ASU Hoops Notebook: Hurley’s “Back Against the Wall,” Miller Building Culture

It’s been a busy offseason for both Arizona State basketball programs. Molly Miller is settling into her new role as head coach of the women’s team, and Bobby Hurley is looking to take big steps in year two in the Big 12. 

Both coaches were made available to media on Wednesday (as well as new Sun Devil hall of fame inductee Jeff Ayres) to talk about the progress. 

Hurley: “My back is against the wall.”

While the Sun Devil men’s basketball team brought in multiple big-time players last season, ASU struggled in their first year of the Big 12 with a 13-20 record. 

Bobby Hurley is returning as the head coach, but is entering the final year of his contract without an extension. It’s a truly prove-it year for Hurley, and he was honest to recruits about where he stands with the program when building this year’s roster. 

Speaking of the roster, Arizona State will replace every player on last year’s roster besides point guard Trevor Best. It’s a tall task, but also new reality to roster-building in this college landscape. Hurley said roster overhauls used to overwhelm him and he’d be “heartbroken” from certain transfers, but he knows it’s a part of life as a college coach now. 

Arizona State has also put more of an emphasis on international recruiting. Hurley believes the crop of players overseas are more interested in pursuing college opportunities due to NIL. 

Laying A Foundation With Molly Miller

On the women’s side, Molly Miller has hit the ground running building a staff and roster in her first year with Arizona State. She pointed to the importance of getting the right players in to build the program “on solid rock.”

Miller wants to apply that same defensive, high-energy brand of basketball that helped GCU women’s hoops earn the longest win streak in the nation last year. 

The season may seem far off, but it will be here before we know it. Make sure to keep it to Sports360AZ for all of your college hoops coverage.