Arizona State basketball head coach Bobby Hurley is well-aware of his likely fate, and he believes his players know, too.
Despite upsetting 14th-ranked Kansas in the Sun Devils' second win against a top-15 team in the last five games, Hurley is widely believed to be finishing up his final season in Tempe. Having been the ASU head coach since 2015, Hurley is in the final year of a contract extension he signed back in 2023, and with only one tournament berth since 2019 and zero Sweet Sixteen trips in a decade, he is not likely to get another extension.
While coaches are typically vague and elusive, regardless of whether they're scouting out new jobs or nearing the end of the road at another, Hurley has been rather upfront about his probable exit. He again proved that following the senior night win against Kansas, when he was asked about whether his players were aware of his situation and if they were playing for him with that in mind.
“I think they understand the writing on the wall,” Hurley said [h/t Inferno Intel's Adam Kunin]. “There's not, like, a lot of discussions about it, but I could assume they would have an idea.”
Bobby Hurley on whether he thinks his team takes notice of the uncertainty around his future:
“I think they understand the writing on the wall.”@InfernoIntel pic.twitter.com/sD9bTKsL1t
— Adam Kunin (@adamkuninsports) March 4, 2026
Hurley arrived in Tempe in 2015 on the heels of two highly successful seasons at Buffalo. With the Bulls, he enjoyed a 42-20 record, which included a 2014-15 season in which Buffalo won the MAC regular-season and conference tournament championships and qualified for the NCAA tournament.
Succeeding Herb Sendek, Hurley won 15 games in each of his first two seasons before improving to 20-10 in 2017-18, during which he led the Devils to their first NCAA tournament since 2014. The following season, ASU won 23 games, including one in the First Four, which it had lost the previous year. However, that would prove to be the furthest the Hurley-era Sun Devils would get in the tourney.
Since its 20-11 season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arizona State has been in a rut. Aside from a 23-13 season in 2022-23 that involved another first-round loss, ASU turned in four losing seasons in a five-year span. This season, the Devils, who are 16-14 going into their regular-season finale vs. No. 6 Iowa State, have successfully avoided another losing record. However, they will have to win one of their next two games to ensure a winning season.
ASU next travels to Ames for a Saturday afternoon game against the Cyclones. Then, it's Big 12 tournament time. As it stands currently, the Sun Devils, as the 12th seed, would play 13th-seeded Oklahoma State in the first round. In their only meeting this season, Arizona State beat the Cowboys in Tempe 85-76 on Feb. 10.
