Don't know yet what the chances here are of landing him, and supposedly, Lousiville and Memphis are the teams to beat, but the former Kentucky pledge who left Lexington after coaching change is visiting Tempe tomorrow

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“Coach Dillingham said he wanted that dog (mentality), and I said that I can give it to him.” The Sun Devils landed a versatile prospect in Katy (Tex.) wide receiver Zechariah Sample who told us that he sees Tempe as a perfect fit on and off the field

Hope you guys have a great day!

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Legacy ?

I haven't been to Camp T in years but I have fond memories of it and think that it is such a wonderful Sun Devil "legacy" that Frank Kush established long ago...

And, I'm wondering what, if any, NIL opportunities are going to be offered at the event..??

Speaking of legacies, there is a front page story this morning in the Daily Star down here about a wrestling family on the south side of Tucson that has captured three generations of state championships...

They all competed and won state wrestling championships at Pueblo High School...

Elizabeth Valenzuela Smith became the first woman to win a state title this past year and she followed in the footsteps of both her father and grandfather that also won state championships at the same school years ago...

Yep, she beat a bunch of young men to do it and was only a freshman at the time, so will have several more opportunities to repeat as a champion at the school in the coming years...

I wonder if our wrestling coach -Zeke Jones - would offer a Sun Devil scholarship to someone like her if she continues to be a great championship wrestler in Arizona..??

Changing gears a bit, I see where 75 prominent members of the Tucson community down here took out a full page add in today's newspaper to honor president Robbins who has resigned at the school...

The list reads like a Who's Who of Wildcat boosters and coaches who want to thank Robbins for his many contributions to the school, especially its athletic dept...

Something tells me that won't be happening anytime for our ASU president whose reputation toward Sun Devil athletics not very positive, to say the least, when talking to ASU fans and boosters...

But, he and his new AD have put a new and improved model in place for our athletic dept so maybe his legacy will improve, if we start doing better in our Big 3 sports, due, in part, to this innovative, new model...

Speaking of innovative models, how about what our Big 12 commissioner is proposing for our conference...selling the conference naming rights to a billion dollar corporation like Allstate...

Will our Sun Devil football team have to put Allstate on one side of their helmets, along with either a Fork or Sparky on the other side of it..??

Like a "Good Neighbor, Sparky is there"..??

We have to admit that we've been "good neighbors" to most of our recent football opponents haven't we..??

Or, if that doesn't work, how about "Dunk a Devil along with your coffee and donuts each morning" if we start sharing our brand with a coffee and donuts franchise...

Brett Yormark has repeatedly said that our conference is "open for business" and if this helps get each school in the conference another $3-5M a year in revenue, does anyone really care how we do it..??

This appears to be especially true when talking about what happens when the proposed anti-trust settlement case against the NCAA leads to a realignment of how scholarships are distributed at each school...

Should we make sure that every Sun Devil baseball player has a full scholarship rather than having to share 11.7 scholarships amongst 32 players on the roster..??

And, somewhat relatedly, do we really need 85 football scholarships or 13 basketball scholarships in this transfer portal and NIL world where each player can come and go as they please at any time, etc..??

It's a good thing that Frank Kush never had to deal with this sort of college sports related environment or there wouldn't be any players participating in Camp T, so there wouldn't be a Camp T in the first place...

That said, I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of legacy our current Big Three coaches put together in the coming years at ASU...

As a father, I'm lucky to have raised some wonderful children even if it was a lot of hard work but it was well worth it...

Happy Father's Day to all you Sun Devil dads out there...

Will we be in "Good Hands with Allstate" or with our new AD in this transfer portal and NIL world..??

Just my usual two cents worth of opinion and analysis...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

The Volunteer Club (NIL Collective) for the Uni of Tenn has signed a deal with the Vols baseball team, that went 55-12 this year, won the SEC and made the CWS in Omaha, that will compensate each baseball player for wearing a commemorative T-shirt advertising the collective as they travel and hang out at the CWS...

Each player on the team will be compensated for wearing the shirt that says on the front "The Volunteer Club" with the number 24 (for the 2024 CWS) with the word Omaha written on the back of the shirt...

