Arizona State Basketball

Arizona State star Remy Martin is returning to the school for his senior season.

The Sun Devils released a video hying up Martin's decision:

Year 4. pic.twitter.com/mKUgWpJ7ry

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) August 2, 2020

The junior guard averaged 19.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 31 games in 2019-20.

Martin originally signaled in March he intended to test the NBA draft waters.

Arizona State junior point guard Remy Martin has declared for the NBA Draft, he tells @Stadium. Averaged 19.1 points and 4.1 assists this past season for the Sun Devils. pic.twitter.com/w3pECSjejB

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 30, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented teams from adequately evaluating this year's draft class, however. And without the NBA scouting combine and individual workouts, players were unable to get a firm idea as to their draft stock.

Staying at Arizona State for another year was Martin's best play.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman didn't list him among the top 50 players, nor did he crack the top 80 for Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo. Now, Martin can play his way up 2021 draft boards.

This is obviously a big boost for Arizona State as well. The Sun Devils were 20-11 and on the NCAA tournament bubble prior to the tournament's cancellation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head coach Bobby Hurley will have his top two scorers back with Martin and Alonzo Verge Jr. sticking around, and he assembled the No. 7 recruiting class in 247Sports' composite team rankings for 2020. Five-star shooting guard Joshua Christopher is the headliner from the group.

Hurley has yet to get Arizona State out of the first round in the Big Dance. That should change in 2021.

The Arizona State Sun Devils added one of the top players in the 2020 recruiting class with Monday's commitment from shooting guard Josh Christopher.

The California native announced his decision on Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/1Etm05r2rY

— Josh(ua) Christopher (@Jaygup23) April 14, 2020

Christopher is an elite prospect who is considered a 5-star recruit and the No. 10 overall player in the 2020 class, as well as the top shooting guard, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

The 6'5" player is a pure scorer who can get baskets from all over the court. He has a reliable outside shot but is at his best when driving into the lane and attacking the basket. His strength and athleticism will allow him to get to his spots and finish with regularity at the next level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1VqJV-7awk

Additionally, the guard has the mentality needed to be a star going forward.

"He's definitely very charismatic, and as a basketball player he's always had a level of confidence that is rare," high school head coach Tony Davis said, per Drew Ruiz of Slam Online. "I think that's one thing that helps separate him—he has an undying belief of his abilities and you don't see that in teenagers."

This confidence likely only grew when the recruiting process picked up and he received offers from dozens of the top schools around the country.

Out of all his choices, Christopher decided he wanted to play for Arizona State, giving the team another talented player who can help generate some wins.

With 4-star forward Marcus Bagley already signing his letter of intent, the Sun Devils should once again be able to compete with the top teams in the Pac-12 in 2020-21. The program has been consistent in the last three years under Bobby Hurley, although adding a big-time prospect like this could help the squad reach the next level in 2020-21.

Considering the development of less-heralded prospects like Remy Martin, Christopher has a chance to be a star on his new team.

Arizona State guard Remy Martin has declared for the 2020 NBA draft, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium:

Arizona State junior point guard Remy Martin has declared for the NBA Draft, he tells @Stadium. Averaged 19.1 points and 4.1 assists this past season for the Sun Devils. pic.twitter.com/w3pECSjejB

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 30, 2020

The junior had one year of eligibility remaining but will try to capitalize on a big season that saw him rank second in the Pac-12 with 19.1 points per game. He also averaged 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals on his way to being named to the All-Pac-12 First Team.

Though Martin could still withdraw his name from the draft and return to school, Doug Haller of The Athletic reported he is "full-steam ahead" about becoming a pro.

Martin wasn't listed among the top 50 players in the 2020 class by Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman.

At 6'0", 170 pounds, the guard is undersized for the NBA, while his shooting was inconsistent with just a 33.5 percent mark from three-point range this year.

The California native was still able to impress with his unique scoring ability, reaching 20 points in 18 of 31 games.

"He makes some plays out there that very few guards instinctively, athletically, can make off the dribble and especially in the open court," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said in January, per Michelle Gardner of the Arizona Republic.

