ASU basketball preview: Brand new roster requires results in Bobby Hurley’s final contract year

Bobby Hurley enters his 11th season as coach of ASU men’s basketball and the final year of his contract potentially needing a strong March run to keep his job.

The Sun Devils haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2023 and are coming off a difficult injury-filled season. Hurley will have to do it with an ASU roster that’s almost entirely new, with one returning scholarship player. He bolstered it with scorers from the transfer portal.

One of those scorers in JUCO product Vijay Wallace, however, suffered a lower leg injury in a preseason game and will be out for the season.

ASU players to watch

Trevor Best (6-foot-3, sophomore): A highly-touted high school recruit, joined the Sun Devils in January and had some good moments while averaging 3.6 points in limited minutes.

Moe Odum (6-foot-2, senior): The addition of Odum should be a huge help at point guard. He averaged 13.1 points and was fourth nationally with 7.5 assists per game at Pepperdine last season.

Adante’ Holiman (5-foot-11, senior): Holiman is a proven scorer who averaged 16.9 points per game and hit 81 3-pointers at Georgia Southern last season.

Marcus Adams Jr. (6-foot-8, sophomore): Adams is another solid scorer who averaged 16.5 points on 53% shooting and 4.9 rebounds at Cal State Northridge last season.

Allen Mukeba (6-foot-8, graduate): The Belgian forward played at Oakland last season, where he averaged 14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Massamba Diop (7-foot-1, freshman): The Senegalese big man has a big upside and played in Europe before moving to the United States.

Departures and arrivals

Jayden Quaintance, one of the highest-rated recruits in ASU history, suffered an ACL injury last season and transferred to Kentucky during the offseason. Alston Mason, B.J. Freeman, Basheer Jihad, Joson Sanon and Adam Miller are also gone after accounting for 96% of Arizona State’s scoring last year.

Top games

Arizona State hosts No. 21 Gonzaga early in the season (Nov. 14) and plays in a Maui Invitational field (Nov. 24-26) that includes USC, Texas and NC State. The Sun Devils also play at No. 12 UCLA on Dec. 17.

Facts and figures

• Arizona State has been to the NCAA Tournament three times under Hurley, losing in the First Four or first round each time.
• The Sun Devils have typically been able to score under Hurley, but will need to tighten up on defense after finishing 15th in the Big 12 last season, allowing 76.8 points per game.
• Bobby Hurley Jr., a fan favorite and Bobby’s son, joined the staff as director of analytics and strategy.