Making Case for ASU to Retain Bobby Hurley Next Season

Arizona State will have a challenging decision to make after the men's basketball season concludes.

Feb 21, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley reacts on the sideline during the second half against the Baylor Bears at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

TEMPE -- The assumption is that this will be it for Bobby Hurley as head coach of the Arizona State men's basketball program.

The Sun Devils sit at 14-13 and 5-9 in the Big 12, which is an improvement from last season, but the inconsistent results the team has seen in league play have likely done the job in preventing a potential NCAA tournament bid.

While the popular opinion from Arizona State fans is to move on from Hurley and target a hot commodity in the carousel such as Josh Shcertz of Saint Louis, there is a case to be made to extend the 11th-year head coach beyond this year - explore the arguments below.

Why Hurley Reunion Should be Considered

• The most obvious case is that Hurley has made the most with what he has been given. Arizona State is simply a challenging job to navigate - even in the Big 12 - and Hurley has largely maximized what the program allows. The program had only made the tournament three times this century prior to Hurley's hiring in 2014, and have since made it three times.

• Hurley was hamstrung for several years by Arizona State's indifferent AD (Graham Rossini's predecessor), who certainly didn't aid in attempting to grow the program in either the pre or post NIL era. Many of the elite talents that Hurley managed to bring to Tempe (Remy Martin, Josh Christopher, Jayden Quaintance) was off of his own tireless work and dedication to the progra.

Feb 21, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley disputes a call with an official during the first half against the Baylor Bears at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

• Candidates such as Schertz or Utah State's Jerrod Calhoun are great candidates on paper, but Hurley's love for Arizona State will be difficult to match. There's real potential for Hurley to do something truly meaningful if given another year or two while Desert Financial Arena is being renovated and with rosters that will presumably face better health fortune.

• The 2025-26 season simply hasn't been a fair assessment of Hurley's overall job performance. Yes, 2023-24 and 2024-25 were disasters, but there are clear signs that indicate this rendition of the program has real potential to be a quality team. Hurley utilized all 15 scholarships to ensure the roster would be able to withstand injuries, and several freak injuries later has the team frequently partaking in games with either seven or eight rotation players. It is just a hypothetical, but one can reasonably make the case that the Sun Devils are a surefire NCAA tournament squad with Vijay Wallace, Adante Holiman, and a reliably healthy Marcus Adams Jr.

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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