Chef Remy's recipe for #Pac12Hoops Player of the Week: 👨🏾‍🍳

2⃣3⃣ points per game
6⃣7⃣ percent shooting
2⃣ more victories

S/O to @SunDevilHoops guard Remy Martin. ➡️ https://t.co/Fgzyo3csXi pic.twitter.com/LWT3rjlVEP

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 17, 2020

With a versatile offensive skill set and good instincts defensively, Martin will have a chance to continue his basketball career in the NBA.

An independent investigation requested by Arizona State University determined there was "sufficient evidence to conclude" three wives of athletic department members were sexually harassed by booster Bart Wear. 

Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports reported Thursday the school confirmed the matter "could have been resolved in a quicker timeframe," but it refused to released full results of the investigation handled by the St. Louis-based law firm Armstrong Teasdale.

The allegations were brought to light in a notice of claim—a court filing that signals the filing of a lawsuit—filed by former ASU senior associate athletic director David Cohen, who alleges he was fired from his position for "insisting" athletic director Ray Anderson and other staff members investigate Wear's actions.

Cohen's wife, Kathy Cohen, and Leslie Hurley, the wife of Sun Devils head basketball coach Bobby Hurley, were among the women to allege "unwelcome comments and physical contact" by Wear, per Thamel.

Arizona State confirmed it has terminated Wear's season tickets and "informed him he is no longer welcome at university events."

Cohen's notice of claim alleges Wear, who played football at ASU, grabbed his wife at a Pac-12 tournament game in March, "put his hands on her waist, moved his hands up the side of her body to the sides of her breast, held his hands on the sides of her breasts and said, 'Dave is lucky to have you.'"

Another wife of an athletics department staffer said in the notice of claim that Wear "rubbed her back and asked inappropriate personal questions" during the tournament, and she asked Cohen to move her seat so she didn't have to sit near Wear for the next game.

Following the season, Cohen said he reported the allegations to the head of the ASU booster club, of which Wear was a member, and the notice of claim says that at least five ASU officials were aware of the allegations. The independent investigation into the allegations began after Cohen was removed in August.

Cohen alleges in the notice of claim that "ASU showed more concern for the convenience and reputation of a prominent booster than the victims of assault and sexual harassment."

Arizona State told Yahoo Sports that Cohen "changed his story" about the interaction, saying that Wear grabbed a victim's breast, which the investigation found to be "untrue."

Cohen is seeking a $1.5 million settlement for lost wages, pain and suffering and emotional harm.

"Even though this has been a very challenging and difficult time for my family, I am confident I did the right thing," Cohen told Thamel. "I spoke out because I have a moral responsibility to protect three women that the University failed to protect. These women are the victims, and they deserve to be heard."

If Marcus Bagley is ever going to join his brother Marvin in the NBA, it will be after a stop at Arizona State.

The younger Bagley is a member of the 2020 recruiting class and announced he picked the Sun Devils on Monday:

https://twitter.com/bagleymarcus23/status/1155910168338583552

Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com noted Bagley chose Arizona State as part of a final three that included Arizona and California. While the 6’7" and 220-pound forward is partially known for being the younger brother of a Sacramento Kings player, he has already turned heads as a college prospect in his own right.

According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, he is a 4-star prospect and the No. 50 overall player, No. 14 small forward and No. 8 player from the state of California in his class. 

Borzello pointed out there is an Arizona State connection beyond the fact Marvin played nearby at Corona del Sol high school in Tempe, Arizona. Bagley's grandfather, Joe Caldwell, played at Arizona State and had his number retired by the Pac-12 school before he laced it up for the Detroit Pistons and St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks in the NBA.

The ESPN report called Arizona State a "heavy favorite down the stretch" for Bagley and noted Arizona never officially extended a scholarship offer.

Bagley's length and versatility make him stand out as someone who can play multiple positions and handle the ball from a forward spot. He possesses the athleticism to attack the basket but is also capable of scoring with his jumper and can bother perimeter shooters with his length on the defensive end.

Josh Gershon of 247Sports called Bagley's "pure scoring ability" his best trait on the floor because he "can efficiently score from all three levels."

Arizona State hasn't made it past the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament since the 1994-95 campaign but is trending in the right direction under head coach Bobby Hurley. It made back-to-back Big Dances the last two years, marking the first time it accomplished such a feat since 1980 and 1981.

