03/11/26 06:30:00
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03/11 18:28 CDT Arizona State not renewing coach Bobby Hurley's contract after
11 up-and-down seasons
Arizona State not renewing coach Bobby Hurley's contract after 11 up-and-down
seasons
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) --- Bobby Hurley's tenure as Arizona State's coach is over
after 11 up-and-down seasons.
Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini announced on Wednesday that
Hurley's contract will not be renewed, just hours after the Sun Devils' blowout
loss to No. 7 Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament.
Hurley will be placed on paid administrative leave through the remainder of his
contract, which ends in June.
"Bobby Hurley has made incredible contributions to the sport of basketball, and
that certainly includes many memorable moments during his time as our head
coach," Rossini said in a statement. "While we will not be extending his
contract, we are so grateful for the 11 years that Coach, Leslie, Cameron,
Sydney, Bobby Jr., and he spent with us at ASU. We wish Coach well moving
forward and we are thankful for his leadership while at ASU."
Hurley led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament three times, including two
straight in 2018-19, but needed to make another March Madness run if his
contract was going to be extended.
Arizona State fell well short, finishing 12th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 at
7-11 and 17-16 overall following the 92-49 loss to Iowa State in Kansas City.
Hurley finished 185-167 in 11 seasons at Arizona State, leaving as the
second-winningest coach in program history behind Ned Wulk.
"I don't have any regrets," Hurley said after the loss to Iowa State. "I laid
it out on the line the best I could every night."
Arizona State got Hurley's 11th season off to a solid start, with a runner-up
finish at the Maui Invitational and a close loss to No. 8 Gonzaga.
The rest of it was a struggle as the Sun Devils struggled with injuries and
inconsistencies.
The Sun Devils picked up solid home wins against Kansas State and Cincinnati,
but were blown out by No. 8 Houston, West Virginia and rival Arizona in a
January stretch that left Hurley dejected.
"We failed. I'm failing. I can't get through to the team,'' Hurley said after
the 75-63 loss to West Virginia on Jan. 21. "I don't know what else I can say."
Arizona State pulled off an upset by beating No. 14 Kansas in Hurley's final
home game, but was trounced by Iowa State four days later. The Sun Devils beat
Baylor in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament before being bounced from
the bracket by Iowa State with a lackluster performance.
It's unclear if Arizona State will accept an invitation to a lesser postseason
tournament, such as the NIT or the College Basketball Crown, where the Sun
Devils played last year.
"He changed my life," Arizona State senior Allen Mekuba said. "It's a blessing
for me, just a blessing to be a part of this team, everything we went through,
the way coach was coaching. It was just an amazing year. I got nothing else to
say about that."
Hurley arrived in the desert with great fanfare and hope of turning around a
program that had been to the NCAA Tournament twice the previous 18 seasons.
A two-time national champion at Duke and still the NCAA's all-time assists
leader, Hurley was hired after leading Buffalo to the NCAA Tournament for the
first time in 2015.
Hurley led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament in his third season and did it
in consecutive seasons from 2018-19, a first for the program since 1980-81. He
also led Arizona State to a win at Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse in 2017, part of a
12-0 start that propelled them to No. 3 in the AP Top 25, matching the highest
ranking in program history.
Arizona State appeared to be in good position to reach the NCAA Tournament in
three straight seasons for the first time since the 1960s in 2020, but the
COVID-19 pandemic wiped out March Madness.
The Sun Devils have struggled to regain their footing since then, reaching the
NCAA Tournament in 2023, but finishing with a losing record the other four
seasons. Fan interest also waned, to the point there seemed to be more Arizona
fans at Desert Financial Arena than Arizona State fans in their Jan. 31 rivalry
game.
"We have not played well here in years, like since before COVID,'' Hurley said.
"We had this place cooking before COVID. Now it's a sterile environment. We
don't win here. We don't give our fans any reason to show up with enthusiasm to
think that we're going to win a basketball game. We have been dreadful at home
for years."
___
AP Basketball Writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this
report.
___
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