Thought I would ask @Hod Rabino

Are there any names for the New Athletic director?

Are we looking at a combo deal with the new coach?

The only name so far I can come up with is Rocky Harris, and Boyd looked like a potential, but if rumors are true……

ASU is definitely one to watch here:

Since i am exhausted on Basketball threads, and With Spr Ball just a wk away come Monday, thought i would get the jump on Hod and his planning for about 43 upcoming stories, Since I am a DEF guy 1st, how about DEF review 1st and "breakout" player @ each DEF position

DEF Position Group improvement

1) DLine
* Biggest Loss - D Mallory, will be tough to replace....and of course BJ Green
* Incoming talent "that can make a difference" include Jacob Kongaika, tucson tech transfer; Jeff Clark, Louisville transfer; Justin Wodtly, Cincy transfer......for me Kongaika represents biggest upside as had solid #'s down south, decent size, entering 3rd yr when most kids start to develop, just a good vibe about him;........think Clark and Wodtly give us quality depth in the interior, especially compared to last yr, think the dropoff will be much less
* other new talent - JP Deeter, Purdue transfer - Texas kid with some size, time will tell; R Pitre who is listed @ LBr, but expect to see @ rush end; Salesi Manu, freshman
* returning talent - P Dorbah made some strides last yr, think can be solid depth guy this yr; Clayton Smith, like him as a pass rusher but think without added size/strength is below Avg physically; CJ Fite, boy if he could develop a little and rotate w Kongaika we would have 1 solid position on DLine;
* Breakout player - going to go w Kongaika, think he just has upside and has the chance to fill a Big Need for us
* Bubble - G Stansbury is @ the juncture of Potential vs Performance, seems has been a great practice player with Potential but yet to see it, time to Show Me


LB'r - I am not a big believer LBr is a key position....for me DEF starts w DL, moves to CBack and then Safety in terms of importance.......but am intrigued @ what we brought in via portal and excited to see guys who can make plays in the backfield
* Biggest Loss - T Brown played pretty solid, expected more Big plays from him but think part of the issue was lack of talent on DLine which did not allow him to roam free and make plays
* REturning Talent - Romney/McCullough certainly give us exp depth options
* Incoming Talent - Z Fiaseu, SD State comes w lots of reps/experience and think he will be a consistent player; K Elliott N Mex transfer looks to have good combination of size/speed, great #'s last yr so looks to have a nose for the ball; J Crook, razorback transfer arrives with "potential" tag, so we will see, is from Duncanville texas which produces Big Time D-1 players
* Breakout - McCullough may have finally arrived, but my money going on Fiaseu for 1st pick


DBacks - portal brings us some new faces and "athletes"
* biggest loss is R Torrance
* Returning Talent - K Abney & Montana Warren should be good depth chart pieces, along w Macen Williams
* new talent - L Welch, J Robinson & M Rowser arrive with great "high school rankings" and some athleticism, should be huge help to depth chart
* breakout - X Alford FINALLY able to play ball, think he ends up being the leader in the DBackfield
* Bubble - RJ Regan, Ed Woods time to step up or will be passed over

"We’ve analyzed to the point where my eyes are bleeding practically just trying to figure out what’s going on with guys swinging the bat.” With only four hits tallied today, the frustration of ASU was palpable during and following an inexplicable home loss to Utah Valley

Only two days removed from a resounding defeat at their in-state rival, ASU displayed plenty of resiliency in a comeback victory over a pesky Utah Valley squad

Bizzare situation for sure per a story that was published in the AZ Republic.

ASU has paid Hurley the increased salary based on a signed term sheet, which is non-binding. Absent an official signed extension, Hurley could leave ASU without the $2 million buyout that would have been enforced if the contract extension was official. The previous contract that he officially signed expires on July 30.

While Hurley's agent feels that the contract will be officially signed in "the next couple of days," he also said that “getting stuff done at Arizona State, and not just Ray but a lot of the folks there sometimes, it’s just a challenge, to say that in the nicest way.”