Landing playmakers like Bagley is a surefire way to ensure the program's improvement continues.

In 2017-18, the Arizona State Sun Devils lost in the First Four under head coach Bobby Hurley. In 2018-19, the Hurley-led Sun Devils won their First Four game before falling in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And Thursday night, Hurley announced that he intends to keep inching the program forward: 

Forks Up 🔱 pic.twitter.com/Adlxsh8aPQ

— Bobby Hurley (@BobbyHurley11) April 12, 2019

Though an extension is not yet finalized, Hurley's comments may end speculation the 47-year-old might be leaving to accept the vacant head coaching position at St. John's. 

Earlier Thursday, the New York Post's Zach Braziller reported St. John's focus had shifted toward Iona head coach Tim Cluess rather than Hurley.

Even if Hurley hadn't clarified he and Arizona State are in negotiations to extend his stay, his current contract has him locked up through 2023—as Braziller noted, that would have necessitated "a hefty buyout."

While Hurley did not disclose any details regarding his expected extension, Stadium's Jeff Goodman reported the two sides have already agreed to a five-year extension.

Ironically, Hurley's Sun Devils defeated St. John's in the First Four to gain entry into the NCAA tournament. He was linked to St. John's after Chris Mullins stepped down as head coach on Tuesday.

Arizona State finished this season 23-11 after falling to Buffalo in the first round on March 22. 

Hurley began as head coach at Arizona State in 2015 following two .500-plus seasons at Buffalo. His time in Tempe has been a steady build with the first two seasons finishing below .500. 

As a guard at Duke from 1989-1993, Hurley won two national championships and became the NCAA all-time leader in assists. His foray into coaching came after a bumpy NBA career. Hurley was involved in a nearly fatal car accident in 1993 as a rookie point guard for the Sacramento Kings.

He miraculously went on to play for the Kings until 1997-98 before finishing his career that season with the then-Vancouver Grizzlies. His first game back from the accident, coincidentally, came on Nov. 4, 1994, at the Phoenix Suns (h/t ABC15).

Hurley hinted at how firmly his roots are planted in Arizona when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Arizona Diamondbacks' first home game April 5:

You know @BobbyHurley11 was HYPED after tossing a strike for the #DbacksOpeningDay first pitch. cc: @SunDevilHoops pic.twitter.com/CjJE0uiOdy

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 6, 2019

Opening day sauce at Chase Field.

#ForksUp🔱 x #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/wPkzUzRYdr

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) April 6, 2019

Arizona is part of his history, and he'll now look to bring Arizona State its first men's basketball championship.

The Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball team reportedly lost a significant piece of its 2020 recruiting class.

According to Evan Daniels of 247Sports, small forward Kyree Walker and the Sun Devils parted ways after he joined their class in June 2017 as a sophomore in high school. Walker is a 5-star prospect and the No. 13 overall player, No. 4 small forward and No. 1 player from the state of Arizona in the 2020 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

This breaks a string of recruiting momentum for head coach Bobby Hurley after he landed the No. 11 class in the country for 2018, per 247Sports, and the No. 23 class in 2017. The Sun Devils have been to the NCAA tournament just three times in the last 15 seasons and one time under Hurley (a First Four exit in 2017-18) but have a brighter future largely because of his recruiting efforts.

The one crystal-ball prediction for Walker after this decommitment on his 247Sports page has him landing at Arizona, which would be a double loss for Arizona State, seeing as how the Wildcats are its primary rival in the Pac-12.

However, Jake Weingarten of Stock Risers cited sources who said Kansas, Ohio State, USC and St. John's are all recruiting the 5-star prospect.

Whichever team lands him will add an impressive scorer off the wing who can slash into the lane and finish over defenders and through contact. His ability to beat defenders off the dribble creates looks inside for himself or opens outside shots for teammates when help collapses on his penetration.

Walker is one of the best players in the 2020 class and someone who can help a program compete for the Final Four from the moment he steps on campus.

Once a key part of the USC recruiting class for 2018, 5-star forward Taeshon Cherry is now headed to Arizona State, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN.

