The Arizona State men’s basketball program has some momentum.
It bounced back from two sub-par campaigns with a 23-13 record last season that included an NCAA Tournament win before it barely lost to heavily favored TCU by two in its second game.
Coach Bobby Hurley was rewarded with a contract extension days later.
Now comes a stellar signing class as the ASU men’s quintet checked in at No. 13 overall according to 247Sports. Rivals had the ASU class pegged at 17. The Sun Devils had five players factor into that ranking, the last commitment coming late Tuesday from shooting guard Ketraleus “Bo” Aldridge out of PHHoenix Prep.
Schools ranked ahead of ASU in the 247 listings were Duke, Missouri, North Carolina, Kansas, Arizona, Miami, Michigan State, Rutgers, Purdue, USC, TCU and Colorado.
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The class is Hurley’s best since a No. 8 in 2020 which featured Marcus Bagley and Josh Christopher, who were both top 30 players in the country individually. His 2018 class headlined by Taeshon Cherry and current Oklahoma City Thunder standout Lu Dort, ranked No. 14 nationally.
By comparison, the 2023 class, which included just two players as Hurley leaned on the transfer portal, was ranked No. 58.
The pledge by Aldridge was the fourth in nine days for Hurley, with the previous ones coming from small forward Amier Ali of Canyon International Academy, 6-11 center Jaden Smith of Kenwood Academy and power forward Sammie Yeanay of Compass Prep.
The other addition is Jeremiah Nyarko of Western Texas Community College, who started his collegiate career at University of San Diego.
Both Ali and Yeanay are four-star prospects ranked in 247’s top 100 individua rankings while Aldridge and Smith are top 50 nationally at their position and top 15 in their respective states.
The quintet also shows Hurley leaning toward a bigger class with four of those players 6-8 or taller, perhaps in anticipation of the move to the Big 12. During Pac-12 Basketball Media Day in Las Vegas last month the ASU head coach noted the difference in style of play of the conferences and he elaborated on needing a more physical presence moving forward.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU’s Bobby Hurley looks for something different in newest recruits
