If you're an Arizona State basketball fan, Saturday night was the last chance you'd have to see the Sun Devils win a game during the 2024-25 regular season. The team faced off against the Utah Utes, who had lost two straight entering the contest.
Despite owning a 43-41 halftime lead ASU fell behind and could not recover, ultimately suffering a 99-73 trouncing in Salt Lake City. Freshman Joson Sanon impressed with a 28 point performance but he was the lone bright spot amongst the seriously handicapped Sun Devil bench.
Freshman phenom Jayden Quaintance missed yet another game with injury as head coach Bobby Hurley had just five players from his normal rotation available on Saturday. Besides the mounting injuries, the team has now played three games without the season's leading scorer in BJ Freeman, who was dismissed for "conduct detrimental" on Feb. 23.
Latest loss leaves Bobby Hurley's coaching seat boiling hot
As reported exclusively by Devils in Detail on Saturday, a source within Sun Devil Athletics has indicated athletic director Graham Rossini is considering the financial implications of firing Hurley after this season.
A 13-16 record for a roster stacked with highly-rated transfers and a five-star recruit is a terrible look, especially with Rossini previously expressing confidence in Hurley and setting basic expectations at qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Hurley looks neither confident nor will his squad qualify for March Madness this season.
Two games remain for the Sun Devils in their Big 12 debut, both against ranked foes. No. 22 Arizona and No. 10 Texas Tech can practically be chalked up to auto-losses which would leave the team at 13-18, the worst mark for the program since the 2011-12 season (10-21).
Hurley has just one year remaining on his contract and any buyout would cost the school at least $3 million. So, Rossini has to decide whether Hurley deserves one last season to "prove it" and then move on if the results are anything less than the postseason. That may cost a fortune in good will from the fanbase, which has been getting mightily impatient with Hurley and the highly-rated rosters he manages to recruit.