If Bobby Hurley is fired, here are 5 coaching candidates Arizona State could pursue
There are several very attractive college basketball coaching jobs currently open — and Arizona State could soon be one of them.
ASU men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley has been on the hot seat since January, when his team stopped winning games and started incurring technical fouls and ejections. The Sun Devils (13-17, 4-15) have won just four games since the calendar flipped to 2025 and will finish second-to-last in their first season in the 16-team Big 12 Conference.
The 53-year-old Hurley is 168-148 in 10 seasons at Arizona State, with three NCAA Tournament berths. All three berths were in the First Four. Hurley has a career NCAA Tournament record of 2-4 and has never advanced past the round of 64.
Compare that with the head coach at Arizona State's rival, and it's a tough pill to swallow for ASU fans. Tommy Lloyd, who is three years younger than Hurley, is wrapping up his fourth season at Arizona and is already 4-3 in the NCAA Tournament with two Sweet 16 appearances.
Multiple media outlets have reported that Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini is preparing to move on from Hurley — and if that's the case, he will have to do it quickly. With so many open jobs — plus the allure of the transfer portal — Rossini will have to take a page from Utah and expedite the process. The Utes hired Alex Jensen on Thursday, just 10 days after firing men's basketball coach Craig Smith.
The Hotline has defended Bobby Hurley's continued employment in the past - and ASU is a much tougher job than it appears -- but it's difficult to see a path forward:https://t.co/FBhOS8t6Wz
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) March 6, 2025
Arizona State's season will likely end on Tuesday with a first-round loss in the Big 12 Tournament. If Rossini has indeed decided to part ways with Hurley, expect it to happen within 48 hours of ASU's season ending — and expect a new coach to be in place by the end of March.
Here are five coaching candidates Arizona State could pursue:
Richard Pitino, New Mexico
Pitino is reportedly a candidate for the open position at Virginia, but VCU coach Ryan Odom appears to be the leading candidate to replace Tony Bennett. Pitino, 42, has been a head coach since he was 29 and has compiled a 244-184 record in 13 seasons. He's in his fourth season at New Mexico and has gone 50-16 the past two seasons. The Lobos are projected to be a No. 8 or 9 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Pitino, like his dad, is a big-time recruiter. Much like Kenny Dillingham has done with the Arizona State football program, Pitino has targeted players from Texas, California and Arizona to build his roster. One of New Mexico's best players is sophomore guard Tru Washington, who was the No. 2 player in Arizona in the class of 2023.
Eric Olen, UC San Diego
Olen, 44, is a program builder. He has been at UC San Diego his entire coaching career, starting as an assistant in 2004 and taking over as head coach in 2013. He has a career record of 236-118 and has been masterful in the Tritons' transition from Division II to Division I, positioning UCSD to make the NCAA Tournament this season in its first year of D-I postseason eligibility. UCSD is 26-4 and ranked No. 35 in the NCAA NET Rankings — 28 spots ahead of Arizona State.
Brian Michaelson, Gonzaga
ASU could take a page from its rival and hire Gonzaga's top assistant coach. Michaelson, 43, has been on Mark Few's staff since 2008 and has it written into his contract that he will be the next head coach at Gonzaga when Few retires or leaves — the same deal Lloyd had. But Few is showing no signs of slowing down and could coach for another three or four seasons — or more. An opportunity like Arizona State might be too good to pass up for Michaelson.
Will Wade, McNeese
Wade, 42, comes with some baggage, but he's a proven winner who has led three different schools to the NCAA Tournament. He's 251-106 in 11 seasons as a head coach and has gone 55-10 the past two seasons at McNeese. In a pre-NIL world, Wade was given a two-year show-cause order and a 10-game suspension for NCAA recruiting violations that included impermissible payments to the former fiancée of a player when he was the head coach at LSU.
Chris Gerlufsen, San Francisco
Gerlufsen, 48, took over for Todd Golden at San Francisco in 2022 and has gone 66-33 in three seasons — the most victories through three years of any coach in program history. His Dons are 23-8 this season and finished third in the West Coast Conference behind Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. Despite a limited NIL budget, Gerlufsen has proven he can recruit big-time talent in the transfer portal. His top two players — guards Malik Thomas and Marcus Williams — have thrived at USF after transferring from USC and Texas A&M, respectively.
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-66e6aeb5014b4c4eeac84ca997f034c9.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.