(Photo: Spencer Barnes/WCSN)
During the 2025 offseason, Arizona State men’s basketball pulled talent from all over the world, including seven players from overseas. Of the eight players born in the United States, seven came from either a neighboring state or from across the country. Only one carries a true connection to the Valley — junior guard Bryce Ford.
But his journey to Tempe didn’t begin in Arizona. It traces back to a house in Laguna Beach, California, where athleticism was part of the family fabric. His father, Rodney, played college basketball at San Diego State, and his mother, Nicole, grew up playing softball. Bryce, like his father, was drawn to the court while his two older siblings, Exavier and Alyse, went in different directions.
Alyse chose volleyball, and Exavier found his place on the gridiron. Bryce used to follow both of them into the gym when he was younger. When he transferred to ASU nearly a year ago, he followed a route his sister chose in 2018. Alyse, now an assistant director at Victorium Volleyball Club in Scottsdale, was naturally excited when she heard the news.
“It first started off with just him being like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna come (to Arizona) for the offseason,’ but once he got here, that was when he told me that he had a visit with ASU,” Alyse said. “I literally started screaming and freaking out.”
Across this home, competition was an everyday part of life. It showed up in the way each sibling approached their sport and in how often they tried to outdo one another. It was the kind of environment where pushing each other became second nature.
That competitive streak carried into the smallest moments. Bryce and Exavier battled in video games, and Alyse would even challenge him at basketball whenever the chance came up. Someone was always trying to win.
“It was always a competition, even the little things like putting pizza on your plate first for dinner,” Bryce said. “It would be me and my brother going at it on video games, then for some reason my sister always thought she could hoop, so it would be me and my sister going at it in basketball.”
Alyse prepped at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana before joining the Women of Troy at USC. After three productive seasons and years rooted in Southern California, her college career ended with the Sun Devils. As a senior, she led ASU with 394 points and 4.02 points per set.
After graduating, she played outside of the United States, just as Exavier does now. Aside from her time in Puerto Rico, she logged two seasons of professional volleyball in Germany, Finland and Greece. Whether she was abroad or back home, Bryce stayed closely connected to her, even as he was navigating high school.
“When I was overseas, he would send me pictures of him watching me play on the computer at five in the morning,” Alyse said. “Whenever I was home, we would sit down and make a game plan of what he wanted to do, where he sees himself going and who has interest in him.”
Long before he transferred to ASU like his sister, Bryce and his family followed Alyse’s move from Orange County to the desert when he was in seventh grade. After growing up playing multiple sports, he committed to basketball as a freshman at Pinnacle High School.
Bryce already knew Pioneers head coach Charlie Wilde. He’d been to Wilde’s basketball camp when he was in fourth grade. Though he didn’t make varsity until he became a sophomore, Wilde considered moving him up as a freshman.
“He went through our camps and middle school program, and even as a freshman you knew he was highly talented,” Wilde said. “We even discussed bringing him up to varsity as a freshman because of injuries.”
Bryce led the 6A Desert Valley Region with 22.5 points per game as a senior at Pinnacle, a season that earned him regional Offensive Player of the Year honors. He announced his commitment to Toledo in April 2023. It wasn’t until the final 20 games of his sophomore year at Toledo that he got starter experience under his belt.
Akron was the only Mid-American Conference team to reach the NCAA tournament last season. Meanwhile, five Big 12 programs are ranked inside the top 15 this year. By choosing to come closer to home, Bryce also signed up to face a tougher slate of conference opponents.
Despite a jump in competition, the move back put Bryce in a place that felt familiar to him. He returned to the Grand Canyon State as the only player on ASU’s global roster with a story that already had local chapters. That story has been shaped by a house where sports were constant and, in its own way, mirrors Alyse’s decision to become a Sun Devil.
“When I told my sister that ASU had contacted me, she was really happy. It really felt like a dream come true to put that jersey on and play for coach (Bobby) Hurley,” Bryce said. “I’ve been watching ASU my whole life and I wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. I love it here.”
