Arizona State forward Marcus Bagley tweets he has been ‘suspended’
Nov 29, 2022, 4:01 PM
Arizona State Sun Devils forward Marcus Bagley (23) looks on during the college basketball game between the North Florida Ospreys and the Arizona State Sun Devils on November 15, 2021 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Arizona State forward Marcus Bagley tweeted on Tuesday that he had been “suspended” by the team for his prior statement that explained his absence.
Bagley said his lack of any playing time across the team’s last five games did not have to do with basketball, his ability or health. Rather, Bagley was not playing because of remarks to coach Bobby Hurley that Bagley states “I shouldn’t have said.”
The junior forward hadn’t played since Nov. 10, a win against NAU that was the second game of the season. The Sun Devils have played five more games since then.
Hurley was on Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Tuesday prior to Bagley’s latest tweet and was asked about the situation.
“I’m going to speak with Marcus here in a few hours,” Hurley said. “Yesterday we were off and I didn’t get a chance to talk with him concerning his tweet, and his other tweet about being healthy, which is fine. He’s been at practice so we know he’s healthy.
“I think it’s a byproduct of other guys playing well and just not having the opportunity to get him out on the floor. That’s all it comes down to. … We have a stacked perimeter and right now there’s just no minutes for him.”
Bagley tweeted again after announcing his suspension, insinuating he was misled by Arizona State.
“ATHLETES please please please make a well thought through decision where you go to school,” the tweet reads. “These people will tell you anything to build you up just to tear you down.”
Bagley, of course, had two separate opportunities to leave ASU after his freshman and sophomore seasons. He entered his name into the transfer portal last offseason before deciding to come back.
Bagley, part of Arizona State’s historic 2020 recruiting class that was the school’s best in its history, has played in 17 total games across two-plus seasons due to various injuries.
As a freshman, Bagley appeared in 12 contests before just three appearances last season. Bagley’s play in a dozen games two years ago warranted some serious attention from the NBA, with some draft rankings grading him as a late first rounder.
The Sun Devils have got off to a great start this season without Bagley, a player many would have ranked as one of their most important players, if not the most important. ASU is 6-1 and has a two-game stretch of conference play on Thursday and Sunday versus Colorado and Stanford, respectively.
It will play four more games in non-conference play, including a huge matchup with No. 7 Creighton on Dec. 12, before the real conference schedule gets underway in Tempe when the Sun Devils host No. 4 Arizona.
