A revamped Sun Devil squad feels connected a month from season opener

Arizona State men’s basketball went through an overhaul, to say the least, following the 2024-25 season. The sole returnee from the Sun Devils’ lackluster 4-16 conference record in their first year in the Big 12 is sophomore guard Trevor Best. 

The ‘Word of God Christian Academy’ prospect left high school in December of 2024 to join his former high school teammate, Jayden Quaintance, at ASU. Quaintance departed Tempe this offseason, transferring to Kentucky, but Best remains and feels optimistic about his new band of teammates. 

“It feels great to play for Bobby Hurley again,” Best said following Moonlit Madness Friday. “We just wanna win games this year. We wanna go get it.”

Best averaged just 3.6 points per game in 11 appearances during the 2024-25 season; however, he was thrown into the fire and started collegiate play without any offseason preparation or training camp. He went scoreless in his first five games, seeing the court very little. 

On February 26, however, he showed Sun Devil fans what he was capable of. 

Best scored 18 points against BYU on that day, and from then on, the wheels had turned. Best averaged 6.6 points per game over the last six games of the season. Now, with a regular offseason under his belt, Best can take his game to new heights. 

“It got me much better,” Best said on joining ASU midseason. “I feel good, I feel ready. I got better at feeling patient and knowing what decisions to make to get my teammates involved. 

Best’s situation is unusual for a multitude of reasons, but perhaps no other aspect of his time with the maroon and gold is more intriguing than how he handles being the most veteran player on ASU’s roster despite having little experience compared to most of the transfers. 

“It’s just being a leader,” Best said. “Being a leader is what it’s all about, being a good teammate. Bringing a positive attitude, that’s it.” 

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From a young point guard who is growing in his game to another who was fourth in the nation in assists per game in 2024-25, senior guard Maurice Odum is one of the most exciting additions to the Sun Devils roster. 

Odum averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 assists per game with Pepperdine in 2024-25. He also shot career highs from three-point range and the free throw line, jumping over eight percent to 37.9 from beyond the arc, and another 6% on the nose from the charity stripe to 79.3%. 

“I always wanted to come to ASU since I was in high school,” Odum said. “I had a high school tournament out here my senior year, and we stayed like two blocks away from campus, so I was up and down campus the whole week.” 

Udom brings a playmaking ability that head coach Bobby Hurley could reminisce about watching. The 6-foot-2 guard uses a mix of elite ball control and crafty movement to beat defenders while making reads to find teammates. And Hurley, the NCAA’s all-time assist leader with 1076 dimes, notched as a Duke Blue Devil, Udom has felt at home under his system thus far. 

“He lets me go,” Udom said about playing under Hurley. “He lets me make the right reads, he lets me play through mistakes. All he asks is to play hard, and that’s what I’m gonna give him.” 

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Hurley had to face the offseason head-on and attack the transfer portal for a new wave of players. Hurley himself admits that going through a program overhaul, such as the 2025 offseason, doesn’t come easy. 

“This was a hard process,” Hurley said Friday. “Especially with the international guys, a lot of people put a lot of work into getting them with their student visas and everything.

“It was a different NIL cycle than last year; we had to adjust and adapt to that. I like the team a lot; they’re a great group of guys, and they like each other. They come to practice every day with a good attitude and work hard. I like what I’m seeing so far.” 

Seven of ASU’s 16 rostered players are international players, stretching to three different continents. The mix of international players comes with its benefits as well, as six of the seven players are 6-foot-8 or taller, with two 7-footers in the mix. 

The rise of NIL in collegiate athletics opens the door for many players to come from overseas, because these very same recruits who before would’ve only had one route to earn a wage while playing basketball can now come to the United States and earn while getting an education in the process.

“You know that they could be making $100 or 200 thousand dollars,” Hurley admitted. “They could make double that over here. 

“The seasoning of some of those players, they’ve been well taught, they’ve been well coached in the nuances of playing the game.” 

Hurley added that all the players on his squad are eligible, and that two forwards, Allen Mukeba and Marcus Adams Jr., are still recovering from lower leg injuries, and it remains to be seen if they can be fully healthy for the exhibition games at UC Irvine on October 12 and in Houston versus Texas A&M on October 26.

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One of those international additions Hurley made was redshirt sophomore forward Santiago Trouet, who actually faced off against ASU in the 2024-25 season while at San Diego. Despite a lopsided 90-defeat, Trout scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting with six rebounds. 

“I’ve played against ASU twice in the last two years, and I always said I love the school,” Trouet said. “When the coach gave me the call, I didn’t think about it. I just signed. 

“I don’t think about scoring points, I want to be a leader this year on defense too.”

The Buenos Aires native played high school ball in Madrid, and it’s evident in his versatile playstyle that he’s experienced. At 6-foot-11, Trouet averaged 8.7 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Toreros. 

“My freshman year, I did go through a transition,” Trout said. “It’s a different game overseas, I was playing in Europe. I enjoyed both.” 

For Trouet, coming in as a player with experience overseas and in college allows him to be a guide and help some of his teammates who will be playing on the hardwood in the United States for the first time. 

“I’ve talked to some of the guys already, I feel like I can be someone they can ask questions to,” Trouet said. “I like that we get to build from zero. We get to build from scratch, and we’re all new, so we’ll be united pretty well.”