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The Pac-12 champs aren’t done. Eight Sun Devil wrestlers are off to Kansas City with their sights set on a national title. @Joe Healey & I preview the NCAA Wrestling Championships with head coach Zeke Jones.

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Since we will be joining the Big 12 after PAC competitions end this summer, I'm taking a look at how many sports the conference competes in related to both men and women...

I'm doing this because most Big 12 teams don't have more than 20 sports in their athletic inventory while ASU fields at least a half dozen more so might have to cut some sports moving forward...

Both Texas and Oklahoma are counted in these totals but will be leaving to the SEC as we all know...

Men Women

Baseball (13 teams compete) Basketball (14)

Basketball (14 teams compete) Cross Country (14)

Cross Country (12 teams compete) Equestrian (4)

Football (14 teams) Golf (13)

Golf (14 teams) Gymnastics (5)

Swim/Dive (5 teams) Rowing (8)

Tennis (8 teams) Soccer (14)

Track/Field (12 teams) Softball (10)
(both indoor and outdoor)
Swim/Dive (8)

Wrestling (13) Track/Field (14 - both indoor and outdoor)

Tennis (14)

Volleyball (13)

Note: Big 12 to add two ladies sports in 2024 but not sure which ones they are but would guess we'd be talking about Lacrosse, Beach V-ball or Triathlon...

I've been trying to figure out if Title IX has any sports participation ratios in place related to men's vs women's sports, since it just says that women shall not be discriminated against in any college athletic dept (where the school gets any financial aid from the Federal government)

If both men and women get the same in terms of what scholarships offer then is that all we are talking about or is there more to that..??

I wish our Sun Devils all the luck in the world as they join the beef and potatoes Big 12 after leaving the wine and cheese PAC...

Go Devils!!!

The 2026 class ranking has been expanded from 100 players to a full Rivals250: https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2026

Ten highest debuts: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-ten-highest-ranked-debuts-in-the-rivals250

Adam Gorney goes position-by-position: https://n.rivals.com/news/tuesdays-with-gorney-new-2026-rivals250-released

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = The Tides of March

It appeared recently that the bloom may be coming off Willie as leader of our baseball program but the Devils have taken the first two games against the Cats, so far, this weekend which is a blessing...

Not only that, but our March Madness is usually confined to any team that can beat the highly ranked Cats and yesterday that team was Oregon, who beat the Cats 67-59 in the PAC tournament...

The NCAA tournament selection show will be later today and we won't be hearing our name called since we had a really dreadful season but both NcNeese St and Grand Canyon U will be Dancing this year...

It's interesting that Grand Canyon coach - Drew Bryce - in four years at that school, has now taken the Lopes to three Dances, in the few years that he's been at that school in the Valley, while Bobby has taken our Sun Devils to the Dance, also three times, but in nine years, instead of just four...

Both Will Wade at McNeese State and Drew Bryce won their conferences and also won their conference tournaments while out Devils have never, ever done so in the PAC...

As a matter of fact, our PAC tournament record is about the worst in the conference ever since it came into existence years ago, if I don't miss my guess...

Drew Bryce started at Grand Canyon during the initial Covid year and has since had to deal with both the transfer portal and NIL pay-for-play deal but the Lopes have excelled during that time while our Devils have not by comparison...

Maybe the Lopes administration just likes to win at their school while our school is trying to re-define competitive traction in its Big 3 sports, it appears under Crow, IMHO...

"Is having breakeven or worse seasons in the Big 3 really all that bad"..??

And, do we really need an progressive NIL model at ASU, since we still get our fair share of sports TV revenue and the such from whatever conference we belong to...

Who cares if the players don't care much about the NFL model anymore, as they would rather have a school show them the money for their services, these days, than be concerned about making it in the pros any more...

