Arizona State Basketball 2020-21

TJ

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I agree. Now I am not sure ASU can get a special coach so Hurley may be the best man for this program but I really don't think he is a difference maker.

Worst-kept secret amongst the college coaches that he wants out of ASU.
 

AZCB34

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Worst-kept secret amongst the college coaches that he wants out of ASU.

ASU was always a rest stop on the way to Duke. The fact that he doesn't want to be here translates to his players and it shows in how they play.

ASU needs a coach who wants ASU and really doesn't aspire to anything more except too make ASU the best they can be. Basically think Mark Few. That guy has stayed in Spokane and built a beast of a program
 

AzStevenCal

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ASU was always a rest stop on the way to Duke. The fact that he doesn't want to be here translates to his players and it shows in how they play.

ASU needs a coach who wants ASU and really doesn't aspire to anything more except too make ASU the best they can be. Basically think Mark Few. That guy has stayed in Spokane and built a beast of a program

I don't believe any basketball coach gets his dream job after a run at ASU. Other than Sendek, has any former ASU men's basketball Head Coach even found another job as a head coach after leaving Tempe?
 

Raindog

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Hurley has proven he is a top notch recruiter. His major issues seem to be as an in game coach. Something always seems to be missing there.

Given that, I'm not sure Duke sees him as the heir apparent everybody (even maybe Hurley himself) seems to think. Just as ASU may not be able to do any better than Hurley, Hurley might not be able to do any better than ASU.
 

AZCB34

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I don't believe any basketball coach gets his dream job after a run at ASU. Other than Sendek, has any former ASU men's basketball Head Coach even found another job as a head coach after leaving Tempe?

I never said he would get the Duke job just that when he was hired this was, theoretically, a stopping point on his way to talking over for Coach K.

He seems to be decent at recruiting but there is a bit of a disconnect when they play.
 

Russ Smith

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Hurley has proven he is a top notch recruiter. His major issues seem to be as an in game coach. Something always seems to be missing there.

Given that, I'm not sure Duke sees him as the heir apparent everybody (even maybe Hurley himself) seems to think. Just as ASU may not be able to do any better than Hurley, Hurley might not be able to do any better than ASU.


I can't find it but apparently they hired Boakye's HS or prep coach to get him. NIU is hiring away an ASU assistant so they had a position to fill and used it to hire the coach to get Boakye. pretty common now so not criticizing it but the last 2 big name recruits he got they hired the coach, and gave a ride to the brother to get them.

I think his big issue is he's just so volatile that it impacts the team. You can be "aggressive and tough" and not be unbalanced, right now that's how I see Cronin at UCLA, but Hurley routinely crosses the line to out of control.
 

AzStevenCal

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I never said he would get the Duke job just that when he was hired this was, theoretically, a stopping point on his way to talking over for Coach K.

He seems to be decent at recruiting but there is a bit of a disconnect when they play.

Okay, I just think he needs to be realistic. ASU has not been a career stepping stone. Ned Wulk was a very successful coach but his postseason teams were a disappointment. Other than Sendek, every coach that followed him was fired and never hired again (Weinhauer, Patterson, Frieder, Newman and Evans). Herb had success at NC State and Miami of Ohio and had to take the Santa Clara job after failing at ASU. I expect Hurley's future to be similar if he can't start having some postseason success.
 
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Mainstreet

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Okay, I just think he needs to be realistic. ASU has not been a career stepping stone. Ned Wulk was a very successful coach but his postseason teams were a disappointment. Other than Sendek, every coach that followed him was fired and never hired again (Weinhauer, Patterson, Frieder, Newman and Evans). Herb had success at NC State and Miami of Ohio and had to take the Santa Clara job after failing at ASU. I expect Hurley's future to be similar if he can't start having some postseason success.

Ned Wulk was a good coach but a year or so after moving into the newly built arena, he was fired after a so-so season. Arizona State should have given him more of a chance in the new environment.
 

