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The only podcast covering all things Arizona State athletics! We bleed maroon and gold, and love talking about the Sun Devils no matter what sport.
Tom Hardon (00:01)
Welcome in Sun Devil fans to another episode of Echo from the Buttes. I'm your host for the night, Tom Harden, standing in once again for the vacationing David Hellman. With me I have Andrew Hazlett and Austin Bundy. And guys, it's a bye week for football. There's really no news going on, right? We can just call this a wrap right now. What do you think?
Andrew Hayslett (00:23)
Sounds good to me.
Austen Bundy (00:23)
Never. ⁓
Tom Hardon (00:25)
Even though football is off for the week.
Do still have some things to talk about some major news broke this week. The Big 12 Conference officially confirmed the Union Jack Classic between the Sun Devils and the Kansas Jayhawks to take place at Wembley Stadium on September 19th, 2026. And we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, gave our our varying thoughts on it. And now that it's confirmed, I don't know about you guys, but.
It's a little bit diluted with the international product for football, especially comparing to the NFL going to seemingly 42 different countries now. But I think this is just a unique opportunity. It's always fun to play the first game in a new country. I just think it's a great opportunity.
you know, great opportunity for for ASU football. Austin, I'll bring you in first. What's your take on the official confirmation?
Austen Bundy (01:36)
I'm loving it. mean, it's a big opportunity for ASU to spread its brand internationally. mean, ASU's already got a pretty good brand internationally just from its academics and its research. But this is a real good opportunity for the athletics, specifically the football program, to go abroad and really make some new fans. A big opportunity to go play on a big international stage, but nationally broadcast here in the States more than likely. ⁓ I'm excited to see these guys go to historic stadium, have a really big conference matchup early in the season, and hopefully come away
with a big historic victory for the program.
Andrew Hayslett (02:09)
Yeah, exactly. I'm excited. lot to love about this. But I don't want to be that guy that's complaining. But the one drawback for me, I don't know how you guys feel, is that this is right after a Texas A &M trip compared to being in week zero, which would be, I think, ideal for this game to be played, or even week one.
But week three, that's kind of what you get with some of these things. It's obviously not in my control, not really in...
the Sun Devils control to an extent, but hey, like this is still cool and I'm not gonna have that one little thing diminish that. It would be really like from whoever's gonna win this game, this is gonna be a game to remember for that team for a very long time. And that's something that will draw in new recruits, I think for ⁓ a long time as well.
Austen Bundy (03:15)
At least it's not a home game they're
Tom Hardon (03:15)
I've got to say.
Austen Bundy (03:16)
losing either. It's an away game for the Sun Devils.
Tom Hardon (03:19)
Yep, yep, big thing there too. And I've got to say the the Sun Devil football social media team definitely understood the assignment immediately coming out with the double decker version of Stomp the Bus. And that just got my blood going. I Stomp the Bus always does it for me. Wherever I see it in stadium. If I watch on YouTube, however many times I've watched it. And the double decker bus was chef's kiss. It was perfect. But tickets will be going on sale for that.
Pretty soon for, if you're lucky enough to have pre-sale access, you may have just gotten an email that October 6th will be the pre-sale date. So these tickets are gonna go pretty fast and ⁓ make sure you guys wanna be first on the list to get those tickets.
Andrew Hayslett (04:11)
Gonna go fast like fish and chips.
Austen Bundy (04:14)
Ha.
Tom Hardon (04:14)
Yeah, better have fish and chips when you're there and maybe a pines of Guinness as well.
We've got a little extra bi-week news. Jalen Moss was seen back at practice this week. Hasn't been playing since the NAU game, first with the foot injury, then battling his illness, and hopefully getting on track to come back for the Utah game next week. Do you guys think that this will be?
I mean, obviously it'll be a help to the offense give Sam another high quality target, but with how the offense has been producing, how much do you think this is going to affect the game plan?
Austen Bundy (04:58)
Go for it, Andrew.
