Hurley stresses the importance of leadership with overhauled roster

(Photo Courtesy Pac-12)

The transfer portal has revolutionized how programs build their foundations, often losing key personnel to other programs, forcing teams to rely on freshmen or attack the portal and hope to find the right combination of players to win games.

In the case of Arizona State men’s basketball, the program has relied on the latter with multiple key departures, overhauling a program that took strides and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. In his interview during Pac-12 Media Day, head coach Bobby Hurley acknowledged that it will be the prerogative of the existing leaders to build on last year’s fifth-place conference finish and NCAA tournament round of 64 push.

“Now we can reinforce that message,” Hurley said. “We have guys that understand what it takes to get there in (junior guard) Frankie Collins, (junior guard/forward) Jamiya Neal, and (senior forward) [Alonzo] Gaffney.”

Passion and aggressiveness are pillars of Hurley’s coaching philosophy. It’s not uncommon to find him careening down the Desert Financial Arena sideline, shirt soaked through in sweat, veins pulsating at any point during ASU games. His style isn’t for the faint of heart and can only work if the stars of the team are bought in. That expectation of leadership and supporting the new players in their transition into life under Hurley isn’t lost on Collins.

“I think just us being here… just understanding how coach Hurley operates,” Collins said during Pac-12 media day. “You know, being that voice and taking that next step into a leadership role… We have a very inexperienced team so just getting them all on the same page and understanding what we got going on.”

The 2023-24 edition of Sun Devil Basketball will start and finish with the on-court product of their veteran backcourt. Collins and Neal, are expected to be the focal points of an offense that averaged 71.1 points a game last year, good for 4th in the conference. It’s been impressed on the duo since early summer workouts from Hurley and his staff that this season they have the chance to cement themselves firmly as, one of if not, the best guard tandems in the conference and it’s a challenge Neal welcomes.

“I think we can do it,” said Neal. “I think we’re very confident in ourselves, coach (Hurley) is confident in what we can do, I think if we bring it every night we can show everyone that we can be one of the best backcourts in the Pac-12.”

ASU will go as its leaders go but it’ll require assistance from the new supporting cast in Tempe to help, as there are nine new players — six transfers, two freshmen and a junior college transfer — on the roster for this upcoming season. According to Hurley, it was the undertaking of him and his staff to find the unsung “diamond in the roughs” that may be able to shine in the valley of the sun.

“We liked to find guys that were a little bit undervalued, and I think we were able to come up with a couple of gems,” Hurley said.

Headlining the new transfer class is a pair of former LSU Tigers, redshirt junior guard Adam Miller and sophomore center Shawn Philips, who’s 7-foot frame offers an above-the-rim physical presence that Collins has seen already make an impact during their summer program. Miller, a former four-star 247Sports Composite recruit out of Illinois, was once regarded as one of the better shooters in the country as a freshman, draining 34 percent from 3-point land his freshman season in the Bayou before tearing his ACL early in his sophomore campaign. After returning from injury last year, Miller improved his scoring output to 11.5 points per game in his last season at LSU before transferring to the Valley.

It’s unknown if Miller will play this season as his eligibility waiver as a second-time undergraduate transfer is pending the NCAA’s approval.

“With Shawn Phillips, he’s 7-foot with almost a 40-inch vertical,” Collins said. “He can really get up there, plays hard, blocks shots, crazy wingspan.”

The Sun Devils lost their two leading scorers from a year ago, guards Desmond Cambridge Jr. and DJ Horne to the draft and transfer portal, respectively. While a lot of the scoring load will fall to Collins, Neal, and Miller, a new transfer from Louisville, sophmore forward Kamari Lands is a player Hurley sees that can also help shoulder the burden of lighting up the valley this fall.

“Kamari Lands is another top 50 player, out of Louisville that will provide again some scoring punch for us with the losses that we sustained on the perimeter last year,” said Hurley.

As expected with any team, replacing over half a roster from the year before, there are growing pains to be expected. Chemistry isn’t built in a day and ASU embarked on a summer European tour with the goal of creating bonds that could benefit them at the beginning of the season. The Ellie Ziegler foreign tour included stops in Paris, Athens, and Mykonos, where they played exhibition games and spent a week of quality time together. While the trip was a chance to gain on-court chemistry it was the off-court connections that Collins enjoyed most.

“I think that was probably one of the best times I had in my life,” he said. “Getting to enjoy it with my teammates was even better, getting to know them every day while we were out there and getting some games in.”

Off the floor, this new group will be led by a new-look coaching staff. Hurley retooled his cabinet with the goal of adding younger, former players who can connect with and push this young group as well as some experience to balance out the leading voices. Former Hurley players Jaren Skeet, who played under him at Buffalo University, and former Sun Devil Mickey Mitchell will join the staff this season in different roles. Greg Lansing joins the staff bringing with him 10 years of head coaching experience at Indiana State.

“We tried to stay youthful and relatable to our players and also bring coaches in that have that experience,” Hurley said.

ASU made some noise last year but following all the changes to the roster and coaching staff it’s time for the brand new-look Sun Devils to prove themselves again. Even when they may be seen as underdogs by some, Neal says everyone is ready to take the responsibility this year together to light the conference and nation alike ablaze.

“We have a whole bunch of guys who have a lot to prove, we have guys who are hungry to show what they can do,” Neal said. “We don’t have a lot of guys who were highly ranked or whose stats were the best, even mine and [Collins]. Everybody is stepping into a bigger role and I think that’s going to help us because we all have each other’s back.”