Discussing Stakes of Big 12 Play for Arizona State Basketball

In today's edition of the Sun Devils Insider Podcast, we take a look at the general gauntlet that both the men's and women's programs must go through moving ahead.

Dec 17, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils guard Anthony Johnson (2) drives past UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) for a basket in the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

TEMPE -- In today's episode of the Arizona State Sun Devils Insider Podcast, we take a look at the unbelievable gauntlet that is ahead for both the men's and women's basketball programs in Big 12 play in the months ahead.

To listen to today's podcast, view below.

Below is a partial transcript from star PG Moe Odum's media availability following an ASU practice on Friday, December 5 - prior to the 2-2 stretch to end non-conference play.

“Oh, it just, it just felt like I was, I was super confident out there. Coach, Coach Hurley give me the confidence to be able to play through my stakes. I made a lot of mistakes throughout those games, and he just gave me the confidence to just keep going, keep going, even when I mess up here, sub me out for two minutes and I just get back to it. So just the confidence he given me in a leash I got to just lead the team and be that hand to hand coach on the court.”

On Belief in Marcus Adams Jr. Breakout

“Oh, for sure, for sure. I'm not. I'm not worried about Marcus at all. He played, he played a little bit in a Hawaii trip. But after, after we got back, I spoke to coach, and we make Marcus run seven teams after practice, and we make him do another running drill, and then we make him shoot after, and then he do that, and then he come work out in the morning. So it was just all about him getting used to it. You know, he come in, still coming back from injury. It's his first time playing against high major comp, so we just got to reel him in slowly. So I'm not worried about Marcus.”

On Importance of Bonding as Team

“Oh, that's super important to me, because I feel like if we bonded off the court like that, we could criticize the person the right way, and the person could take the right criticism away, because he know we coming from, and he knows all love and we all trying to get better. Stuff like that is super important. As if we just playing basketball together and we criticizing everybody. You want to think somebody may be hating on you, or just always got something to say, as if, well, you know somebody coming from, you want to be better.”

ASU Sun Devils guard Moe Odum (5) brings the ball upcourt against the Oregon State Beavers at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Dec. 21, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

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