The California native provided a message on his Twitter account along with his highlight video:

110% COMMITTED TO ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY!!! #FORKSUP🔱 pic.twitter.com/DtnSQw6d5I

— Tae 🍒 (@tcherry002) January 17, 2018

According to 247Sports, Cherry is the sixth-best small forward and the No. 27 overall player in the country for 2018.

Cherry initially committed to USC in June but opened things up at the end of December, becoming the second player to decommit from the Trojans after J'Raan Brooks.

He was later identified to be involved in the FBI bribery case featuring as Adidas executive and coaches for USC, Louisville and others, per Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. Cherry's mother denied his connection to the investigation.

As long as there are no holdups, Cherry could be a game-changing talent once he steps onto campus at Arizona State.

The wing has great size for the position at 6'8", 210 pounds, with the handle, shooting stroke and fluidity of a guard. He can run the floor and finish fast breaks or create for himself in the half court.

He now joins a Sun Devils recruiting class that already includes a pair of 4-stars in Luguentz Dort and Elias Valtonen. Considering the current team will lose seniors Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice among others, the incoming group will be needed to keep the team afloat next season.

Tra Holder was one of the best guards in the Pac-12 on many nights last season. But on the nights when he wasn't, he wondered why.

Why would he score 20 points against UNLV and only two points against Purdue three days later?

Why would he start the Pac-12 tournament on fire with 21 points against Stanford, and shoot 0-of-7 from the field one night later against Oregon?

Why the inconsistency?

"I think that it's because my mental aspect was bad," Holder said.

Yes, his mental aspect.

A phrase, when Googled, that takes you to several sports-performance-related articles. Holder's mental aspect took him right to Graham Betchart.

Betchart is a basketball mental skills coach, which may get an eye roll from some, but first, consider a portion of his client list: Andrew Wiggins, Aaron Gordon, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine and Ben Simmons.

Betchart's latest (and best) testimonial comes from Holder, who is averaging 21.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals—all career highs—and is on pace to become an All-American after three seasons of being a good player on a bad team. 

Holder has found the consistency he was searching for, and he's turned into one of the most confident players in college basketball. He is Trae Young after dark, the older and west coast version of Oklahoma's guard who is drawing comparisons to Stephen Curry.

Holder is not quite as brash—he'll fire from NBA three-point range, just not half-court logos—but similar to Young, he has the off-the-dribble wizardry and variety of floaters that leave defenses helpless.

"People might think we're taking crazy shots in a game," Holder said, "but that's something that we work on in practice."

Holder was pretty much given free reign to do his thing as soon as coach Bobby Hurley set foot on campus three years ago. He came to Arizona State to play for Herb Sendek, but his system constrained Holder, who struggled as a freshman, averaging just 7.0 points in 27.0 minutes.

Hurley was the perfect coach to unleash Holder's potential, bringing a ball-screen-heavy attack that preached pace and letting it fly.

"He was able to go out there and do what he was recruited to do and not being taken out of the game, or miss a shot and look over at the bench," fellow senior guard Kodi Justice said. "He was just out there playing his game, being who he is and being a leader. Hurley coming in gave him the freedom to play his game."

It also helped that Holder's jump shot improved, so defenses would have to play him for the drive and the jumper.

He had the game of a volume scorer and the green light from Hurley, yet he didn't always play that way. That's where Betchart came in.

ASU assistant coach Rashon Burno learned about Betchart when he was an assistant at Florida and recruiting current Michigan State sophomore Joshua Langford. On his recruiting visit, Langford asked Burno and Billy Donovan how they were going to teach him to "play present."

That got the expected response: Wait, what?

"How are you going to train my mind?" Langford asked the coaches.

He then told them about Betchart, who he had been working with since he was 14.

Burno immediately got in touch with Betchart and developed a relationship. Then this past offseason, he connected him with Holder. "I've got a really good basketball player, who basically just needs to get his mind right," Burno told him. "He's got it all."

"He was kind of stopping himself a little bit," Betchart said. "The word 'unlock' is what I use a lot. I help players unlock themselves. Honestly, I've never had a player tell me the person guarding them was too good. I've never even heard that sentence in my life. It's never the opponent; it's always themselves. What Rashon saw was Tra's got it, but he's kind of blocking himself."

