Bobby Hurley gives freshmen check-in on ASU’s Joson Sanon, Jayden Quaintance

Bobby Hurley banked on a set of transfers to give the Arizona State basketball team an offensive jolt this season. His late flurry of high school recruiting success in landing 5-star big Jayden Quaintance and 4-star guard Joson Sanon added another few layers to ASU’s identity.

Five games into the 2024-25 season, the Sun Devils look plenty capable on offense. That’s before considering the last two games have seen the freshmen take steps forward.

Sanon had scored in double-figures twice in the first three games of the season but in recent wins against Grand Canyon and St. Thomas came off the bench to score 21 and 18 points, respectively. He earned a Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor behind those efforts, which saw him knock down eight treys over a two-game stretch.

Head coach Bobby Hurley told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta that his late study of Sanon on the AAU circuit before landing him as a commit flip from Arizona showed that type of skillset.

“I really locked in and watched him quite a bit in spring and he was a lights-out shooter on the AAU circuit,” Hurley said, “… catch-and-shoot, off the bounce, his midrange, the way he gets off his feet and elevates.

“The ball with him against GCU in particular, I don’t think he made one shot where it, like, hit the rim and bounced around and he got a good bounce. His ball when he’s shooting it and he’s locked in, I mean, it’s going right in the basket. He’s certainly a pure shooter, certainly as good as I’ve had since I’ve been at Arizona State.”

Through five games, Sanon is shooting 51% overall and 54% on nearly five 3-pointers a game.

That’s a tough bar to clear through a whole season, but the longer it goes, the more it will put the freshman on the NBA radar.

Sanon is not listed as a top-100 prospect on ESPN’s NBA big board, nor has he been mocked as a first-round pick of late. While pro teams will keep an eye on how he develops his defensive instincts and decision-making, Hurley believes Sanon has “NBA written all over him.”

The shooting guard is now second on the team in scoring (12.8), just behind forward transfer Basheer Jihad (13.0), who has been ASU’s most consistent offensive player with a physical, foul-drawing brand of attacking.

ASU freshman Jayden Quaintance’s offense is coming along behind Joson Sanon’s

Quaintance is in a completely different place compared to Sanon, but he too is showing signs of progress from a place of being the team’s sixth-highest scorer by average (7.0 points).

“I like what he did versus St. Thomas and I like that our players are starting to look for him,” Hurley said. “He got a couple of dunks in the first half … got him something easy to get him going.

“As the game progressed, he hit a 3 in the second half, hit a midrange jump shot. I think he’ll make those shots. He’s done it in practice quite a bit. It just hasn’t happened for him right away.”

The Sun Devils’ 81-66 victory over St. Thomas on Sunday was Quaintance’s first foray into double-digit scoring with 13 points, which included his first made 3 of the year. He added 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, too.

Any added perimeter shooting from Quaintance could change the spacing for Arizona State, allowing more paint space for Jihad to operate and the guards to drive and slash.

As of now, finding offensive comfort appears to be a slow burn for the 17-year-old.

What is not slow to show is the defensive toolkit that opened in full against GCU and Tyon Grant-Foster, who is on the opposite end of the college-age spectrum at 24 years old.

I thought this play from Quaintance was the most impressive of the day.

He gets fooled on a spin move and is facing the complete opposite direction of the basket. He then jumps and spins enough to block it with his right, not just his left.

Impressive stuff from the freshman. pic.twitter.com/evQ5kuCWPl

— Sammy Nute (@SammyNute) November 15, 2024

Grant-Foster shook off some rust with his 2024-25 debut on Thursday with a 5-of-17 shooting performance and 19 points, most of which came at the foul stripe. But the clips of Quaintance matching up with a player who could be among college hoop’s best scorers and best athletes was something.

“Before the GCU game, there was a debate about whether he should guard Grant-Foster one-on-one for the entire game,” Hurley said. “Like, for him to generate that type of conversation in our staff meetings is pretty impressive for a 17-year-old because (Grant-Foster) is one of the elite perimeter players in the country.

“We were considering leaving him on him the entire game but needed him to roam a little more and rebound and impact some shots off the ball so we didn’t go that direction.”

But when the two were matched up, it did go well for the ASU freshman, who on separate plays ripped Grant-Foster atop the arc and blocked him on a spinning drive near the basket.

Jayden Quaintance is a scary defensive talent.

Only tallied two blocks + one steal but the impact popped off the stat sheet.

The scary part? It's only the beginning. @DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/ShRlI4iuKR

— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) November 15, 2024

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