Andrew Hayslett (05:00)
I was going to say a lot because you've seen a lot of two tight end sets with Cameron Harpole getting a lot of action from Ari Anderson as well, but that's been the primary offense that ASU has been running. Now with Jalen Moss, you get a third quality target, ⁓ really, I would even argue you could argue a second quality target that's consistent. No disrespect to Derek Uesabio, but he's...
He could be a quality target, he hasn't emerged yet consistently like back to back to back games like you see Tyson has. I think Moss can be that guy against Utah straight off the bat.
I mean, he's been in he it's not like he missed like any camp He did he knows the playbook. He knows it so compared to a Preseason injury or a true preseason injury compared to getting injured week one. There's a that's that's different he knows the playbook and contentionally and potentially be
an X factor on the field. I think this will set into more three ride receiver sets. You'll still see Jordan Tyson out there on pretty much every play. Outside of him I think you'll see Moss and McLean primarily. Derek you're your first guy off of the on-nose receivers. You'll still see your two tight end sets.
Those are those are still going to happen. And you'll also see your Jaren Hamilton's, your Noble Johnsons, your Harry Hasmans, maybe those group of guys get a few position, a few snaps each to possibly produce something.
Austen Bundy (07:03)
Yeah, I agree with you there. think this is going to open the playbook a little bit more for Kenny. ⁓ It's really exciting to see him back at practice. mean, more options for Sam is always great. You're never going to turn that down. ⁓ I am excited to see how they're going to integrate him into ⁓ games, into game action, where I'm not sure if he's going to make it for... ⁓
next week's game you would hope so, no setbacks. ⁓ But it'll be interesting to see how they integrate him for the Texas Tech game, which is going to be gigantic. ⁓ I would really like to see Sam use him more, like you said Andrew, in those three wide receiver sets. ⁓ Open up.
some space for Tyson potentially for drawing off a defender or two because we all know what he can do. It's not like he's going to go out there and the defenses are going to discount him from the jump just because of the injury. He's got explosiveness. He's got the hands. I think this is going to be something that will cause defensive coordinators that ASU faces from here on out to rethink a lot of their scheming. And it's going to provide a lot more opportunity for Kenny to break out some of the plays that they've been holding on to so far this season.
possibly create a little bit more of a versatile attack and I think that's just going to benefit guys like Sam, it's going to benefit the offense and I think it's going to result in more points being scored for ASU in the future.
Tom Hardon (08:27)
you say this is cause for concern for the Shemamate fan club those of us who like seeing his targets go up the last few weeks
Austen Bundy (08:35)
I wouldn't say so.
don't think it's any time to panic. Could his targets go down? Potentially. But I think where we've seen Shaman Mateur's value has been in his blocking game, and I don't think that's going away anytime soon. Could this change how they utilize Mateur into more of that guy on third down, the guy who's used in the red zone more often or on the goal?
potentially, but I mean, we've all seen that he's effective in those situations. And if that's where Kenny thinks he's the most effective, then use him as much as you can in the situation and don't try to force him anywhere else. I mean, you never know with Jalen Moss on the field that could also potentially open him up more because defenses are going to be looking having to shift over to Moss in their defenses. And it leaves Mateo open in the middle of the field on those short down ⁓ safety valve plays or potentially create more opportunities for anybody in the receiving game.
because Mateja is going to be an effective blocker downfield.
Andrew Hayslett (09:32)
Yeah, that's kind of what I'm looking forward to is what you said, Austin. Those third down and red zone opportunities is that's obviously been the weak point on the Sun Devils offense so far this year. It's how are they going to dress that in the bye week? How are they going to figure some things out? And how is Jalen Moss going to be the guy that flips the switch? Possibly not necessarily him catching the ball.
but maybe drawing a defender to him that opens up your Mataer, McLean, Tyson, whoever.
Tom Hardon (10:10)
All good stuff, all good stuff. Looking forward to seeing Moss back on the field and hopefully get this offense up to its full potential that we've been waiting for since week one, really. Last little bit of football blurb for the bye week. Student section was named student section of week for the big 12 for this past week. And I think it's incredibly well deserved. Andrew, you were there in the student section. So you've been able to speak to just how electric it was. This seems like a no brainer to me given
given the blackout, given the fact that we won and just how the students stayed invested in the game the whole way through.
