Report: Arizona State planning to bring Bobby Hurley back for 2025-26 season

Arizona State is planning to bring Bobby Hurley back for the 2025-26 season, according to a report from Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro. Hurley just wrapped up his 10th season as the Sun Devils men’s basketball coach and is entering the final year of his contract with the school.

The coach has had limited success in his decade at ASU, leading it to just three NCAA Tournaments and a 168-149 overall record. That includes going just 13-18 this past season and 4-16 in Big 12 games in its first year as a member of the conference.

This year marked the second straight year the Sun Devils finished with a losing record under Hurley. His most recent NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2023. ASU won one of the first four games to make it in as a No. 11 seed but then lost in the first round.

The decision to keep Bobby Hurley comes just a few days after On3’s Talia Goodman reported that Arizona State had parted ways with women’s basketball coach Natasha Adair. With the Sun Devils having to pay her buyout, the financials may have factored into the decision to let Hurley finish out his contract.

Adair’s buyout is believed to be around $1.5 million – is a fraction of Hurley’s buyout. Together with the cost of hiring Adair’s replacement, it will likely equal the cost to fire Hurley this year.

Now Hurley finds himself in a position where he will have a lot to prove next year to get the Sun Devils to extend his contract beyond 2025-26. He has never been past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and that might seem like where to set the bar for him to stay beyond that.

This year had few bright spots, but five-star Jayden Quaintance has been one of them. The forward was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team after averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Joson Sanon and Amier Ali are a couple of other highly rated recruits from this past class that provide hope for the future.

Arizona State is also still in the mix for five-star prospect Koa Peat in the 2025 class. If he signs with the team and it brings in a few players in the transfer portal, things could be drastically different in a year.

The Sun Devils season isn’t over quite yet, as it will face Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday. Tip-off for that game is set for 7 p.m. ET in Kansas City as ASU will look to pull off an upset to extend its season.