Betchart and Holder started trading some phone calls and texts, and every day when Holder got to the gym to work out, he could not start until he listened to four-to-five-minute lessons from Betchart on an app called Lucid.

The lessons focus on helping players to stay in the moment, not letting past performance influence how they think or play. "I was too hard on myself," Holder said.

He also did what many players do, choosing to shoot or not based off how he was feeling that particular game. It's obvious the lessons from Betchart are taking hold, because his usage rates are higher than they've ever been. He's taking 25.9 percent of ASU's shots when he's on the floor, up from 21.5 percent last season, per KenPom.com.

"There's times where he'd miss a couple shots here and there, and he'd get down," Justice said. "I wouldn't say he checked out, but he had a hard time getting out of it. Now you see this look in his eye when he misses a couple shots; he's in attack mode and trying to make a play on defense or something. It's changed over the years for sure. He's mature now. He doesn't let shots that he misses affect his entire game. He'll try to figure out other ways to change the game. His body language has definitely changed."

Letting things go has had the desired effect. Holder has been extremely consistent, scoring in double figures in every game but one. In that game against St. John's, he still attempted 12 shots. Two days later, he scored 29 points and had seven assists in a win at Kansas.

Holder also developed confidence from changing his offseason routine. As in, he adopted one.

"I had to learn how to do the same thing over and over," Holder said. "Even though I had a good day of working out, I can't slack and say I'm going to take tomorrow off because I did well yesterday. I try to stay consistent."

Holder tried to make 400-500 jump shots every workout, and some days he'd work out multiple times. That's helped him with the consistency of his jumper. He's already made 40 threes on 43.5 percent after making 46 last season when he shot 36.8 percent from deep.

"Freshman year people would always go under the ball screen and play so far back and disrespect his jumper, and he's put so much work into it, where people have to play him for his shot," Justice said. "It allows him to get to the rim. When people try to go under, he's shooting it every time."

The final piece of reconstructing his mind and body was changing his diet. Holder ditched some of his favorites like fried chicken, red meat and ice cream.

"We were just at dinner, and I was drinking a soda, and I was like, 'Man, I'm full,'" Justice said. "He was like, 'Yeah, there's a lot of carbs and a lot of calories in that.' He said it's like eating bread.

"We can't even eat together, honestly, because he'll want a salad and salmon. I'm like, I need some steak and potato or pasta."

In some ways, Holder has become much more like Hurley. The 46-year-old coach is still a workout warrior. He runs every morning, and this summer he took his team on a five-mile hike in 115-degree heat. "He ran the whole way," Holder said. "He's in crazy shape."

Hurley will also sometimes jump in and scrimmage with the Sun Devils. "He's still got the vision," Holder said. "I guess that never leaves him."

It's a fun vibe around the program, especially now that they're winning. It has helped that Hurley improved the pieces around Holder, particularly on the inside where they've added freshman Romello White, junior college transfer De'Quon Lake and Ohio State transfer Mickey Mitchell, a sophomore.

The team is still built around Holder and fellow senior guards Shannon Evans II and Justice, a core that has experienced a lot of losing and has an appreciation for this year's success.  

"I think it just makes it that much better because you don't want anyone to take it from you, because you know what the other side feels like and how hard it is and what the struggle is like," Holder said. "You cherish it more than a team who always wins and is used to it. Since I haven't ever won, it makes it that much more special to me."

Holder's goal this season was to get to the NCAA tournament, which seems like a given. Nobody had a more impressive nonconference slate than the Sun Devils, who were the nation's last unbeaten team and have wins over San Diego State, Kansas State, Xavier (thanks to a 40-point performance from Holder), St. John's, Kansas and Vanderbilt.

That success should help put Holder on the NBA's radar. He's a bit undersized at 6'1", but he could be a second-round gem, this year's version of Frank Mason.

"I think he's an NBA guard," Hurley said. "What you like to see from a player is a guy that's improving every year, even from his junior to senior year, the jump he's made is substantial. Every indication is to me he's going to continue to do that."

Holder is putting up similar numbers to what Mason did as a Kansas senior when he won National Player of the Year, and if Trae Young ever comes back to this universe and the Sun Devils stay on track, Holder could be in contention.

Of course, none of that should matter to Holder right now.

As Betchart texted him the other day: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. Play present."

