The Bobby Hurley era is over after 11 seasons of mixed results. In steps Randy Bennett, the long-time Saint Mary's coach who repeatedly turned away overtures from larger programs until the school in his hometown came calling. Bennett had to rebuild ASU's roster after a flurry of departures, but has brought in the type of talent that could earn the Sun Devils their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2023. The Sun Devils, like most of Bennett's
teams at Saint Mary's, will be big, with three 7-footers on the roster.
Paulius Murauskas. The talented Lithuanian forward was one of the most sought after players in the transfer portal and ended up following his coach from Saint Mary's to the desert. The 6-foot-8 forward, who started his career at Arizona, averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Gaels last season.
Dillan Shaw. The 6-7 forward also transferred from Saint Mary's after Bennett left. Shaw had a strong freshman season in Moraga and will give the Sun Devils a strong perimeter threat after shooting nearly 42% from 3.
Bryce Ford. The 6-4 guard had a solid first season in Tempe after transferring from Toledo and should have a much bigger role this season.
Joel Foxwell. The 6-1 Australian guard had a super freshman season at Portland, averaging 15.6 points, 6.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game last year.
Arizona State lost its top three scorers from last year. Moe Odum, Massmaba Diop and Anthony Johnson combined for 52.2 points per game, accounting for 68% of Arizona State's scoring. ... Ford and guard Vijay Wallace are the only returners, but Wallace missed all of last season due to injury. ... The Sun Devils added former Boston 7-footer Ben Defty, 7-foot Nate Garcia, a Cal Baptist transfer and 7-3 Serbian Filip Malesevic. Former Gonzaga guard Emmanuel Innocenti should have a big impact, transfer forwards Marcus Vaughns (LSU) and Jonathan Griman (Cal Baptist) should contribute and freshman JRob Croy has a massive upside.
Arizona State opens the season at home against East Tennessee State and has the usual string of home games against smaller programs before facing LSU and South Carolina in Palm Springs. The Sun Devils also play Oklahoma in Tulsa.
Bennett won a school-record 589 games at Saint Mary's and was the West Coast Conference coach of the year seven times, earning 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament. ... Arizona State's size should help it improve defensively after finishing 300th last season at 78.3 points per game. The Sun Devils also were 306th nationally in rebounding, which should improve with the added size. ... Bennett has been a strong overseas recruiter and the additions of Lithuanian guard Jokubas Rudaitis and Australian big man Ajak Nyuon give the Sun Devils plenty of depth.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full men’s basketball coverage here
