For the second time in just over a week, Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley took a not-so-subtle dig at his own fan base following Saturday’s loss to Arizona at home. Hurley was asked after the game about the home crowd atmosphere, to which he said, “Our fans that did show up were vocal. Unfortunately, there were too many red shirts in the arena. It was was not a home game. The crowd was 50-50, 60-40 either way, it was loud in there both ways… I have no real strong opinion.”
Here’s the video of Hurley’s comments from Sun Devil Source.
Arizona State was tied with the undefeated Wildcats at the end of the first half at 38, but then Arizona got off to a 6-0 start in the second half and rolled to a comfortable victory from there on out. Koa Peat scored 21 points, fellow freshman Brayden Burries added 17 and No. 1 Arizona beat rival the Sun Devils 87-74.
Bobby Hurley’s Most Recent Comments About the Fans
Following a 75-63 home loss to West Virginia last Wednesday in Tempe, Arizona, Hurley was asked about the atmosphere at Desert Financial Arena, and he said, “We have not played well here in years, like since before Covid. Like, we had this place cooking before Covid, now it’s a sterile environment. We don’t win here.”
Ouch. That’s as bad as it gets. So now within the span of 10 days Hurley is again calling out the fan enthusiasm, or lack thereof, tells me he sees the writing on the wall. But it is a chicken or the egg conversation. Do the fans need to show up to help Hurley’s team win? Or does the team need to improve enough to justify the fans showing up and spending their money and time to watch this team play?
Arizona State’s Season
Arizona State (11-11, 2-7) has dropped nine of its last 11 games as Bobby Hurley coaches out what is believed to be his final season in Tempe. He does not have a contract beyond the 2025-26 season. But if he’s going to save his job, he does have three winnable games, by Big 12 standards, coming up, with a road trip to Utah this week, followed by a game next Saturday at Colorado, and then the Sun Devils welcome in Oklahoma State next week.
The Sun Devils are only a half-game ahead of Utah and Kansas State for last place in the Big 12 Conference.