Mind right.

      

Bobby Hurley is once again running the best show in college basketball. He was there at Duke when Mike Krzyzewski finally pushed through and won a national championship in 1991 and for the repeat in 1992.

Now the NCAA's all-time assist leader is pulling the strings on the sidelines at Arizona State. Sorry, that's fifth-ranked Arizona State.

The Sun Devils did not get one vote in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, and that's understandable. In Hurley's first two years in Tempe, his team went 30-35.

But this season the Sun Devils are 9-0 and fresh off a win against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. They play fast, shoot a ton of threes and are averaging 91.8 points per game. Their resume, which includes four wins over teams ranked in the top 50 at KenPom.com (Kansas, St. John's, Xavier and Kansas State) is arguably the best in the country. If AP voters simply voted off results, ASU should probably be No. 1. (Five voters put them there last week.)

After winning on Sunday at KU, Hurley brought senior guards Tra Holder and Shannon Evans along with freshman guard Remy Martin to the press conference wearing "Guard U" T-shirts. The three ran circles around the Jayhawks, playing with freedom as they combined for 72 points and 14 assists.

On Wednesday, Hurley talked to Bleacher Report about the program's turnaround, his coaching influences, his freewheeling style and the birth of a new slogan: Guard U.

Bleacher Report: What was it about Arizona State that attracted to you to the job?

Bobby Hurley: It's a great conference, and the style of the conference is very free-flowing, offensive-minded, and I thought it suited me in terms of how I like to coach and allow my teams to play. That was a match right away, and then getting to know the people—[senior associate athletic director] Dave Cohen and [athletic director] Ray Anderson—and talking with them about their vision for men's basketball at Arizona State.

When I was at Buffalo my second year, the year we went to the NCAA tournament, I came out here to play Grand Canyon in one of our nonconference games. We happened to practice at ASU and [I] just was really impressed with their facilities, the practice facilities especially. Our Weatherup Center is as good as anybody's. It's a great setup for guys to get better. It was a lot of factors really. I had been out on the West Coast playing for the [Sacramento] Kings, and I was familiar with being out west and the Phoenix area. Certainly the size of the school also was a real positive. It was everything I was looking for. 

           

B/R: What did the timeline in your head look like as far as when you could realistically start competing for NCAA tournament bids?

Hurley: Coach [Herb] Sendek had done a great job. He had great kids in the program that made my transition the first year a little easier. We battled through some injuries and we weren't that deep, but we had some early success that year. Just looking at UCLA, Oregon, Arizona and USC, the talent that those teams had, I knew we had to make some upgrades and it was going to take some time to get where they were.

      

B/R: Most of your life you've been a part of great teams. How did you handle the losing? Did the year you spent at Rhode Island with your brother help? (Hurley worked for his brother, Dan, when he took over a struggling Rhode Island program and went 8-21 in the first year.) 

Hurley: Every year I was with him, I learned from Dan, and he's one of the great coaches, I think, in college basketball, and basketball in general. Just to see how he ran his program really prepared me to become a head coach. But there is no real preparation when you're not getting to where you want to get. It tests your patience, and you might even start to question how you do things.

No matter what happened, I think we kind of ingrained in our players that losing wasn't acceptable, and we had some hard practices and a lot of film study. That's kind of rubbed off on the seniors and their approach this year. We've all taken some lumps together, and I think they'd had enough of it. The way they're playing—Evans, Holder and [Kodi] Justice—they are consistently really driving this thing right now, and it's just special to see them, after what they've been through, play at the level they're playing at right now.

B/R: Have you changed your approach now that they are successful?

Hurley: We meet more. We met a lot last year. We've really gotten closer. The three seniors we meet quite a bit to talk about messaging and things I want to get through to the team. The week ahead of us, we'll usually meet and talk about what's in front of us. There's a real connection there, and I think we're really on the same page. They've put a lot of work in, and they've worked extremely hard on their games the last two years.

Everyone talks about freshmen and the impact of freshmen, and that's the new thing. But these guys have really embraced getting better each year, and as seniors, they've all made big jumps in their game across the board to help put us in this position right now.

         

B/R: Stylistically, what was your vision?

