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By Devon Henderson
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Since Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden left Arizona State for the NBA in 2009, he has remained largely silent about his contributions to his alma mater’s basketball program.
Until now.
The former NBA MVP and member of the NBA’s All-Time Greatest 75 Players team and arguably the school’s most successful basketball alumnus has made a financial donation in the “high six figures” to the Sun Angel Collective to help ASU’s basketball program in its efforts to recruit and retain players, Front Office Sports reported.
“NIL nowadays is the most important thing,” Harden told Front Office Sports. “Kids want to be compensated for their play and their work which makes sense. I wanted to be a part of helping the team and the school get players. If NIL is the problem then I can help with that.”
Paying college athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) became legal in 2021, and the competition for dollars is every bit as bruising as competition on the court.
While this is the first reported financial donation from Harden, it is not his first contribution to the program.
According to ASU basketball coach Bobby Hurley, Harden has regularly found time in his NBA schedule to sit with the team, and he attends games when time permits. He has remained active in his support of the Sun Devils that have followed him.
Harden has reportedly been in regular contact with Hurley about the state of the program and to find times when he can be as involved as possible.
“It’s more than financial,” Hurley said. “It’s the investment in trying to help young men. He’s such a role model to our guys. It’s certainly meaningful when he’s willing to help the program in all capacities.”
Harden’s donation comes at a crucial and tumultuous time for the program. Sitting second-to-last in the Big 12 with a 4-12 league record during a season that included a disastrous six-game losing streak, the Sun Devils have not made a sparkling first impression in their new conference.
Hurley’s contract is up at the end of next season, and he is finishing his second consecutive season in the bottom half of the conference standings. Before 2024, ASU had never finished within the top 25 in national recruiting class rankings in the first three seasons of the NIL era.
His most recent class was the first ranked in the top 25 in the recruiting rankings, finishing eighth. Much of that was due to the signing of former five-star and consensus top-10 recruit, freshman center Jayden Quaintance. Normally, a prospect as high-caliber as Quaintance may be expected to go one-and-done and leave college for the NBA after just one season, but the young big man is only 17 and required to do another season.
After a year in which he spent multiple weeks as the number-one shot blocker in the Power 4 conferences, a host of schools surely will be vying for his signature should he enter the transfer portal. Harden’s donation may aid in the financial pitch Hurley can make to keep Quaintance in Tempe for his second college season.
Per the FOS report, Harden’s donation is unique in nature compared to other NBA players who have supported their alma maters.
Players such as former Arizona Wildcats forward Richard Jefferson have been very public about not wanting to pour directly into an NIL collective, opting instead to donate funds to practice facilities and other tangible products. Jefferson shared with FOS his reservations about pouring into a recruiting fund that is so volatile, whereas his donation went toward a facility that would stand for many years.
Tyrese Haliburton and Georges Niang, two Iowa State alums playing in the NBA, reportedly donate about $100,000 a year to their school, Front Office Sports reported. Niang has been open about expressing that his donation is based on the success of the program. Without success, he would likely rethink his financial contributions.
The Cyclones have made the past three March Madness tournaments.
In Harden’s case, he is not donating a practice facility but directly into the fund likely used to pay players and make recruiting pitches. This can be a volatile enterprise, considering how often top recruits flip verbal commitments and/or enter the transfer portal after a season.
He also is donating more than Haliburton’s and Niangs’ $100,000 contributions, despite ASU’s struggles as a program. The Sun Devils have only made five NCAA Tournament appearances in the past 20 years, so it is not a success-contingent donation.
For the players now sporting the ASU maroon and gold that Harden once did, the investment is meaningful. However, with or without the checks, they said basketball will always come first.
“The money is definitely appreciated all around,” ASU forward Amier Ali said. “For me, I just love the game, but whether I’m making money or not, I’d play the same way.”
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