Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Upon Further Review

Well, it's been a year since ASU hired Dilly to be our new football coach, who is now in the process of corralling his second HS and portal transfer recruiting class...

I guess I was so relieved that we had a bright, new, young coach to succeed Herm Edwards at our school that I let my optimism get away from me...

As a result of this tension release, I really overestimated what Dilly could do once he got to ASU last year...

I guess I thought he could wave a magical wand at what he inherited, that wasn't much from the Herminator, and produce a winning team almost immediately...

I mean, once he got Rashada in our QB room, along with the former starting QB from Notre Dame who had gone 8-2 there, it seemed that anything was possible looking forward to the 2023 season...

Add to that the fact that we had eight home games really had me pretty darn optimistic...

But, as we all now know things did not turn out like I had envisioned before the season started, sadly...

There were injuries galore, a bad coaching hire or two rearing their ugly heads, and the QB situation was fluid throughout the season due to all sorts of things...

The QB situation became so desperate that we ended up, toward the end of the season, playing our fourth string QB, as well as a TE and RB playing the position, too...

As as result, Dilly and his staff had to go to a "little league playbook" to devise plays for our offense to run since not enough was there to run an offense the usual college level way...

And, as a result of all these shortcomings, I have been forced to sober-up related to my over-optimistic outlook regarding what Dilly can or cannot do as our new football coach...

I have been pleased that we have a new OC and new DL coach, which is a step in the right direction, for me and most others here, if I'm not mistaken...

I'm also pleased with what seems to be happening along the portal and HS recruiting fronts, as we don't seem to be looking at FCS and G-5 leftovers as much...

And, the Sun Angel Collective seems to be high functioning and able to raise NIL funds that are needed now to help entice players to become Sun Devils!!!

This has made me hopeful that next season might be an improvement over what we saw in our last year in the PAC...

I think we will still be a year or two away from upper Big 12 "competitive traction" but if Dilly and his staff find a way to win a couple more games this next year, that would show signs of progress, IMHO...

It took Jedd Fisch three years and one bonanza recruiting class, along the way, to elevate the Cats program and I'm hopeful that Dilly can do the same at our school...

Speaking of the Cats, Greg Hansen, in his Daily Star Sunday Notebook today, took president Robbins to task over some of the comments he made regarding sports at AU...

He wonders why there might be some layoffs in the Cats athletic dept when the Cats athletic dept only has 276 full-time employees compared to ASU's 341 full-time employees in its athletic dept...

He also wonders why ticket prices for football and basketball have to be raised by 25% when mid-level seats in McKale cost a premium of anywhere from $5K to $75K over five years...

Or, how the premium seats in their football stadium that already pay a premium of $4K a year (rounded off figure) are going to be increased by 25%...

He additionally wonders what the 16 members of the Cats athletic dept fundraising corps is going to have to do within this environment as there is only so much money to go around, one would think...

Perhaps, down here in So Arizona, sports dollars grow on trees, especially when your BB team is ranked #1 in the country and your football team just won 9 games, with a bowl game left to go against Oklahoma, whose QB just went to Oregon rather than play in the bowl game...

On a related note, I wonder what all those full-time Sun Devil athletic dept employees are doing with their time since we don't have an elite BB program or winning football program at the moment, like the Cats...

My guess is that there is a whole lot of brainstorming going on about how to create even more brainstorming meetings to justify their existence within our athletic dept...

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, I'm cautiously optimistic about what Dilly and his staff are doing these days but not enough to think that we will have enough wins this next season to earn a bowl bid in our first Big 12 football season...

That's my Upon Further Review take this fine December morning in the desert...

Just my two cents, as always...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

Won't be surprised if Isaiah Johnson is not there the first day of camp, and even if he is I have my doubts if he will be in the two-deep at corner.

Tweet said something to the effect of that despite doing everything right he still gets screwed over.

Something tells me that there's a whole other side to that story.

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“I sat down with Coach Arroyo and Coach Dillingham, and they put a lot of time into it, dissecting my game and showing me their philosophy. Nobody else has shown me what they have.”

Good evening Huddle members,

Last contest in this three-game homestand and another challenging matchup for the Sun Devils

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Addresses an immediate need for ASU. Crook prepped at Duncanville (Tex.) High School whose head coach Reginald Samples is the father of ASU WR's coach Rashaad Samples

Yet another example of a massively successful recruiting visit weekend in Tempe

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Any news on whether Adam Miller will get a waiver to play this year? I figure with practices starting, the news has to come soon, right?

