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HOST: This is The Sweet Spot where we take a closer look at the week’s biggest sports stories in Arizona. I’m Alex Chenevey and welcome to the 10th episode of The Sweet Spot!
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HOST: On today’s show we are looking at the resignation of the Arizona State Sun Devils athletic director Ray Anderson, as well as the return of Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker.
Anderson steps down after a rocky decade as ASU athletic director
HOST: This past Monday marked the end of an era in the Sun Devil athletic program, as Arizona State’s Athletic Director, Ray Anderson, resigned., Cronkite News Benjamin Yates went out to Tempe to hear from several of ASU’s coaches about the resignation.
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YATES: The doors close to the media room at Mountain America Stadium, as reporters file in to hear the words of first year ASU football head coach Kenny Dillingham. Reporters were hoping to hear about the game plan for a top-ranked Oregon team with a Heisman level player in Bo Nix. But this weekly press conference took a different turn. Shortly before gathering, Athletic Director Ray Anderson announced his resignation and leave from the Sun Devil Athletics Department effective immediately.
<< Dillingham: What happened? Just kidding. >>
YATES: Anderson famously hired and later fired former head coach Herm Edwards just over a year ago after outrage from the fan base on the football team’s disappointing performance under Edwards. But before Edwards, was another questionable decision with the previous head coach Todd Graham in 2017. Graham had led the Sun Devils to bowl eligibility and beat the Arizona Wildcats in the Territorial Cup game to wrap the regular season. While the program was not aspiring to much more than the Sun Bowl, Anderson believed a change in leadership was necessary to bring ASU back to a better record than 18-19 in the last three seasons. Graham’s departure was a costly one for ASU, as the contract buyout was $12million, and then replaced with Herm Edwards as the coach for the following five seasons. And like Graham, Edwards’ teams only reached the Sun Bowl in the postseason.. Edwards was fired after a disappointing loss at home to Eastern Michigan. His contract buyout was $4.4million. This all came after an NCAA investigation of the program that ended in a self-imposed bowl ban by ASU. The news of the bowl ban came on the week of this year’s season opener game with Dillingham entering his first year as head coach. Despite that Dillingham had kind words for Anderson.
<< Dillingham: “… Thankful of him to give me the opportunity to be head coach here at my alma mater, my dream job. I think anytime there’s change, it rattles enough cages, to get maybe some people involved. And understand that there’s a direction we’re heading. >>
YATES: Immediately after Dillingham left the media room, ASU baseball head coach Willie Bloomquist entered the room for questioning. Bloomquist is one of the more recent hires by Anderson. He is entering his third season as the head coach.
<< Bloomquist: I love Arizona State and the man gave me my job back here, so I’m forever grateful for him for that opportunity. And for me, I see a side of Ray that you guys don’t get to see every day, and that is the fact that Ray is a good man. a very good man. And he has treated me absolutely outstanding since I’ve been here.>>
YATES: Bloomquist was hired for the 2022 season of ASU baseball, and up to this point, he hasn’t seen any postseason success. And while baseball and football have not had long tenured coaches, the basketball teams have seen more stability. Until last year, Charlie Turner Thorne had been the women’s basketball coach for 26 years. With a legendary run as the Sun Devils coach coming to an end in the 2022 season, as she walked away from the sport and into retirement. Anderson quickly got a seasoned head coach to fill the enormous shoes left behind, with Natasha Adair. a former head coach at Georgetown and Delaware, Adair finished her first season with the Devils this last march, and is hoping to make a better run this year and enter the postseason hunt.
<< Adair: Well first I’m grateful to Ray and Buffy for giving me this opportunity. He’s always been kind to me. but we all know that this is a business, and at the end of the day, you know, as we move forward. It’s onward, onward to victory.>>
YATES: One of Anderson’s longest-tenured hires is college basketball legend, Bobby Hurley. The former Duke Blue Devil signed with the Sun Devils to be the men’s basketball coach in 2015. And through his eight seasons in Tempe, his relationship with Anderson has been publicly hot and cold. One incident between the two occurred over a booster member who allegedly acted inappropriately towards Hurley’s wife and other women around the team. This member was eventually banned from ASU events, but it took some time for this to happen, as Anderson apparently was not on top of the situation. allowing the booster to still be in attendance after Hurley claimed his actions were deemed as sexual assault. Anderson also seemed to not follow through on a promise to Hurley that an upgrade for Desert Financial Arena was due, and on the way. However, it hasn’t happened, and probably won’t until a new AD is signed. Despite these reported issues, Hurley recently signed a contract extension with ASU, to run through the 2026 season.
