GLENDALE — By flipping from Arizona to ASU about a nanosecond after Caleb Love announced he would return to the Wildcats last month, five-star guard Joson Sanon signaled that he was looking maybe for a little more space in the backcourt.
And shots. And minutes.
He might wind up finding all that with the Sun Devils, where coach Bobby Hurley described Sanon as a key piece to an overhauled roster that includes five incoming transfers, along with five-star freshmen in Sanon and big man Jayden Quaintance.
“I think it was a fit for Joson based on how we play and what we’ve done with our guards,” Hurley said Friday after a press conference at the Section 7 recruiting showcase in State Farm Stadium. “We’ve talked quite a bit about (former ASU standout guards) Lu Dort and Josh Christopher, the impact that they had as freshman and I think he’s that type of player whose certainly college ready. He’s ready to impact what we’re doing.”
ASU was also ready to impact Sanon with its more competitive NIL situation. After years of losing players to the transfer portal, at least in part because of low NIL collective cash, ASU pulled in Sanon, Quaintance and four-star forward Amier Ali from high schools along with five potential impact transfers.
That’s a notable change, one that Hurley signaled was necessary immediately after ASU ended last year in a 90-57 loss to Utah in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament at Las Vegas that wrapped up a 14-18 season.
“I have to get on the phone and I have to encourage people that have the wherewithal to try and support what we’re doing,” Hurley said then.
So he did, as difficult as it was.
“I’m a prideful person and I feel like I don’t need to ask anybody for help. That’s just in my nature,” Hurley said. “But in our current climate, I had to go out of my comfort zone to reach out to people that I knew in my own network, and encourage them to try and donate to our collective. I did that with donors. I’ve met with donors. I’ve gone to other functions that maybe in the past, I didn’t do as much of. I feel like you’ve got to evolve and get better at in all ways.”
Hurley’s efforts helped build an NIL collective that in turn helped him pick up point guard Alston Mason from Missouri State, forward BJ Freeman from Milwaukee, forward Basheer Jihad from Ball State and forward Brandon Gardner from USC — while point guard Austin Nunez returned after spending his freshman season of 2022-23 with the Sun Devils but was at Ole Miss last season.
Hurley said Friday he was finishing up his first week with most of the new group, while Sanon has just finished up high school work allowing him to reclassify and join the Sun Devils in July.
That’s been more than enough to change his outlook.
“There’s been renewed hope, that’s for sure,” Hurley said. “It’s very premature to dive into individual players at this point …but it’s exciting. It’s as hopeful as I’ve been in a while.”
Although the transfer portal is filling roughly half his roster, as it is for many D-I programs in today’s era, Hurley said he’s still taking a similar approach when recruiting at events such as Section 7, which features high school teams mostly from the West who have Division I prospects.
“You recruit guys and do the best job you can, and get them on campus and you try to sell them that this is the best option,” Hurley said. “If you don’t (get them), I’m not gonna burn that bridge. I’ll wish them the best and then if it doesn’t work out, and then maybe there would be a chance that they would think about us on the second go around.
“But I haven’t abandoned high school. I think that the top guys can come in right away and impact your program and win. And you know what? I have three (freshmen) who will impact winning this year in a big way.”
Sanon included.
