ASU’s Bobby Hurley, Kenny Dillingham have recruiting juice despite half-year without AD

Tuesday marks 183 days since Ray Anderson stepped down as Arizona State vice president for university athletics on Nov. 13, 2023. In larger units of time measurement, that is half a year that ASU has been without an athletic director.

Arizona State University president Michael Crow, according to multiple reports, was last month moving toward hiring current executive senior associate athletic director and chief business officer Graham Rossini as the next AD but received pushback from boosters. As of Tuesday, the Sun Devils remain without an athletic director.

But since Anderson’s decision to step down amid massive college athletic changes and a football recruiting scandal that is mostly resolved, the Sun Devils’ top two programs have fought to do more than tread water.

Football coach Kenny Dillingham spoke about name, image and likeness funding gains in the months following Anderson’s departure.

Men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley is reportedly getting creative, using his past as a college basketball star to increase visibility. He reportedly aims to team with a streaming service to produce a docuseries that will increase the Sun Devils’ visibility.

Whatever resources they’re working with, the results are looking good suddenly.

Here’s a look at where each of their programs stand from a recruiting standpoint as Dillingham prepares for his second season and Hurley enters his 10th.

2024 ASU men’s basketball recruiting at the half-year point without an AD

The skinny: The incoming class ranked No. 8 in the nation thanks to one five-star prospect, two four-stars and a three-star.

Only two other Big 12 squads, Arizona and Baylor, have better classes as of Tuesday.

The cream of the crop: Landing five-star former Kentucky commit Jayden Quaintance, who is currently a hard verbal commitment, was a big boost to the class. He’s the No. 9 prospect in the nation after decommitting from UK after John Calipari left to coach at Arkansas. Quaintance is the top-rated player in ASU’s recruiting history, according to 247 Sports.

But it’s not just the versatile big man. Wing Amier Ali out of Canyon International Academy in Glendale, Ariz., is the ninth-ranked Sun Devil ever committed.

Trends: Hurley has taken advantage of the many basketball-focused prep schools in the state, additionally signing forward Sammie Yeanay from Compass Prep (Chandler) and guard Bo Aldridge from Phoenix Prep (Phoenix).

All of that doesn’t include Hurley hitting the transfer portal hard to completely reset the roster. He’s pulled transfers from the SEC (Ole Miss transfer Austin Nunez), the dissolving Pac-12 (USC transfer Brandon Gardner), as well as smaller conference universities such as Wisconsin-Milwaukee (BJ Freeman), Ball State (Basheer Jihad) and Missouri State (Alston Mason).

2025 ASU football recruiting at the half-year point without an AD

The skinny: Arizona State football’s 2025 class is off and running. While 247 Sports’ team rankings are impacted a great deal by volume, it shouldn’t be disregarded that ASU is ranked No. 13 in the nation at this point. Its class includes 13 players: 12 three-stars and one four-star player.

And getting early commitments at a high volume isn’t random. Big college football brands are shining early on in assembling the 2025 class.

The teams above ASU in 247 Sports’ rankings reads like so: Notre Dame, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, USC, Clemson, Penn State, Alabama, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Auburn and Georgia.

That makes Arizona State No. 1 in the Big 12 as of May 14. For reference — and rivalry bragging rights — the Arizona Wildcats are last in the Big 12 with only one commit for the 2025 recruiting class.

The cream of the crop: Four-star WR Adrian Wilson, Weiss High School (Pflugerville, Texas)

Trends: ASU has hit California (five commits) and Texas (three commits) hard. Two prospects are from Arizona, including three-star safety Rylon Dillard-Allen out of Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.

Positionally, the Sun Devils have prioritized defensive backs with five of their 13 commits at those positions. Dillingham also has four offensive line commits in the class.

Follow @kzimmermanaz