to support all of the members of the coaching community here,” Anderson said. “As we go through the interview process, we really try to get indicators that people buy into that.”
Anderson said he thinks all of his head coaches currently follow that standard, despite the prominence of their respective sports.
“We’ve got, necessarily, some big egos,” he said. “But you want big egos because that means you have high expectations…but certainly, wrapped in all that, is a teamwork orientation.”
