Nick So'oto who is involved in ASU Player Personnel claims we got a big commitment today. Wonder who that could be?

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“He just wants to focus on football. He just loves everything that Arizona State and Dillingham have to offer, and he knows that he has a chance to compete." What went into 2025 four-star QB Michael Tollefson's pledge decision? The advantages were quite evident

obviously Dilly hired an EXTREMELY Arizona (Valley) focussed staff of recruiters (it typically takes until very near the end of the 3rd cycle for ASU staffs to largely alter that strategy)

at this point (with possibly multiple more additions between now and Fall Camp), Dilly's staff has added 87 (EIGHTY SEVEN!!!!!!) new "student-athletes" in the first 13 months on the job

Of those 87,
in the class of 2023 that included 11 bounceback portalees (of which 3 were starters....a longsnapper, a punter and Romney at LB.....due to the QUICK coming and going of stating LB portalee Juwan Mitchell) and 2 preps (both of which look to be longshots at sticking on the roster as upperclassmen if not sooner)

in the class of 2024 (so far) it includes 2 bounceback portalees both of which may start in 2024 at Nickel and Kicker) and 4 preps (of which punter Floyd may start in 2024 and 2 of the 3 others are EXTREME longshots to ever start or heavily contribute.....at least in the eyes of the other 132 FBS programs that did not offer)

the 2023 list may add 2 more starters from the bounceback list in the 2024 season if Walden and Coleman get (and stay) fully healthy

Dilly has said multiple times that the local class of 2025 (which currently has only two 4-star recruits & ASU has offered them both along with 12 three-stars .......including the current commit from Hamilton HS) is expected to be much better for ASU (and if it occurs, non-AZ-centric recruiters Samp/Carrington may lead that charge with WRs and DBs being 7 of the 12 offers)

We live at the beach in SD and went went back to Tempe for a few nights. I know I'm old (1986 grad) but man has Tempe sure changed! We were impressed with how Tempe has grown. It is nothing like when I went to ASU. We have two boys in east Mesa and a total of five grandkids. My wife wants to see them more so she, I guess "we", are looking to purchase a condo in either the OrchidHouse or Bridgeview condominiums. Does anyone know anything about these two buildings, good or bad? She even told me I could get as many hockey season tickets I want so I can take the grandkids to games. She also gave the green light to football/basketball tickets as long as I take her to the Gammage shows. Any thoughts on downtown Tempe living would be appreciated.

That's what former Tucson newspaper sportswriter Corky Simpson asks in his sports opinion piece in the Geezerville Times (Green Valley News) here in So Arizona this week...

The article features a picture of the 1897 Dartmouth national football championship team with the caption...

"Dartmouth's decision to unionize might not be such a good idea"...

Corky, in his Along the Way column, says that on March 4th the Big Green basketball team decided that they had "suffered enough" so voted to unionize with 13 team members for and only 2 against...

"The vote was supervised by the National Labor Relations Board inside Dartmouth's human resources office"...

So now an Ivy League school has a basketball team that is a member of the Service Employees International Union Local 560...

Keep in mind that the players already get at least $83,802 of educational value for being on scholarship at the school each year...

As union members, the union has now told Dartmouth that they will now have to negotiate in good faith with the players through the union...

The Big Green used to be named the "Indians" but was discontinued 50 years ago in what Corky termed a "wave of guilt"...

Corky also goes on to point out that past Dartmouth alums that included Daniel Webster, Robert Frost, and Nelson Rockefeller, and dozens upon dozens of other notables, didn't need to unionize with which to succeed but Corky noted that none of those VIP alums could dribble and dunk and sink 3 point shots the way Big Green players can today...

So, there is that to consider, too...

Corky wonders if this unionization will create better working conditions for the players and whether they will end up with better wage increases, along with fully funded pensions, etc...

He also wonders if the players will get higher take home pay than their non-union opponents and what the minimum wage should be at the school where players can already collect on their NIL rights...

Corky concludes by saying "as absurd as this situation sounds at Dartmouth will this be the fate for all college players if they become designated employees of the school ?"...

And, it looks like this may happen everywhere and, if it does, he thinks that college arenas and stadiums may well become empty and, as the income disappears, intercollegiate athletics will become as "extinct as Native American mascots"...

I wonder what union local the Sun Devils will become members of in the future..??

Is it just around the corner or just an aberration that has happened at one Ivy League school..??

As Gordon Gekko would say..."greed is good"...or is it greed instead of just plain fairness..??

Stay tuned and Go Devils!!!

I got to hear Kenny speak yesterday about the importance of NIL over the near future, and assuming he's right (which I think he is) NIL is more important right this very second than it ever has been, and will be in the future. Within the next 12-24 months the prevailing thought is that we will move to a revenue sharing model where the athletes are ultimately employees of the university, which should help create much more of a level playing field, and your competitive traction isn't dictated by the size of your NIL collective. However, in the meantime you need to squeeze everything you can out of NIL, as that allows you to be better positioned to recruit as a top 15-20 team when the playing field becomes more level, rather than being just an after thought in the college football landscape. I'm by no means a rich man, but I definitely kicked in some. Again, if Kenny is in fact right, the time to pitch in (large or small amounts) on NIL is now or never.

Hopefully the new leader will finally can Crow for hiring bad ADs. Or maybe she can make the new AD hire herself.

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Movements and catchphrases are cool and all, but unless they are followed by tangible production, they really don’t mean much. Thankfully for Arizona State, the Texas-to-Tempe movement is bearing fruit. Among many Texans that have started making their mark as Sun Devils is defensive tackle C.J. Fite. He played a key reserve role as a true freshman in 2023, and heading into this season, C.J. has emerged as a team leader well positioned to be a key contributor to the ASU defense.

On this episode, C.J. and I discuss his growth as a freshman, his burgeoning leadership role, his new position coach, the Dallas chicken spot that needs a Valley location, and much more.

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OL Maki Stewart predicted to commit to ASU

Scott Sandulli in LAs Vegas for your coverage tweeting under the Devils Digest account

Cal-Stanford game just went in overtime, so the ASU game may tip-off in about 40 minutes or so

The challenging task of beating a conference foe three times in the same season, without the services of a player who scored 47 points in those two meetings, awaits the Sun Devils in a conference tournament that has generally been unkind to ASU

13 members of ASU's 2023 team vying for their chance to play at the next level, displayed their skills in front of all 32 NFL, as well as representatives of the CFL and UFL

Some ASU prospects mentioned here