Andrew Hayslett (10:49)
Yeah, it will look like a black, pretty much blackout to me. I don't think I saw a singular student wearing gold or maroon or white or any other color. Excuse me. And yeah, the atmosphere was electric. I made it on Tempe Barstool as a background character in a video. ⁓ Just vibing. So ⁓ for whatever.
for what that's worth, guess. That's something, I guess. that was getting stuck in the Valley Metro circus. But yeah, I was late, but what I did, from walking up, like looking at the student section from the stands at that point.
Austen Bundy (11:18)
Didn't you tell us you had a story time?
Okay.
Andrew Hayslett (11:39)
It was cool to see like wow this is what this looks like from this angle. I hadn't seen this before and It's a it's a a it's a good environment for sure this
Tom Hardon (11:53)
Yeah, from my vantage point,
the only non-black that I could see was the gold towels.
Andrew Hayslett (12:00)
Yeah, I think the only, I don't know where I was gonna go with this, but I don't think many people left at halftime. I don't.
And this is the second time that this award has been given to the Sun Devils. It's a new award this year. This this this student section of the week, which I think is cool award. Good job on the big 12 for doing this thing. I think it's really cool. But really, the Sun Devils had three opportunities to win it and they won it twice. Inferno, pretty hot.
Austen Bundy (12:37)
Yeah, for sure. It's really encouraging to see the students stay throughout the entire game. I mean, they were effective the entire game, too. I don't know what the final numbers were on penalties, but there were a few false starts, if I remember correctly, that were caused by the sound, especially when they were backed up against the south end zone there. So huge props to the student section for showing up well-deserved, earning that award, that title. ⁓
that this was something that contributed to the win as opposed to just looking good and ⁓ being some social post. This was legitimately a full effort by the student section, everybody who showed up and sold out Mountain America Stadium. ⁓ So it's really encouraging, it's really cool to see, and hopefully they can win a couple more this season.
Tom Hardon (13:23)
as a student emeritus, if anybody out there wants to grant me student access for the day, holler towards your boy, because I want to experience that for myself.
Austen Bundy (13:33)
Yeah, I remember it's nice to see that the student section is back in full force because when I was a student from fall 2015 to spring 2019, those years were a little dark. There weren't a ton of games where students were staying throughout the whole time. I think the last blackout I can remember fully in memory was the Eastern Michigan win.
Tom Hardon (13:33)
But moving, moving up.
Austen Bundy (14:01)
sorry not Eastern Michigan, the Michigan State Upset, the last second field goal during the Herm era. I think that was the last blackout I remember and even then like a good chunk of the student section was gone by the time they kicked that last minute field goal. I think there was only about half of the students left when that happened.
Tom Hardon (14:20)
I think that that really speaks to the whole activate the valley mentality that Kenny has been bringing in since day one and that's spread throughout the spread throughout the athletic department. hear other coaches within the department saying using activate the valley as well for their respective sports. So it's nice to see it taking hold with football and spreading throughout.
But moving on, as we do have other sports on the docket for tonight, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see Austin and I representing our hockey team. Hockey starts up tomorrow. What was that, Andrew?
Andrew Hayslett (14:54)
I'm just wearing a polisher. I did not get
Austen Bundy (14:56)
You
Andrew Hayslett (14:59)
that memo. ⁓
Tom Hardon (15:03)
We'll pass around the dress code for next show, how's that?
Andrew Hayslett (15:06)
Okay, sounds good.
Tom Hardon (15:08)
But hockey starts up tomorrow night, hosting number five Penn State. Sun Devils are ranked number 14 in the nation. And I don't know about you guys, I've been counting down to the start of hockey season since I think about March 25th, shortly after ASU was eliminated from the NCHC tournament and missed out on making the national tournament. This is just such an exciting time to be a hockey fan.
And Andrew, I know that you are big on hockey as well. You were actually at Coach Powers' presser on Monday. Can you tell us what some of the vibe at the press conference was?
Andrew Hayslett (15:50)
I think the biggest thing that we noted from news wise was Connor Hasley's gonna start Friday night as I think pretty much everyone would have expected.