ASDE

Per his IG page 6-3 245 SDSU transfer tight end Cameron Harpole commits to Sun Devils during his official visit. 6-6 wingspan and a true threat in the passing game

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. “That’s why I committed. I ain’t gonna lie to you; I wasn’t considering anyone else based on the fact that they (ASU) treated me like a priority from day one.”

Good evening Huddle members,

Tip-off is at 8:40 and the link below tells you how to watch/listen to the game

Oregon? USC? Michigan? Georgia? What do I hey spend a year on players? Then what about the next tier? Nebraska? Washington? Penn State? Anyone have any ideas?

Wow, great sign by Lanning to get a solid QB for 2024.......curious what T Thompson will do now that he pretty much has No Shot @ being a starting QB......Thompson was highly rated but must not be developing as needed for Lanning to have full confidence in him

This item got lost in the mix tonight with the two commits and was posted under another thread, so just wanted to bring it to the forefront.

We said that some players over winter break could sit down with their families, express to each other how much they miss each other being out of state, etc., and next thing you know, they're in the portal. That's what happened with Williams.

Williams, a former Auburn commit, definitely had some potential and especially with BJ Green gone, may have had a chance to find himself in the two-deep depending on how good of additions ASU brought in this year. If you recall his Zachary (La.) High School teammate and fellow defensive lineman, Landen Thomas, was also a freshman at ASU this past season, was the reason Williams came to ASU. Hopefully, Thomas doesn't decide to follow the same path.

So if Elijah O'Neal and Gharin Stansbury can take that next step and be formidable backups to starters Clayton Smith and Prince Dorbah and O'Neal, then AS is set at this role, and any portal addition they bring in could be an added bonus. But again, bummer to have Williams leave ASU and so soon because his best football is certainly ahead of him.



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On paper, the first road test for ASU, a contest at the University of San Diego, should not have been daunting at all. Nonetheless, a game where the Sun Devils lead for over 30 minutes turned into a nightmare that saw a four-game winning streak come to a screeching halt. Here are our takeaways from the Sun Devils 89-84 loss.

Was supposed to announce tomorrow but happened tonight

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"Meeting the coaches and being there really made me feel like home. It was surprising to me how well I could fit into that scheme.”

This is the latest of list as of Friday morning

6-3 305 Sophomore OL Cade Bennett SDSU

6-0 169 Redshirt Freshman DB Javan Robinson Washington State

6-3 275 Junior defensive end Justin Woodtly Cincinnati

6-0 220 Sophomore LB Jordan Crook Arkansas (prepped at Duncanville (Tex.) High School, where Reginald Samples, father of ASU WR's coach Ra'Shaad Samples, is the head coach)

6-4 285 Junior TE Markeston Douglas Florida State (visiting Dec. 7-8)

6-4 245 Sophomore TE Cameron Harpole SDSU

6-2 200 Freshman QB Sam Leavitt Michigan State

6-1 193 Sophomore DB Latterance Welch LSU

6-7 320 Sophomore OL Ethan Boyd Michigan State

6-5 320 Sophomore OL Kevin Wigenton II Michigan State

6-6 315 Junior OL Monroe Mills Texas Tech

6-4 265 Freshman DL JP Deeter Purdue

6-5 225 Freshman DL John Henry Daley BYU (served mission)

Non-portal visitors

6-4 225 TE Ryan Boultwood Mt. SAC Junior College

6-2 322 DT Ameir Glenn High School prospect and Wake Forest commit

Right here:

Production quality should be really good as it has been in the past when broadcast on the PAC Network. If you haven't had the chance to see ASU Hockey, and you have access to the PAC Network, I would say this is a great game to tune into.

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DEC 4 UPDATE

Defensive Line

Current players (in order of 204 eligibility):

Senior Anthonie Cooper
Senior Elijah O’Neal
Senior Harold Brooks III
Junior Prince Dorbah
Junior Gharin Stansbury
Junior Clayton Smith
Sophomore Sam Benjamin
Sophomore CJ Fite
Sophomore Tristan Monday
Sophomore Blazen Lono-Wong
Redshirt Freshman Landen Thomas
Redshirt Freshman Kyran Bourda

Incoming freshmen: Ramar Williams, James Giggey, Mason Fleming, Albert Smith

Position snapshot: BJ Green in the portal is a blow to the EDGE role, but that’s at last a role that, in comparison to defensive tackle, you can *somewhat* afford to take a hit. Nonetheless, his departure will only compel ASU that much more to find help in the portal. You still would have a good duo of starters in Clayton Smith and Prince Dorbah. Maybe Gharin Stansbury can turn the corner, but he’s another player I could see leave, not so much for NIL but just because he’s not confident in his playing time in the future.