AzStevenCal

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Ned Wulk was a good coach but a year or so after moving into the newly built arena, he was fired after a so-so season. Arizona State should have given him more of a chance in the new environment.

I think he was a very good coach but the team underperformed in the postseason and they were never able to draw the fans. When I first got my driver's license in 1970, it was my last minute date option of choice because we could always get good cheap seats all the way up till game time - no big budget and no advanced planning required which was perfect for a scatter-brained teenager.
 
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Mainstreet

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I think he was a very good coach but the team underperformed in the postseason and they were never able to draw the fans. When I first got my driver's license in 1970, it was my last minute date option of choice because we could always get good cheap seats all the way up till game time - no big budget and no advanced planning required which was perfect for a scatter-brained teenager.

A lot of it involves around when the new arena was built. It's hard to win in small facilities.

After Ned Wulk lost almost an NBA roster after the 1980-81 season, the Sun Devils going 13-14 the following season should not have been unexpected. Instead they fire him.

Arizona State thought they could do better but it never turned out that way.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/arizona-state/1981.html
 

AzStevenCal

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A lot of it involves around when the new arena was built. It's hard to win in small facilities.

After Ned Wulk lost almost an NBA roster after the 1980-81 season, the Sun Devils going 13-14 the following season should not have been unexpected. Instead they fire him.

Arizona State thought they could do better but it never turned out that way.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/arizona-state/1981.html

True but I think you're underestimating the postseason disappointments. That was a loaded team (Fat Lever, Alton Lister, Sam Williams etc.) but we lost to Ohio State (Clark Kellog and Herb Williams) the first year and then to Kansas the next (Darnell Valentine with the hugest thighs I've ever seen on a basketball court - I saw him up close and personal in that game).

In 1980 we won our opening round game and then lost to underdog Ohio State and the next season we had a first round bye and lost to another underdog (Kansas) - and those losses were actually at home. Then, we replaced Wulk with Bob Weinhauer whose only real claim to fame was taking his Ivy League team to the NCAA tournament several years in a row.
 
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Mainstreet

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True but I think you're underestimating the postseason disappointments. That was a loaded team (Fat Lever, Alton Lister, Sam Williams etc.) but we lost to Ohio State (Clark Kellog and Herb Williams) the first year and then to Kansas the next (Darnell Valentine with the hugest thighs I've ever seen on a basketball court - I saw him up close and personal in that game).

In 1980 we won our opening round game and then lost to underdog Ohio State and the next season we had a first round bye and lost to another underdog (Kansas) - and those losses were actually at home. Then, we replaced Wulk with Bob Weinhauer whose only real claim to fame was taking his Ivy League team to the NCAA tournament several years in a row.

I simply think Wulk should have been given more time to win in the new arena. The postseasons were nothing to talk about for sure.

Ned Wulk could recruit and his style of basketball attracted top players. Imagine getting Fat Lever out of Tucson.

It's not like Arizona State replaced him with better head coaches.

Wulk brought an exciting modern style of play to ASU similar to today's NBA.
 

AzStevenCal

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I simply think Wulk should have been given more time to win in the new arena. The postseasons were nothing to talk about for sure.

Ned Wulk could recruit and his style of basketball attracted top players. Imagine getting Fat Lever out of Tucson.

It's not like Arizona State replaced him with better head coaches.

Wulk brought an exciting modern style of play to ASU similar to today's NBA.

No doubt, ASU went from being a stable environment for Head Coaches to almost a turnstile overnight. They never again matched Kush or Wulk.
 

Raindog

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Wulk remains arguably ASU's best basketball coach, and the only one who got the program to major national prominence. And it wasn't just the early 1980s teams with Lever and Scott. The 1975 team with Lionel Hollins made it to the elite eight of the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual champion UCLA. And some of his 1960s teams with Joe Caldwell and Freddie Lewis were pretty good, too.

Unfortunately, ASU hired AD Charles Harris from Penn in 1982 who didn't like Wulk and insisted on bringing his own guy, Bob Weinhauer, with him from Penn... only the first of several questionable moves during Harris' reign over the athletic department, some of which we still haven't quite recovered from, such as the hoops program's fall from national relevancy.
 
