Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley: 'I Can’t Get Through to the Team'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bobby Hurley's tenure at Arizona State may be winding toward an end.
Unable to break his team out of a rut, Hurley sounded defeated following Wednesday night's 75-63 home loss to West Virginia, the Sun Devils' seventh in eight games.
"We failed. I’m failing. I can’t get through to the team,’’ Hurley told reporters. "I don’t know what else I can say."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Arizona State got Hurley's 11th season off to a solid start, with a runner-up finish at the Maui Invitational and a close loss to No. 8 Gonzaga.
The Sun Devils (10-9) have labored since mid-December, including a brutal stretch of road games against No. 13 BYU, top-ranked Arizona and No. 6 Houston. Arizona State got off to a horrific start in the 103-73 loss to the Cougars and dropped to 1-5 in Big 12 play with the loss to West Virginia.
While praising his team for working hard, Hurley lamented their ability to execute.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There isn't a commitment to listening," said Hurley, in the final year of his contract. "My voice is not working with this group."
Hurley arrived in the desert with great fanfare.
A two-time national champion at Duke and still the NCAA's all-time assists leader, Hurley was hired after leading Buffalo to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2015.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hurley led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament in his third season and did it again in 2018-19. Arizona State appeared to be in good position to reach the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons since the 1960s the following year, but the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the season.
The Sun Devils have struggled to regain their footing since then, reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2023, but finishing with a losing record the other four seasons.
"We have not played well here in years, like since before COVID,’’ Hurley said. "We had this place cooking before COVID. Now it’s a sterile environment. We don’t win here. We don’t give our fans any reason to show up with enthusiasm to think that we’re going to win a basketball game. We have been dreadful at home for years."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reporting by The Associated Press.
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