Cannot overstate the need at defensive tackle because, aside from Fite (who declared he's staying), I don’t see this depth chart having the required talent to compete in the Big 12. Bringing in three tackles from the portal wouldn’t be a shocker at all. Thus, Blazen Lono-Wong and Brooks are linemen that I see as a strong possibility of leaving. Maybe some of the returning players can make their presence known in the spring, but the upgrade of this front four is more than likely going to be with the additions from the portal, and much like the offensive line, there going to have to be a lot of bullseyes recorded here.

Linebacker

Current players (in order of 2024 eligibility):

Senior Caleb McCullough
Junior Krew Jackson
Sophomore Tate Romney
Redshirt freshman K’Vion Thunderbird

Incoming freshmen: Martell Hughes

Position snapshot: Granted, in a scheme that will often feature two linebackers, you don’t need an abundance of players in this unit. But the depth here isn’t ideal. Romney under the radar may have been the biggest newcomer surprise, but all other returning players, at best, showed some flashes here and there but nothing else. So, ASU bringing in at least 2-3 formidable linebackers is a forgone conclusion, especially with Djonkam in the portal.

McCullough may still be backup if ASU is able to bring in quality linebackers out of the portal. Krew Jackson hasn’t been able to establish a good niche and could find himself in a battle with Thunderbird with a talented incoming freshman, let alone portal additions.


Safety (including nickel back)

Current players (in order of 2024 eligibility):

Senior Shamari Simmons
Senior Roman Rashada
Senior Macen Williams
Sophomore Xavion Alford
Sophomore Josiah Cox
Redshirt freshman Montana Warren

Incoming freshmen: Tony-Louis Nkuba (could play corner)

Position snapshot: I like this group a lot because Alford is essentially the best 2024 addition (after being ruled ineligible in 2023), and having him team up with Simmons at safety and having Macen Williams at nickel is a starting group you would gladly go to battle with. Cox played ten games as a freshman, and that will prove very valuable. We know that Warren would easily be in the two-deep if not for an injury that had him play just one game, and he has the biggest upside in this group. Jordan Clark and RJ Regan could have ASU bring in a nickel back, although Warren might be moved there if needed.



Cornerback

Current players (in order of 2024 eligibility):

Senior Ed Woods
Sophomore Keith Abney
Redshirt freshman Keontez Bradley
Redshirt freshman Lenox Lawson

Incoming freshmen: Plas Johnson, Chris Johnson, Rodney Bimage (some of them could play safety)

Position snapshot: Huge opportunity for both the freshmen who redshirted and the incoming freshmen to crave a niche in the two deep with Woods and Abney as the presumed starters. BUT I feel as if the staff will try to bring in one formidable corner, maybe two, from the portal if they can.

Special teams

Sophomore Ian Hershey, who did redshirt last year, and incoming freshman Kanyon Floyd will be the two specialists here, as the kicker and punter duties will be determined later.

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Women athletes at Oregon are suing the school for various Title IX violations, including how NIL money is being spent. On the surface, NIL is separate from the university and a private entity, so title IX shouldn't apply. Open and shut case.

But if discovery in the case shows that it's actually the university via the football program that directs to who and how the NIL funds are being distributed, the plaintiffs must be hoping that the judge would determine that to be extended university action in violation of Title IX since the $ primarily goes to men's teams athletes.

If this case gets to discovery and emails, texts, etc. are part of the public record, we may get a look into what the interactions between athletic departments and NIL groups look like.

If the case settles, I think it's safe to say the school did not want discovery to take place. I suspect they'll move for summary judgment/dismissal on the NIL claims and, if they lose, that's when we'll learn how involved the actual department may be by whether they settle or not.

If we are bringing a second to QB to Rashada or whomever I would look for a guy that will not only compete for starting job but someone that you can play situationally. The backup QB from Utah that is in the portal is really fast. Let him come in and play him situationally if he can't win the starting job. Do read option and let him develop because the job could open up next year. Jeff Sims (if you can afford him) would be the same way. He adds a different dimension that opposing teams have to plan for and you could play him in situations and see if he could develop. You could also play guys like this at other positions as well.