ASU president Michael Crow backs VP for athletics Ray Anderson, per report

Arizona State University president Michael Crow backed vice president for university athletics Ray Anderson on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Ray is our VP for university athletics. We are in the thick of making things work here and Ray is moving things forward.

The statement from Crow comes after outside noise continues to put pressure on the university president to make a change at the top of Sun Devil Athletics. Anderson is in the midst of a contract that doesn’t end until March 1, 2026.

The football program already made a sizeable switch in its leadership in September with interim head coach Shaun Aguano following the mutual parting of ways with then-head coach Herm Edwards after being hired by Anderson in 2018.

The change also came with potential NCAA sanctions on the horizon for alleged recruiting violations that already saw a total of five assistant coaches — including offensive, defensive and recruiting coordinators — either resign or be fired. Not to mention the mass exodus via the transfer portal that resulted in 43 new players joining the program.

Anderson called the move the “toughest day in his professional career,” as the longtime relationship between the two also featured Anderson serving as Edwards’ agent during his NFL coaching tenure. Crow was also “fully supportive” of the decision.

However, the vice president for university athletics did say he would be involved in the “national search” for the team’s next head coach, whether that would be Aguano or someone currently outside the program.

Anderson also hired ASU men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley in 2015 and has since extended him twice as he goes into his eighth year at the helm. Hurley’s latest extension has him in Tempe through June 2024.

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