The Volunteer Club also has a deal with the baseball team that makes sure that all players are compensated enough to make up for what they lack as part of their schools scholarship that is split between the whole roster...

The Club will have an autograph signing day on Saturday and the T-shirt will be available for sale through the club for those that want to support both the V-Club and the Vols baseball team...

BTW, the Vols have made it to the CWS 3 of the past 4 years so the NIL deal has been a game changer for the program...

I wonder where our Sun Devil baseball program would be if a Sun Devil collective could provide the same sort of support that the Vols get from their collective..??

Good question, right..

Go Devils!!!

In all likelihood offered as a WR. His only other P4 offer is Arizona. Not ranked yet.

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“You can feel the culture changing. I think the hardest part is going to be, do we know how to win? You have to make a play when the game’s on the line" Our notebook from today's Dillingham's media availability

Salary will go up $50K each year in a three-year contract.

Will still be around $300K less than what ray Anderson will still be paid as the "quasi-professor" in the ASU College of Law

“I love the playing style. Me and Coach Hurley and the rest of the coaching staff, we got the same goals and the same plan as far as me playing at the school.”

Tomorrow, the media will have a press conference with Dillingham, and I wanted to open the floor for the Huddle members to see if you have any questions you would like me to ask him. I am not guaranteeing I can ask all the questions that will be posted here, and please be serious with them, but perhaps there is a topic you think you'd like to hear about, etc. that I can ask of

Here are some off-season tidbits that I heard from various people on the team.

Let's start talking about the summer arrivals from the portal:

I know quarterback Jeff Sims has come with some scrutiny after struggling quite a bit at Nebraska last year. From what I know, the ASU coaches are optimistic about the new surroundings, helping him turn the page from 2023.

There's no denying that he passes the eye test and then some, standing at 6-4 220. That's a physical presence that the quarterback room certainly needed. He is your classic dual-threat quarterback with a huge arm, as he exhibited in a video of a very recent workout. Obviously, with his athleticism, he can and will be a big part of the RPO game. Suffice it to say that with his frame, he's going to be hard to bring down when he carries the ball.

Someone told me that if you look at some of his games at Nebraska last year, he was put in some bad situations. Specifically, there was a game at Colorado where he had multiple fumbles, and when you look closer at the game film, it was really the center that was mishandling the snaps in a very loud environment. A competent offensive coordinator, knowing that he is entering a hostile road game environment, would have designed plays that would put his quarterback and even the center in much better situations.

There's no denying that his 2023 numbers are not pretty, passing for only 282 yards, one touchdown, and six pics. Yet, the raw talent is there, and needless to say, he has more than enough motivation to show that the numbers that he had playing in just five games last year are not even close to being indicative of his true talent. Furthermore, on his visit, he certainly displayed the quarterback IQ that you would want your signal caller to showcase on the whiteboard.

I'm not suggesting that he is a shoo-in to win the starting job at Arizona State, but in terms of providing a formidable competition for Sam Leavitt and being able to execute designed packages, I wouldn't be shocked if Sims ended up being a pleasant surprise.

In a recent interview, Kenny Dillingham hinted that we could see two running back alignments on more than a couple of occasions in each and every game, and from what I know, Colorado transfer running Alton McCaskill is a huge reason for that. He is another player who brings a more physical presence to his respective position room, standing at 6-1 200. The fact that he was clocked at 22 mph in summer workouts earlier this month shows you the versatility that he brings to the table. If anything else, it proves that he's fully recovered from his ACL injury that took place after an incredibly impressive freshman season at Houston, where he rushed for 961 yards, scoring 16 touchdowns.

So teaming him up with a smaller running back such as Raleek Brown or Cam Skattebo would definitely invoke memories of the potent Marion Grice and DJ Foster backfield that ASU had during some of Todd Graham's best teams in Tempe. As we know, Dillingham was part of that staff. He worked under his mentor and then offensive coordinator Mike Novell, so there are plenty of reasons for him to want to recreate that look and duplicate that success on the ground with this roster, and I fully believe that he has the tools to do it.