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Mainstreet

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No doubt, ASU went from being a stable environment for Head Coaches to almost a turnstile overnight. They never again matched Kush or Wulk.

I think baseball coach Bobby Winkles needs to be added to the list of notable ASU head coaches.

Winkles won three national championships at Arizona State.
 
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Mainstreet

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Sun Devils again add more size to the team. I like that his stats indicate he can rebound.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

By Michelle Gardner Arizona Republic:

Bramah, who will have one season remaining, played his last two seasons at Robert Morris, averaging 21 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 51.1 percent in 12 games the past season. His best outing of 28 points came in a win over Purdue-Fort Wayne. He hit double digit in rebounds six times with a best of 16 coming twice.


https://www.azcentral.com/story/spo...d-front-court-transfer-a-j-bramah/7020020002/
 

AzStevenCal

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I think baseball coach Bobby Winkles needs to be added to the list of notable ASU head coaches.

Winkles won three national championships at Arizona State.

Yeah but Winkles left years earlier - of his own accord, as far as I know. Both Kush and Wulk were forced out and both programs have been hugely disappointing ever since. Of course, if they hadn't forced Kush it probably would have taken several years more to bring the NFL to the Valley but I'd still have rather seen Kush (and Wulk) coach on for another decade or so.
 

Raindog

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Yeah but Winkles left years earlier - of his own accord, as far as I know. Both Kush and Wulk were forced out and both programs have been hugely disappointing ever since. Of course, if they hadn't forced Kush it probably would have taken several years more to bring the NFL to the Valley but I'd still have rather seen Kush (and Wulk) coach on for another decade or so.

Unfortunately, Kush's hard nosed style cost him his job at ASU, if you recall. There was a shift in philosophy in sports in general at the time as to how dictatorial coaches were allowed to get away with being, and Kush got himself into trouble with that.

However, if Kush had managed to keep his job, I don't doubt ASU football would have remained dominant (even in the PAC) for another decade... and likely wouldn't have suffered as much of a swoon as followed in the 1990s onward.
 
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Mainstreet

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Just because it still feels good and relevant to the conversation concerning Frank Kush.


By The Buffalo News:
  • By News wire services
  • Sep 22, 1996

ARIZONA STATE SHOCKS NO. 1 NEBRASKA, 19-0

-------------------------

Riding a swarming defense that recorded three safeties, the 17th-ranked Sun Devils halted college football's longest winning streak at 26 games by scoring a 19-0 victory before a sellout crowd of more than 74,000.

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Before the game, the school held a ceremony to rededicate its stadium as Sun Devil Stadium at Frank Kush Field. Kush was honored for compiling a 176-54-1 record as football coach at ASU from 1958-79. His Sun Devils beat Nebraska, 17-14, in the 1975 Fiesta Bowl to complete a 12-0 season. The victory had been considered the most significant in school history as Arizona State finished that year No. 2 in the rankings.


https://buffalonews.com/news/arizon...cle_f9bfaa58-4263-5728-9e7c-2ab59f355efd.html
 

AzStevenCal

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Unfortunately, Kush's hard nosed style cost him his job at ASU, if you recall. There was a shift in philosophy in sports in general at the time as to how dictatorial coaches were allowed to get away with being, and Kush got himself into trouble with that.

However, if Kush had managed to keep his job, I don't doubt ASU football would have remained dominant (even in the PAC) for another decade... and likely wouldn't have suffered as much of a swoon as followed in the 1990s onward.

Kush got into a little trouble, yes. But at the time, the rumor was that this incident was being magnified by the powerful people that were trying to bring the NFL to the Valley. Kush was extremely popular and adamantly opposed to the NFL because he was convinced that it would turn ASU football into a minor sporting attraction. Slapping the helmet of Kevin Rutledge for not paying attention was blown completely out of proportion to fit that NFL agenda. It was hardly the Woody Hayes incident that they tried to paint it as.
 
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