From Beyond The Arc: Arizona State MBB 2023 Preview

The Arizona State Sun Devils enter their ninth season under head coach Bobby Hurley. In the eight seasons with Hurley, the Sun Devils have been neither great nor terrible, and have tended to be in the middle of the Pac-12 standings. Hurley has taken ASU to the NCAA tournament three times; in 2018, 2019, and 2023. In each appearance, the Sun Devils did not get past the first round.

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Last season, ASU (23-12, 11-9 Pac-12 (5th)) entered the Pac-12 tournament as a 6-seed, and defeated 11-seed OSU and 3-seed USC before losing in the semifinals to 2-seed Arizona. They were selected in the NCAA tournament as an 11-seed play-in team, and defeated Nevada before losing to #6 TCU in the first round.

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As a team, the Sun Devils shot 42.1% from the field and 32.2% from long range. They averaged almost 69% at the charity stripe. They tended to get out-rebounded by the opposition, pulling in an average of 36.5 RPG to 38.4 RPG by the opposition. Their assist to turnover ratio was not bad, averaging 14.30 assists to 11.72 TOs per game.

ASU leaned very hard on their starters last season for production. Those starters were 6-4 5th-year G Desmond Cambridge, Jr., 6-6 Sr. G Devan Cambridge, 7-0 Sr. F Warren Washington, 6-1 Jr. G DJ Horne, and 6-1 So. G Frankie Collins. Of those five, only Cambridge, Jr. and Horne averaged double-digit PPG, and the pair was responsible for 56% of converted 3-point shots.

Desmond Cambridge graduated, having exhausted his eligibility.

Devan Cambridge announced that he was entering the transfer portal to play his senior season elsewhere. After originally giving his intention to go to Oregon, he instead signed with Texas Tech.

Warren Washington also transferred to Texas Tech for his senior season.

Having come from North Carolina, DJ Horne transferred to North Carolina State to be closer to home.

The Sun Devils are looking at very nearly a complete rebuild this coming season. The lone starter that returns is Frankie Collins along with only four players from last season’s 19-man roster. Of those four, only 6-6 Jr. F/G Jamiya Neal and 6-9 graduate senior F/C Alonzo Gaffney had any significant playing time last season, with both being bench players that saw action in most games last season while averaging about 16 minutes per game.

ASU signed the following three players coming in to 2023:

Braelon Green is a 6-3 G from Michigan that played at the Southern California Academy. Green is either a 3* or 4* prospect, depending on the ranking service.

Akil Watson is a 6-9 F, consensus 4* recruit from Middletown, NY. He was the No. 107 overall and No. 21 power forward prospect in the country according to On3.

The Sun Devils also brought aboard Andrew Mayock, from New Canaan, CT. There is no information available on Mayock.

With all of the veteran and freshmen departures, ASU has brought on seven players through the transfer portal.

6-2 Sr. G Brycen Long is a transfer from Houston Christian, and has two years of eligibility remaining.

JUCO transfer Bryant Selebangue is a 6-8 Jr. F from Canada, transferring from Tulsa. While at Tulsa, he averaged 12 PPG and 9.2 RPG. Selebangue is a 50% shooter at the line.

7-0 So. F Shawn Phillips transferred from LSU. His numbers are not significant, having averaged 1.4 MPG in 20 games for the Tigers.

6-3 R-Jr. G Adam Miller also transferred from LSU. Last season he played and started in all of the Tigers’ games. Miller averaged 33.0 minutes per game, 11.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.7 assists per game.

6-8 So. F Kamari Lands transferred from Louisville. In his freshman year, Lands appeared in all 32 games with six starts, averaging 5.9 PPG and 1.9 RPG. He shot 32.6% from the field, including 32.1% from distance, and 87.5% from the stripe.

6-9 Sr. F Zane Meeks transferred from San Francisco. With the Dons last season, he appeared in 29 games, making 15 starts, averaging 10.3 PPG and 5.1 RPG. Meeks was a 47.5% shooter, 32.4% from long range, and 73% from the line.

Finally, ASU brought on JUCO 6-4 Jr. G Malachi Davis.

With 10 of ASU’s 15-man roster comprising new players, and the potential production of players coming in, the Sun Devils would likely be overachieving if they were to get 20+ wins this coming season. What is more probable is that ASU will drop a few spots from last year’s 5th place ranking in the Pac-12 standings.