Bobby Hurley Sounds the Alarm as Arizona State Spirals: “I’m Failing”
Bobby Hurley didn’t yell. He didn’t deflect.
He didn’t sugarcoat. After Arizona State dropped its seventh game in the last eight outings - a 75-63 home loss to West Virginia - Hurley stood in front of reporters and delivered the kind of brutally honest assessment you don’t often hear from a head coach in the middle of a season.
“We failed. I’m failing. I can’t get through to the team,” Hurley said, reflecting on yet another game that slipped away, this time in front of a home crowd that’s grown more quiet than confident.
The Sun Devils are now 10-9 overall, but the number that really stings is 1-5 in Big 12 play. For a team that started 9-2 with marquee wins over Texas, Oklahoma and Santa Clara, the fall-off has been steep - and Hurley isn’t hiding from it.
This season marks the final year of Hurley’s contract, and the questions about his future in Tempe are no longer whispers. They’re front and center.
Now in his 11th year at the helm, Hurley has racked up 178 wins - second-most in program history - and led the Sun Devils to three NCAA Tournament appearances. But none of those runs made it past the first round.
And in a results-driven business, that’s the kind of stat that tends to outweigh early-season upsets.
To be fair, Arizona State likely would’ve danced in 2020 had COVID-19 not wiped the tournament off the calendar. But since then, the program has struggled to regain any real momentum - especially at home.
“We have not played well here - in years,” Hurley admitted, referencing Desert Financial Arena, which has seen better days both in terms of atmosphere and outcomes. “Like since before COVID.
We had this place cooking before COVID. Now it’s a sterile environment.”
That’s not just coach-speak. The Sun Devils are now 5-4 at home, and there’s a noticeable lack of energy in the building. Hurley didn’t blame the fans - he blamed the product.
“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,” he said. “We have been dreadful at home for years… bottom line.”
This wasn’t a coach throwing his team under the bus. If anything, Hurley sounded more frustrated with himself than anyone else.
He acknowledged that this group plays hard - they’re not mailing it in - but the execution just isn’t there. And more than anything, he’s struggling to connect.
“There isn’t a commitment to listening,” he said. “My voice is not working with this group.”
That’s a tough admission for any coach, let alone one with Hurley’s fire and pedigree. But it’s also telling.
This isn’t about effort. It’s about cohesion, communication, and a team that’s lost its way in the thick of a brutal Big 12 schedule.
After that hot start, Arizona State’s slide began with back-to-back home losses to Oregon State and Colorado. Then came a 28-point drubbing at No.
9 BYU, a hard-fought loss at No. 1 Arizona, and a 30-point blowout at No.
7 Houston. The Sun Devils have faced elite competition - no question - but the inability to hold serve at home has been just as damaging.
Wednesday night’s loss was another example. ASU jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first half, only to watch it evaporate. West Virginia took control, and Arizona State had no answers.
Now, the Sun Devils are staring down a critical stretch, starting with a home game against Cincinnati on Saturday. But the bigger story isn’t just the next game - it’s the direction of the program and the future of the man leading it.
Hurley’s not hiding from the moment. He’s owning it. But whether that honesty can spark a turnaround - or simply mark the beginning of the end - remains to be seen.