<< Hurley quote (expectations of some pessimistic quote) >>
YATES: Through the ups and downs, Ray Anderson has done some great things as the Sun Devil’s athletics director. One of the more recent accomplishments is shown in the ASU hockey teams, and the newly constructed Mullet Arena. striking a balance between volleyball, college hockey and the NHL to all use this space to bring in revenue. as ASU hockey has become one of the top three sports in revenue for Arizona State. All of the coaches we spoke to have said what they need is help, and for seats to be filled in their stadiums and arenas. as Mountain America Stadium and Desert Financial Arena have struggled to have consistent sell-out events for years. Anderson said he is stepping down to allow ASU to transition into a new era of college sports, something both his supporters and critics agree will be needed for asu’s athletics programs to succeed.
YATES. For the Sweet Spot, I’m Benjamin Yates.
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Booker rolls in return to Suns, which comes as Beal is benched wih bad back
HOST: Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker scored 31 points in his return last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The star player missed the last five games with a calf injury, but showed no signs of rust as he propelled the Suns to victory- ending the visiting Timberwolves seven-game winning streak. Cronkite Sports’ Austin Hepola reports from the Suns practice facility on how Booker’s return will impact the team going forward.
HEPOLA: Devin Booker was dearly missed by the Suns in their last five games. The team struggled during that stretch, but his return couldn’t have come at a better time. The Minnesota Timberwolves visited Footprint Center Wednesday night holding a seven-game win streak, playing their second game of a back-to-back after a win against the Warriors the night before. This is where the immovable object meets the unstoppable force, because Devin Booker also has a streak of his own- winning his last seven matchups against the Timberwolves, dating back to 2021. In a battle of the seven-game winning streaks, Booker said he felt good returning from injury in Wednesday’s practice before their game against Minnesota.
<< Devin Booker: Ready to go. You know, it’s been what, 2 weeks- 13, 14 days. So just trying to get back, I always say rehabbing is harder than playing; you know you have a lot more responsibility and I just wanna go out there and play.>>
HEPOLA: Ahead of their matchup against the Timberwolves, the Suns held a record of 4-6. When asked about how worried the team is, Booker said after practice that they understand there are plenty of games left in the season.
<<Booker: I think it’s more the fans more than anything you have to tell. The guys understand that, we’ve all been in many situations and there’s been a lot of experience here. We also understand the importance of regular season, it’s not something that you can just pass along in seeding for the postseason; and you know working out the kinks during the regular season is a big part of that.>>
HEPOLA: The Suns would go on to defeat the Timberwolves by a score of 133-115, but last night’s swift victory against one of the league’s best teams was supposed to be something much more. Leading up to the game, the big 3 of Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were expected to share the court for the first time; but a recurring back injury for Beal has pushed back the debut of the Sun’s big 3 once again.
<< Frank Vogel: He woke up with some residual tightness in the back this morning and we were hoping it would loosen up by game time but it did not, so we held him out. >>
HEPOLA: That was Suns head coach Frank Vogel, who said it was the right call to keep Beal once again out of the game to heal up.
<< Vogel: They’re working diligently on getting it corrected and getting it right, and it’s not going to be perfect, back’s are tricky. So it was unexpected, but you know he had some tightness so it was a right call that he did not play and they got a good plan to try and get him back in action. >>
HEPOLA: While the nagging injury for Beal has been unfortunate, the return of Booker should be more than enough to keep the team’s head above the water. He and Durant each dropped 31 points in last night’s game, and the team as a whole looked outright dominant against the league’s number one defensive team. Eleven games into the season, injuries have not only tampered with the momentum of the Suns, but have also stalled the debut of one of the most anticipated trios in NBA history. It will only be a matter of time before the Suns big 3 finally run the floor together, but for now- the tandem of DBook and KD will surely be able to keep the franchise afloat, as they await the return of their third star.
HEPOLA: From Cronkite Sports in Phoenix, I’m Austin Hepola.
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HOST: And this was The Sweet Spot. This show was produced by Brandon Tran. Special thanks to Austin Hepola, Brandon Tran, and Benjamin Yates for their contributions to this week’s show. I’m your host Alex Chenevey. Until next time, thanks for swinging by the Sweet Spot!
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