After being turned down by Jeff Capel for their head coaching vacancy, Arizona State moved on to another coach with Duke ties and got their man. The Sun Devils announced their hiring of Bobby Hurley on Friday morning, after Hurley spent two years turning around the program at Buffalo.
Hurley is best known for his role as Duke’s point guard in the late 1980s and early 1990s, teaming up with college basketball icon Christian Laettner to win two national titles in 1991 and 1992. He also holds the NCAA record for all-time assists with 1,076.
Excited for Bobby Hurley, great hire by Arizona State: http://t.co/MOR34dF6MX I was asst. coach when he played. Great guy, terrific coach.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) April 10, 2015
The best news for Bobby Hurley: Arizona State is not in complete rebuild mode. Expected to return four starters.
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) April 9, 2015
Bobby Hurley to Arizona State is an absolute homerun hire to me. Prepare for a whole lotta really tough and skilled ASU teams
— Tony Jones (@Tjonessltrib) April 9, 2015
Hiring a candidate with name recognition like Hurley has should energize a program that had clearly become stagnant under Herb Sendek. The Sun Devils stood idle since the years of James Harden as Sean Miller rebuilt Arizona into a national power, especially in recruiting.
According to SunDevilsSource.com, one of Sendek’s top assistants, Stan Johnson, is expected to stay on that. That is a vital move for Hurley, as Johnson is one of the top recruiters in the Pac-12 Conference and knows the landscape of southern California well.