⁓ The senior transfer from Bentley had a lot of success there. Took that team on his back to the NCAAs, I believe last year as a number four seed in the Atlantic Hockey America Conference. I believe had a lot of shutouts last year, I believe led or tied the NCAA last year in shutouts if memory serves me correct there.
Tom Hardon (16:33)
He led with 11 shutouts. He was the only goaltender to record double-digit shutouts last season.
Andrew Hayslett (16:39)
Yeah, he's shown that he can carry teams on his back, kind of similar to what Alex Tracy has done at Minnesota State, just kind of that low goals against average type, which is what you need is what I think this is what Greg Powers seems to have been lacking the past few years is a true number one goalie.
Two years ago, was kind of TJ Septon Felter with Gibson Homer challenging him and eventually upsetting him to that number one goalie spot. And then the next year, Gibson Homer had that number one spot and Luke Pavisic kind of took that from him. And then they kind of split that throughout the rest of the year. I think this year's gonna be different. I think it's gonna be year where we see.
Hasley in the majority of games and then you'll see ⁓ Samuel Urban the freshman from ⁓ Europe easy is gonna start and get games that are against lesser opponents like your Miami is of Ohio your Minnesota Duluth's your
had Augustanus to an extent, those types of games. I think that's where you're going to see Urban play his few starts while learning under Hasley. And that's something I'm excited to see this season is can the goaltending perform at its peak.
Tom Hardon (18:23)
So I had the chance to talk to Coach Powers both during NCHC media days last week and during Tuesday's show, his radio show, Health Frozen Over at the Vibe just off Mill. And I asked him how Urban's development is going to play out this season. What can we expect to see from him as far as game action? And we can expect to see some serious minutes from Urban throughout the year.
Andrew Hayslett (18:24)
Okay.
Tom Hardon (18:52)
I don't think it's going to be quite the same split like what Western Michigan had last season with Hampton, Sulkinski and Cameron Rowe essentially being a tandem from December onward. ⁓ I do believe that Hasley will get the majority of the starts in net, but it's not going to be a super majority. not, it'll be maybe, you ⁓
We have 36 home games this year. think we can expect to see Hasley get maybe 22, 24 of them as dedicated starts and Irvine get the remainder because Powers wants to establish Irvine as the program's goaltender of the future. We've had, you mentioned TJ Sempenfelter and Gibson Homer. The last two starting goalies both have carved the
Andrew Hayslett (19:30)
Thank
Tom Hardon (19:47)
what I like to call the Tempe to Grand Forks pipeline. And I'd like to see that end this season. I don't want to see another goaltender go up to Grand Forks. Hasli is a senior, so we don't have him after this year. Urban is the goaltender of the future. I've seen him play internationally for Slovakia during the U18 World Championships. He is the truth, as the kids say these days.
outstanding in net, he's got great presence, he establishes himself at the top of the crease really well and doesn't drop down immediately like a lot of modern goaltenders do. He keeps himself up, the, you know, uses his size to his advantage and that's something that Gibson Homer really gave us in that 6-4 frame last year, but still with the modern goaltending, dropped down much too quickly and gave up a lot of the upper half of the net, so.
Seeing how the Keter bond develops, I am really excited for that.
Andrew Hayslett (20:51)
chase ham could continue your Tempe to Grand Forks pipeline.
Tom Hardon (20:57)
We can keep Hammer 2.0 here. He's been an ACH egg grinder and I like seeing him there. I was hoping to some ham and eggs on the back of his goalie mask during the open house, but maybe that's something that works for later on in the season.
This matchup with Penn State is really must-see TV quite literally. It's going to be broadcast not only regionally. Friday's game will be on Fox 10, Saturday's game on Fox 10 Extra, but will be broadcast on national TV, on NHL Network, will be streamed globally on the NHL's YouTube channel. I guess something about this kid, Gavin McKempton, Gavin McKerry, Gavin McKenna, that's the one.
And ⁓ Austin, you've been doing a little bit of research on the Penn State side. I want to loop you in on that and give us some insight there.