Hurley: Kind of what you're seeing, spreading the court and having guys that can shoot it and go off the dribble. It makes it very difficult to match up against us. And then to have way more of a presence than we've had inside. We had a guy, Obinna Oleka, who put up good numbers for us and was really good, but he was undersized. He's a 3 [or] 4, and I had him playing the 5 because I had no choice.

This year we have a true inside complement to the perimeter guys with Romello White, and his ability to finish and rebound. And then we have [De'Quon] Lake, and he provides shot blocking and rebounding, and he's a very bouncy athlete. Those two guys have made a big difference for us. That's probably the main difference.

        

B/R: Have you tried to recruit to that style? 

Hurley: I want guys that you can tell love to play and want to get better. They enjoy getting in the gym and working on their game. You hope to find people like that. With the seniors, you know that they're doing it and have done it at such a high level and you're happy for them. But then you're saying, "Uh-oh, they're seniors. What's going to happen when they're gone?"

Then you see Remy Martin and feel very fortunate that you were able to see the special gifts that he has. If you have a guy like that in the program that's young, that you're going to move forward with—he's got an electric, dynamic personality and charisma to how he plays, and it's infectious with his teammates.

         

B/R: Your brother's teams have rarely ever taken a lot of threes. You shot a good number at Duke but never really did in the NBA. At Buffalo, your teams didn't take a ton of threes. Why have your teams at Arizona State shot so many?

Hurley: You evaluate your team and put together a system or a style that makes sense. When I got here, I knew that Evans wanted to come here [as a transfer from Buffalo], and I liked what I saw from Justice and Holder as freshmen. You kind of know what their skill sets are and you know eventually this is how you're going to play. Kind of spread your opponent out, because you've got guys who can shoot NBA threes and they're all so good off the bounce, getting in the lane and making plays.

It's kind of a byproduct of who you have in the program, and year to year you're going to tweak how you play just based on who is in the program.

       

B/R: What's Coach K's influence on you and your coaching? Anything you learned from him you've tried to instill?

Hurley: I just think it was hard. Practices were hard. Film study wasn't always fun. Then the same thing goes with my dad, playing for him. You realize all the work that gets put in and how you have to attack practice and preparation, getting ready for games. Once you put the work in, what I learned from Coach K is just that he trusted me and trusted us to make plays. He was willing to give up control, which is a hard thing to do as a coach.

But I've given up control through a lot of different stages in the game. I let my players play pretty freely because I trust that they're going to make good plays out there. I think he did the same for me, and I really got a lot in that regard from Coach K.

B/R: What about your father? How has he influenced your coaching?

Hurley: My dad was always learning about the game. We always watched the game together. He just loves basketball. He never stopped learning, picking up a new drill. The humility he had about not feeling like he knew everything—I'm always feeling like I'm still learning and developing as a coach.

Then also, there's no one who hated to lose more than my dad. At a high school level, at the program he coached, his winning percentage was almost 90 percent, which is unrealistic in college. He took it very personal every time he lost. Our whole family felt it every time growing up my whole life. When it comes to basketball and these games, I take it extremely personal, and I think a lot of that was developed when I was young in the Hurley house.

       

B/R: Most Power Five teams, especially when it's a rebuild, play fluff schedules. Why did you do it differently? 

Hurley: Why would you fool around and pretend that you are something that you're probably not? If you're not challenging yourself and putting your players in tough situations that they have to respond [to], it may not always end well for you. There's going to be bad results. We had a lot of bad results last year. But I firmly believe that Holder, Evans and Justice all learned something from those losses somehow, and it's made a difference now.

For this year in particular, having your younger players like Remy Martin go to Kansas and deal with that crowd and those players and that coach, to have that experience under his belt before you get to league play or the NCAA tournament, I think those are huge advantages.

         

B/R: What's it like to win like this after what you've been through?

Hurley: It's sweeter just because there are no guarantees. I'm very much trying to stay grounded and respectful of the rest of the year. It is sweet, and it feels sweet to have these victories. Not only Kansas, but to win a tournament championship. That's what we're striving to do, and winning that in [Las] Vegas against Xavier and Kansas State—and St. John's was another big game on a neutral court. It's been great because the success piece wasn't there last year. These games, the results were much different. So you appreciate the whole journey and what you've had to go through to get here. 

