By Aidan Joly
Please fasten and tighten your seatbelts, keep your arms and legs inside of the train and feet flat on the floor at all times, and brace yourself for a wild ride.
That should be the announcement played inside Desert Financial Arena before Arizona State home games as they look to take next step in the 2020-21 season, year six of the roller coaster Bobby Hurley era.
After back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019, the Sun Devils are looking to make a big run in the PAC-12, and this year’s group has all the tools to do so.
The three-man backcourt will be the centerpiece of it all. After initially declaring for the NBA Draft this past spring, seniors Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge Jr. are both back in the fold after averaging 19.1 and 14.6 PPG last season respectively. Both of them are bonafide stars in the PAC-12 and will be the two with the biggest roles for the upcoming year. Joining them is blue-chip prospect Josh Christopher, one of two this year, providing one of ASU’s biggest recruiting classes in recent memory. We’ll get into that second one in a little bit. Hurley definitely has a guard-first mentality when it comes to his teams and the roster construction and style of play reflect that.
Christopher is a great player, ranked seventh overall in the 247 Sports rankings for this season. He is the highest-ranking signee in program history, which says something considering some guy named James Harden went there just over a decade ago. Christopher averaged nearly 30 PPG in his senior year of high school in Lakewood, Calif. and averaged 21.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game on the Nike EYBL circuit two summers ago.
The other top prospect coming in is Marcus Bagley, a four-star forward ranked 29th in the 247 rankings. The brother of former Duke star Marvin Bagley, he is a versatile wing and pure shooter that can play either the three or four, which is a huge help considering that can put them both on the floor at the same time (Christopher is more of a three). He gives good length at the four at 6-7, which might put him behind Taeshon Cherry on the depth chart to start the season after Cherry averaged 4.6 PPG last season and will probably be getting the starting nod off the bat despite a big dip in three-point shooting last year. However, Bagley will see minutes off the bench. Expect him, Kimani Lawrence and Jaelen House to get most of the minutes off the bench.
The last piece of the puzzle for forwards is Jalen Graham, who was great at the beginning of his freshman season last year, especially on defense, but had his minutes dwindle when Romello White came back. Now White, Andre Allen, Khalid Thomas and Elias Valtonen are all gone via transfer. White’s was an initial surprise considering how well he did but it was later found out he wanted to be closer to his family in Georgia, but the other three were also rotational pieces who will have to be replaced.
Another reinforcement up front will be JUCO transfer Chris Osten, who had few alternative D1 options. He will see minutes off the bench, but not as many as the others. Another incoming bench piece is Portland State transfer Holland Woods, who received a waiver and is eligible this year. Expect him to be a key reserve in the backcourt.
Overall, this Sun Devil squad bears a striking resemblance to the 2017-18 team. The blueprint for the success, a high-octane offense that values speed and shooting with above-average length at the three and four, remains similar. This team is probably better than that 17-18 team, and being in the top tier of the PAC-12 should be the goal.
AJ Hoops 