Austen Bundy (21:54)
Yeah, for sure. I mean, if you haven't heard of this kid yet, you better start doing your homework. ⁓ He is the projected number one overall pick in next year's NHL draft. He's come from the WHL over from Medicine Hat, and he's a freaking superstar. He's going to really take Penn State to the next level. His coach had nothing but insane praise for him during their media day a couple of days ago. It was incredible to hear him talk about how
He felt like he didn't really need to coach the kid up much besides just gelling with his teammates because of how skilled he is. coach literally said like, this isn't about me having to coach him up or have to like tell him what to do. What he does with the puck is just beyond comprehension. Like he just has a way with it that is insane and...
is going to be incredible to watch. think ASU is going to have their hands full with this guy, ⁓ but it's going to be exciting to see him in action, see him in Tempe for once. mean, just going to Mullet Arena is an incredible atmosphere to begin with, but to have a superstar like that on a national stage, especially now that ASU is going to get some national exposure through NHL Network, ⁓ McKenna is going to be the guy to watch all season long.
He committed to Penn State in July and he turned down Michigan State, surprisingly, which is kind of hilarious considering that the Big Ten media has Gavin McKenna pegged as a preseason All Big Ten selection ⁓ and picked Penn State to finish second in the conference, ironically behind Michigan State. So we will see what McKenna can do for the Nitley Lions who...
made their first appearance in the Frozen 4 last season. ⁓ He said during his media day that seeing Penn State in the Frozen 4 was kind of what sold it for him as early as January. And he wasn't sure if he was even going to go to college and decided that when he watched Penn State play in the Frozen 4 later that spring, that's where he wanted to go. And he had his mind made up at that point. So it's going to be exciting to see him play in Happy Valley and across the country. But having him come to
and play on this, play in Mullet Arena and then have this game broadcast on NHL Network for the entire nation, a lot of NHL fans to see. It's gonna be real exciting and I mean, Penn State's number four, they're a really good team. ASU's also ranked. I'm just hoping that ASU doesn't get blown out. I'm confident that, I think they can get at least one game off of Penn State. If not, if the first one, if they can catch them on their heels maybe, just with a little bit of rust.
But it would be really nice to see ASU get off to a really good start and take one off of a likely national championship contender.
Andrew Hayslett (24:50)
Well, in the spirit of Charles Park...
Tom Hardon (24:51)
you mentioned likely national championship.
Andrew Hayslett (24:55)
In the spirit of Charles Barkley, got two words for you. Gavin McKenna, Colin Potter. Must see TV.
Austen Bundy (25:02)
Hehehehehe
Tom Hardon (25:07)
And you mentioned likely national championship winner and Penn State opens the season as the preseason favorite to win the national championship plus 500 betting odds according to DraftKings. So he's really moved the needle in Penn State's favor since committing. But here's something that I have always said about Big Ten hockey. At least accomplish something before crowning
the next big 10 national champion. No big 10 team has won the national championship since Penn State joined and the big 10 moved to division one hockey as an all sports conference. The last big 10 team to win the national championship was Michigan State in 2007. big 10 homers come at me all you want, but.
You might say they do, but I say prove it, prove that you are as good as you say you are. And let's also not forget that Gavin McKenna is not the entire Penn State team. Penn State also got another highly regarded.
Another highly regarded commitment out of Jackson Smith. He was a draft pick this past year by the I believe it was the Columbus Blue Jackets and they return a very heavy core. Aidan Fink was a 50 point scorer last year, fourth in the nation. Charlie Serato, JJ Weebush, Matt DiMarco, Reece Laubach, Dane Doeak, Ben Shane, all over 30 point scorers. This offense is a juggernaut and
It's going to be an immediate test for Connor Hasley, who I also want to bring up. He did almost knock off number one ranked Boston College last year for Bentley in the first round, held them in the game for about 57 and a half minutes before getting pulled one down goal. And Bentley ultimately lost that game, but still an impressive showing for for Hasley and Bentley in their first ever tournament appearance last year. Hopefully that success translates out West here.
