Bobby Hurley Becoming Frontrunner For ASU Job
With Duke assistant coach Jeff Capel no longer a possibility, ASU has turned their attention to other candidates to fill their head coaching void for their basketball program. One man appears to be the leader in the clubhouse at the moment.
That man looks to be Buffalo head coach Bobby Hurley, according to Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com. The report says that sources referred Hurley as the “frontrunner” for the job and one of them even said that a deal between ASU and the former Duke point guard might already be in place.
Here are some more details from the article.
"Sources told CBSSports.com that Hurley has spent the past few days vacationing in Aruba but that he’s expected to return to the United States on Thursday. It’s possible a deal could be finalized upon Hurley’s return, multiple sources told CBSSports.com."
After a great collegiate career at Duke and six years in the NBA where he played with the Sacramento Kings and then the Vancouver Grizzlies, Hurley has had an interesting post playing career.
He began coaching back in April of 2010 with Wagner College where he was an assistant under his brother, Dan, for two years. Following that stint, he was a lead assistant at Rhode Island once again under his younger sibling.
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After just one year there, Hurley was hired as the head coach at Buffalo in March of 2013. During his two seasons there, he managed to have a very solid 42-20 record, which included the school’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament this past year.
They would go on to lose to West Virginia in their first game of the tourney last month, but it was still a remarkable season for a school which certainly isn’t known for its basketball program.
Personally, I think bringing in Hurley would be an excellent hire for ASU for a number of reasons.
Being only 43 years old, he would bring youth and excitement to a program which has been lacking in both areas for several years now. Hurley has an excellent pedigree, being that he’s the son of a legendary coach Bob Hurley Sr., a brother of a head coach and he was coached by arguably the greatest college basketball coach in Mike Krzyzewski.
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That’s rather impressive to say the least.
It’s hard to gauge what kind of recruiter Hurley is or will be being that he’s been at Buffalo the past couple of years, but you would think given his youth and the success he had as a player in college, that would be attractive to a lot of recruits. Time will tell on that front.
Most importantly, Hurley is by far and away the best candidate out of the remaining coaches being talked about. I mean, how in the world is Trent Johnson even in the discussion?
Let’s hope Ray Anderson and company can get this taken care of and officially bring in Hurley as the new ASU head coach in the coming days. The last time ASU took their time with hiring a head coach, it worked out pretty darn well.
Let’s hope it happens a second time.