        

B/R: The freedom you give your guards, is that how you wanted to be coached?

Hurley: I did. I loved playing for Coach K that way. We averaged, like, 90 a game my junior year, and that was the year we went back-to-back. Guys were racing to get out in the open court so we could make plays, and then [Christian] Laettner, he would try to slow us down so he could get the ball inside because he didn't want us to forget about him. Playing that way, I want my guys to play on instinct, and they get excited to play when they're not looking over their shoulder when they make a mistake or if they miss a shot because I think, over the long haul, they're going to make more plays than negative plays.

       

B/R: I noticed you guys had the "Guards U" shirts on after the Kansas win. When did those shirts get made?

Hurley: Look, we were on cloud nine after the Xavier win in Vegas, and the coaches were together, and one of our administrators, I told him we could just be Guard U here. We play a lot of small guys. Then everyone said, "Oh, that's interesting." I don't have a lot of great ideas like that. That's not my deal usually, but the players liked it when we presented it to them, and we decided to go with it for now.

https://twitter.com/azsportscene/status/940943733880770560

B/R: So it's not a response to Point Guard U at all? (Arizona often refers to itself as "Point Guard U.")

Hurley: You can interpret it in different ways, which I like. I don't want to specifically say [we're only guards] because I think Romello White is doing pretty well. He's going to have a really good career inside. He's averaging 16 [points] and nine [rebounds] as a freshman. So there's room for big guys to do good here too, so it's like Guard U for the guards but also from a defensive standpoint, a couple different meanings I guess.

         

B/R: How do you see Arizona? How much does that rivalry matter to you?

Hurley: You hear about it locally. Our fanbase and their fanbase [are] very passionate about it. I think if you ask me, it's an important game because of how good and consistently excellent that program has been. They have one of the best coaches in the country, and they're always right there in the NCAA tournament. In that regard, it means a lot in the game. I don't get caught up in the emotion of the rivalry and that stuff.

       

B/R: Only 11 teams in 15 seasons have beat Bill Self in Allen Fieldhouse. What was it like to win there?

Hurley: I was in awe really of everything. Everyone lining up hours before the game when we pulled in, it was unbelievable. The way the fans conducted themselves during the game, it was like a professional crowd—very polite crowd, but very knowledgeable about basketball and high-energy. It was a great environment, and we knew how difficult it would be, but it was amazing because they're really good, and I think they're going to continue to get better as the year goes along. It was special.

       

B/R: This is all happened pretty fast this year—the climb up the rankings, the attention—what's it like?

Hurley: That's the thing, it's gone from zero to 100 here. Now the next step is to just try to get back to work and try to get back to normal preparation. We had our first practice yesterday, and there were no signs that anyone was satisfied. Everyone went about their business just as I hoped. We just hope to continue to do that the rest of the week, but there's no doubt that our fanbase and our students, our administration [are] really, really excited right now.

I've never seen this type of enthusiasm here or anything close to it, so I'm just thankful that it's happened.

         

B/R: When you were at Duke, there were no cellphones and no social media. It's a lot easier for people to reach you these days. Have you ever experienced anything like what I imagine has happened the last few days?

Hurley: After the Kansas game and what we'd already done at Xavier and some other games, I mean, I was scared to look at my phone right after that game because I just knew what was in front of me—all the people who had reached out. It's very similar to when my Buffalo team won the MAC championship and was going to the NCAA tournament in terms of people reaching out. I felt blessed that was happening. It took me a couple hours to get through everything. It felt terrific.

I know our players have been through a lot and some dark times, hard times, so I'm happy they're getting this kind of exposure and people feel good about them.

      

B/R: What's the goal this season? Has it changed?

Hurley: We've kind of been raising the bar here as we've been going on. I just think we just have to continue to stay in the moment and not look ahead. The season is a funny thing; a lot of things change throughout the year. Teams get better; teams regress. Guys that were out for injury come back, and we have some of that going on. We just have to focus on that, and I know how competitive my players are. They are incredibly competitive. I know when the lights are on, they're going to show up and compete every night, and that's all I can hope for now.

C.J. Moore covers college basketball at the national level for Bleacher Report. You can find him on Twitter @CJMooreHoops.