With a proven offensive coordinator in Marcus Arroyo, I really think the sky is the limit for this running game and for having a more creative and explosive offense overall. True, the bar cannot get much lower than it did last year, but that does not negate the fact that the staff's expertise level and, again, the overall caliber of talent is really night and day from what we saw in 2023, and the improved numbers will follow.

Tight end Chamon Metayer, another transfer from Colorado, is yet another newcomer who brings a lot of physicality with him at 6-5 245 lbs. He has a more physical presence than Bryce Pierre who left the team, but he is someone who possesses the same degree of athleticism as well as receiving abilities, and I’m told that he would have beaten Pierre for a starting role If I were picking someone to be the most surprising transfer this year, especially the most surprising among post-spring newcomers, I feel that Chamon Metayer is just maybe that guy.

Now, with him being only the fourth scholarship tight end on the team, ASU does need some help here and is going to enact a position change, having incoming freshman James Giggey begin fall camp at tight end rather than defensive end. At 6-3 245 lbs., he definitely has a classic build for a tight end and stands a much better chance of seeing the field at this position rather than a pretty deep defensive end group.

Speaking of position changes, another one that did surprise me a bit is the move of Bram Walden to guard, where he's going to start practicing at when fall camp begins. A little unclear still whether he will be vying more for the left guard role that Ben Coleman is slated to start at or at the right guard role where Sean Na'a may get the nod right now. With the latter player, there's definitely the temptation to redshirt Na’a after he was forced into action as a true freshman, and that can be an extra benefit because he is more than likely going to be the starting center in 2025 and beyond. To get three more years from him in Tempe rather than just two would be phenomenal for this group.

Plus, linemen such as Max Iheanachor, Josh Atkins, Jalen Klemm, and Emmit Bohle are really stuck, so to speak, only playing at tackle, and I might even throw Kyle Scott into that category even though we did see him practicing some at guard. Plus, Walden really does boost the depth that ASU would have at guard and bring more overall experience there. Furthermore, he easily would be one of the more athletic interior linemen on the team, and with the mad scientists in the coaching room, such as Arroyo and Dillingham, that is a very attractive aspect to have.

Overall, when it comes to the position coach there, Saga Tuitele, I think he's more than earned the trust of the coaches with however he wants to mold this offensive line. It was a ridiculous rash of injuries that must have made him crazy last season, but now, with improved depth, which is not only manifested quantity-wise but also quality wise I really feel that we're going to get to witness one of the better offensive line coaches we've seen in Tempe in a while. I always feel that at this role, you either get the offensive line coach who just screams his head off every second of practice where you wonder how much of that is really making those players better, or you get the quiet kinds that really harp on technique and mechanics but don't necessarily light a fire under the front five. Tuitele, from my observations, is a good combination of both.

I feel that cornerback is the position we should all look at very, very closely in terms of fall camp performance. On paper, I think that Ed Woods may end up being the most significant loss to the portal. Granted, that's assuming that Jordyn Tyson can parlay his phenomenal spring practice performance into fall camps and the season.

Nonetheless, the degree that ASU will be able to replace Woods is going to be crucial to the defense. Washington State transfer Javan Robinson has virtually locked in one starting role, and while I certainly think he's one of the best newcomers who arrived in the spring, he still has big shoes to fill trying to replace Woods. But just as important is to see who is going to be the corner starting opposite him? Laterrence Welch has the experience compared to the players he’s battling, although Keith Abney II didn’t redshirt last year and is a very promising young talent. Then you have Rodney Bimage, who was the biggest spring surprise among the true freshmen, and I would not count him out as a potential starter. Ultimately, the cornerback situation isn’t only one that has to be answered quickly and early in fall camp, but one that has to provide an answer that will truly satisfy the coaches.

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As summer nears, the Sun Devils’ recruiting wins continue to heat up. After a rundown of the latest ASU sports news, @Joe Healey and I discuss the run of five new commitments that propelled the Sun Devils’ 2025 class among the nation’s best. Then, we get to know three of them: WR Cameron Dyer (35:54), OL Desean Bryant Jr. (53:21), and LB Lee “Puka” Fuimaono (1:00:37).

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A look right here:

ASU has four so far, further contributing to the Big 12's No. 1 2025 recruiting class