Why not bank a half million dollars or more, while in college, if you can, than worry about what job you might get after college that doesn't pay so very much...

Heck, why not stay in college as long as possible collecting all that money, while you can, instead of worrying about what you plan to do after college...

Pay-for-play is a great model for those with enough talent to benefit from it while in college...

Who wants to sit around somewhere on campus or a nearby mall selling your autographs and custom made personal T-shirts when you can be on the field or floor collecting nice big NIL Collective paychecks..??

Why choose the Academic Model or the NFL Model when you can make really good money through this pay-for-play NIL scheme if you have any athletic talent at all...

St Patrick's Day is all about the green out there and for some college athletes it's all about the very bright green Benjamin's rather than anything else...

Fingers crossed that we can beat the Cats for a third straight time today as that would be very delightful...

I'll be having some corned beef and cabbage along with some great beer for dinner later today and hope that you will also have a great St Patrick's Day...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

Great story here that staff member Scot Sandulli did for Cronkite News

“That’s going to be the lasting memory of us playing in the Pac-12, wow. That’s a terrible, terrible memory." The Sun Devils last ever Pac-12 contest in the first round of the conference tournament was a resounding defeat reflected the downward trend of ASU in recent weeks

With just over a week away from spring practice, the first one as a Big 12 member, with basketball season behind us and several other Sun Devil sports topics on the table, there's plenty for ASU fans to discuss these days. So, I'm recording a podcast this weekend, giving you, the ASU fan, the stage to ask anything that's on your mind. Please send me your questions by Saturday evening.

Thought this would be interesting to figure out and the numbers are as expected for the most part.

I wanted to see the Top wins and losses (by margins) for hurley and herb. I also wanted to see the top wins and losses (by margin) overall over the past 18 seasons to see who owns them. I focused on Wins and Losses both by 20+ points and by 15+ points, as I felt those were both significant margins outside the norm in general.

bobby Wins 20+ = 27
herb Wins 20+ = 37

bobby Wins 15+ = 45
herb Wins 15+ = 63

bobby Losses 20+ = 21
herb Losses 20+ = 18

bobby Losses 15+ = 41
herb Losses 15+ = 37

It's interesting that hurley is almost even between big wins and big losses over his 9 seasons (which highlights the chaos in his program), while herb operated at amost a 2-1 advantage in big wins over big losses.

Top-10 (ish) largest margins of Victory over the past 18 seasons. This encompases every win by 35+ points in 18 seasons:

52 herb
42 herb
42 herb
39 herb
39 herb
39 herb
39 herb
39 bobby hurley
38 bobby hurley
37 herb
37 bobby hurley
36 herb
36 herb
35 bobby hurley
35 herb
35 herb
35 herb

Top-10 (ish) largest margins of Defeat over the past 18 seasons This encompasses every loss by 30+ points in 18 seasons:

46 bobby
45 bobby
42 herb sendek
40 bobby
38 bobby
37 bobby
35 bobby
33 herb sendek
33 bobby
33 bobby

Today's contest did get out of hand for ASU, but positives were found in two impressive collective efforts on the mound in Friday and Saturday triumphs

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You never know when your number will be called. You can only prepare for the moment. Most true freshman offensive lineman don’t play a lot, if at all, that first year. But with ASU’s line ravaged by injuries last year, Sean Na’a was thrown into the fire early, and that included a midair position change on the team flight to Utah. He responded well, earning praise from his coaches for his play and his team-first attitude. That has helped elevate him as one of the team’s leaders, and he’ll be in the mix to be a foundational piece for the ASU offensive line this season.

On this episode, we discuss the lessons from his freshman season and how they’ve prepared him for the future, a rundown of that infamous flight to Salt Lake, the makeup of the 2024 line, what makes California high school players different, and more.

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There were plenty of questions to address by Sun Devil fans on the state of ASU's athletic department, the university president's influence on that department, and the overall impact of its major sports. In this episode, I discuss those concerns and other topics.



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