ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Arizona State’s Graham Rossini says kicking tryouts remain underway

Oct 24, 2024, 4:55 PM

Ian Hershey...

Arizona State Sun Devils place kicker Ian Hershey (30) kicks against the Utah Utes on October 11, 2024 at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

(Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini sat down next to head football coach Kenny Dillingham on the flight back from Cincinnati last Saturday, and after Dillingham’s comments about holding open tryouts for a kicker, the two started seeing the emails roll in.

Dillingham publicly criticized ASU’s kicking game — and later apologized — after Ian Hershey missed two field goals in a loss, and the program has followed through by giving interested students a chance.

“He made a point to go sit down with our special teams kids on the flight and make sure he can kind of clear the air with them and make sure the message wasn’t (misinterpreted),” Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday. “But at the same time like, hey, we want to continue to address that part of the game and make sure we’re equally as relevant on special teams as we have been on offense and defense.

“A lot of people reached out, some that are students today, some that aren’t quite at ASU. And I think the key component of all of it was looking at current ASU students that do have eligibility and are academically in good standing. I know they’re giving a handful of them a look this week.”

Rossini’s update on the tryouts were that they are still underway.

The Sun Devils have the benefit of testing this out while on a bye this week following a 5-2 start to the season. They will visit Oklahoma State on Nov. 2, and with one more win, Arizona State would lock up a bowl game for the first time since the 2021 season.

Hershey joined ASU as a transfer after kicking for Idaho State. He is 20-for-21 on extra points this year and 7-for-12 on field goals. He is 3-for-8 from 30 or more yards.

Nolan Krinsky is among those who have tried out after a years-long pursuit of walking onto the football team, as Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg elaborated on this week.

“Fortune favors the bold, so it’s nice that there’s people that willing to shoot the shot, so to speak,” Rossini said. “That said, hey, if they can add value, have gone out of the way to make our coaches aware of it, I know coach Dillingham and the special teams coaches are looking at all the options, including we’ve got two talented kickers and nurturing their experience, giving them some extra coaching and making sure they’ve got the same opportunity to be back in these big situations.

“So we’ll see how it plays out. Kind of a benefit of a bye week and identifying a part of our game that we want to strengthen up.”

No update yet on Arizona State’s Desert Financial Arena

Rossini admitted shortly after his hiring this year that ASU’s basketball arena needed work done.

The AD said on Thursday he was not ready to share any news regarding the future of DFA, but he explained the continued focus on updating the gameday experience.

“We’re making sure we understand what can be accomplished in that building,” Rossini said. “Focused a lot on the gameday experience and making sure that traffic and concessions and the in-game show are all areas we’re immediately improving upon, while we’re kind of exploring what that building needs to evolve into to make sure we’re setting up our teams for success and giving our fans a great way to come in.”

The Sun Devils enter Year 1 in the basketball-powerhouse Big 12 with the regular season opener on Nov. 5.

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