Grading Bobby Hurley's Job Leading Arizona State in 2025-26
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TEMPE -- Bobby Hurley's 11th regular season as the leader of the Arizona State men's basketball program is now officially complete.
The Sun Devils concluded another regular season with a winning record - this is the first time since 2022-23, and the fifth time overall in his tenure as lead man. Now, the Sun Devils face an uphill climb to make an NCAA tournament case that would ultimately potentially secure an extension for the 54-year old.
Arizona State on SI grades the job Hurley has done this season in four distinct areas below - talent evaluation/rotations, coaching staff decisions, game-planning, and in-game coaching.
Talent Evaluation/Rotations: A-
Hurley has typically always done a great job in identifying and securing talent - save for a year or two in this tenure.
His back was undeniably against the wall over the course of last summer, and the New Jersey native delivered for the most part. Hurley's strategy was met with skepticism after shaping a power-conference roster largely around mid-major stars and European players, but it has largely worked out.
Players such as Vijay Wallace, Adante Holiman, and Marcus Adams Jr. were unable to make much of an impact this season due to injuries, but the players that have suited up have been largely great.
Moe Odum, Bryce Ford, Allen Mukeba, and Santiago Trouet were standouts at the mid-major level that made the tasking jump to power conference ball. All four have been heavily credited by Hurley for pushing through injury challenges - with Odum in particular etching his name into the history books of the basketball program.
Massamba Diop, Andrija Grbovic, and Noah Meeusen have all put together game-winning performances this season, with a strong likelihood that there will be effort put into retaining all three for next season. Diop in particular was an incredible identification by Hurley and staff.
Coaching Staff: B+
Hurley's staff has done a great job for the most part in developing the above players, as well as leading the "scouts" of opponents - Nick Irvin especially deserves credit for coaching the Sun Devils to a come-from-behind win over Santa Clara after Hurley got ejected at the end of the first half.
Hurley's hiring of Millineum head coach Ty Amundsen as an assistant before the season was another great move, as the latter has served as an effective recruiter, scouter, and talent developer over the last several months.
Gameplans: B
Arizona State's scouting endeavors have resulted in several major victories early and late in the regular season schedule - the middle quartile of the season brings this grade down a bit despite the established highs.
The particular highs are wins over Texas, Oklahoma, Santa Clara, Texas Tech, and Kansas - each of which the team succeeded in exploiting one or more weakness each team holds or neutralizing a strength. Losses to opponents such as Colorado could be pointed to as lapses in on-court execution, but there have been inconsistencies both ways this campaign.
In-game Decisions: B-
There are a small handful of games in particular that drive this grade down - but the positives still take precedent.
The most glaring in-game mistakes were against Oregon State on December 21 and UCF on January 27 - the Sun Devils' tournament case would look much different had the team pulled through in those contests.
Overall: B
Overall, this is one of the best coaching jobs that Hurley has done during his tenure, with every factor in motion being considered.
Read more on the bold strategy that head coach Bobby Hurley employed with comments on 1/21 here, and on why Arizona State may have saved the season with the win over Cincinnati on Saturday here..
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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.