Men's College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Arizona State Sun Devils

The Pac-12 doesn’t get a whole lot of respect in college basketball lately, but that’s the conference’s own fault, as it’s been a fairly pathetic conference over the last couple of seasons. Many of the teams took advantage of the largest transfer portal ever, and we will see a lot of new faces this season. There will be plenty of hype surrounding the UCLA Bruins after their unlikely final four run last year while teams like Oregon, Arizona and USC try to gain relevance once more. There is plenty of excitement surrounding the WSU Cougars and their juicy roster, but the amount of projected bottom feeders could lead to another disappointing season for the Pac-12.

Nevertheless, there will be firepower on each of these rosters and Pac-12 Thursday DFS slates tend to be some of the most chaotic of the week. Let’s break down each team and identify the players to watch for this upcoming season.

In this one, Arizona State.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Arizona State Sun Devils 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 11-14 (7-10 Pac-12), ninth in Pac-12
Postseason: None

Key Departures | Arizona State Sun Devils

Remy Martin (transferred to Kansas)
Alonzo Verge (transferred to Nebraska)
Josh Christopher (NBA draftee)
Holland Woods (transferred to Grand Canyon)
Jaelen House (transferred to New Mexico)
Taeshon Cherry (transferred to Grand Canyon)
Chris Osten (transferred to NIU)

Key Additions | Arizona State Sun Devils

Jay Heath (transferred from BC)
Marreon Jackson (transferred from Toledo)
Luther Muhammad (transferred from Ohio State)
DJ Horne (transferred from Illinois State)
Alonzo Gaffney (JUCO transfer)
Enoch Boakye (top 30 recruit)
Demari Williams (3 star recruit)

Returners | Arizona State Sun Devils

Marcus Bagley (10.8 PPG/6.2 RPG/1.2 APG)
Jalen Graham (8.1 PPG/5 RPG/1.6 BPG)
Kimani Lawrence (8.1 PPG/5 RPG)

Arizona State Sun Devils Outlook for 2021-2022

It was a headache season for Bobby Hurley last year — despite having a top-10 recruiting class and some elite scorers at guard, they just never reached their ceiling. The main issue was that they had too many shoot-first players in Remy Martin, Alonzo Verge and Josh Christopher. Those guys are all gone now though, and this roster makes a lot more sense on the surface.

Hurley took full advantage of the bloated transfer portal and brought in 4-5 guys that should be key players in the rotation. It starts with Marreon Jackson, the reigning MAC POY. Jackson was a stud at the mid-major level and had mouth-watering stats. He averaged 18.1 PPG/6.1 RPG/5.9 APG/1.8 SPG. By now you know that moving up to a power conference can sometimes be too tough for some transfers, but I don’t expect any difficulties for Marreon in the Pac-12. BC transfer Jay Heath should also have no issues coming from the ACC and is a nice fit next to Jackson as a 36.5% three-point shooter. Luther Muhammad is an ideal fit as well as a 36% career three-point shooter and a really strong on-ball defender. DJ Horne shot over 40% from long range and suddenly the Sun Devils have a plethora of lethal shooters at their disposal. The best part of all? Jackson is a willing passer and should be able to keep everyone happy similar to the way he did at Toledo. The Rockets had a ton of talented scorers on it and Jackson was able to make sure they all ate. There is a clear reason to be excited for this team for fantasy.

Marcus Bagley made the wise decision to return for his sophomore season and will get more opportunity to increase his draft stock this year. Bagley held his own as a long-range shooter at around 35% on 72 attempts and was also a strong rebounder that wasn’t afraid to mix it up down low. He is the primary breakout candidate on this roster. Jalen Graham is comfortable on the block where he is capable of creating mismatches with his inside scoring ability. He is a strong shot blocker and rebounder as well.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams and top 100 players for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

I like the construction of this roster much more than I did last year. There were simply too many mouths to feed, and the primary guards weren’t willing to sacrifice their own stats for the betterment of the team. The 21-22 version of the Sun Devils should be much more unselfish, and I expect Marreon Jackson to keep this group humming along.