But like we said, this game is on national television. It's a huge opportunity for Sun Devil Hockey to shock the world. I'll go out and say it. Let's shock the world and take at least one, if not both from PennSafe because the biggest adjustment, not only for Gavin McKenna, but for all of these CHL guys, and we've got quite a few ourselves, is how are they going to adjust to the differing game schedules? How are they going to go from playing 56 games a year in CHL
to only playing 34, 36 games at college and managing classes at the same time. That's something that Gavin did bring up during his time on the podium at Penn State Media Day as well is, and it's just, it's gonna be a whole different, a whole different routine, whole different, just, whole different thing to get used to is having to manage these classes instead of just playing hockey, know, three, four days a week. But I'm super excited.
Austen Bundy (28:21)
Yeah, I think the biggest thing that he said the
Andrew Hayslett (28:21)
Yeah.
Austen Bundy (28:22)
difference was going to be was playing less games because when he's out in the CHL, they're playing a lot of games. It's close to an NHL type schedule with the level of games that they're playing. And you're saying that the biggest challenge he's going to have is going down to like 33 game schedule.
but he thinks it's going to be a benefit to him. So that one of reasons why he wanted to go to college was less games and to get that college experience. So I give him lot of credit considering that he could have gone back to the CHL dominated again and been the number one pick anyways next year. But he decided to come here to North America or come here to the United States and give it a shot, get an education hopefully ⁓ and play some college hockey. So I give him lot of credit for doing that and it's going to be a whole new experience for him. He's going to be a
a more well-rounded guy at the end of the day. So it's going to be real exciting for not just NHL fans watching this kid, but for the NCAA in general.
Andrew Hayslett (29:20)
Absolutely.
Tom Hardon (29:22)
⁓ I'm super excited for the game. I'll be in the building. Andrew, I know you're planning on being in the building. Austin, I hope you'll be watching from the comfort of your home. It's going to be a wild one. Fans, if you are going to this game, don't forget, Joey DeCord will be honored pregame as the first number retirement in program history. Extremely well deserved, in my opinion. I've heard some people say that, why are you doing this now? This is too soon for his number to be retired.
I think it's the perfect opportunity because all the hype is coming in surrounding Gavin McKenna. And if you look at all of the NHL media going out on Twitter about this game, it's Gavin McKenna and Penn State, and they just happen to be playing ASU. This puts the focus back on ASU in our own building. I think this, Joey's number of retirement.
We'll set the tone for the first game and give fans something to get incredibly excited about ahead of what looks to be two hard fought, exciting games. We'll have all the coverage for you on Devils in Detail and all throughout the weekend. So stay tuned to Andrew and myself for all of that coverage. enough about hockey.
Austen Bundy (30:39)
I was just going to say,
I was just going say Joey, I mean, Joey was our first guy in the league, wasn't he?
Tom Hardon (30:44)
Joy was our first guy in the league and he was, I overheard, I heard during Powers' presser that he was really the second official commit to Arizona State. He was committed even before we, we had announced we were moving up to Division 1, but we hadn't played a game yet. He did not arrive until 2016-2017. you know, Andrew, you were there. I was watching the press conference after the fact, but...
It was basically in the janitor's closet of Oceanside where they came to that commitment deal.
Andrew Hayslett (31:18)
Yeah, I think that's what Greg Powers called it. I don't think it was that extreme. But yeah, during the press conference, ⁓ Coach Powers talked about the founding fathers of Sun Devil Hockey and Joey DeCord being one of them and how they had a lot of tough times with that program of being independence, ⁓ just building it up.
to what it is now because all those players that we see now, none of them probably come to Arizona State that with those set of circumstances playing in an ice rink that barely holds a thousand people, ⁓ being an independent, having to travel just to whoever wants to schedule Arizona State versus being in the conference of
⁓ you get the privilege to play Arizona State versus what they are now. And now with the team making ⁓ a tournament one year, and then they would have made the tournament the COVID year as well. Just the team has come a long way and retiring Joey DeCourts number and then.
probably gonna retire some other people's numbers from that those errors at some point I would imagine too. Yep. D2 I believe. ⁓ But yeah, just those guys who built the program up to what it is now. It's it. They that's that's how we got here to now. Just just ⁓ just the reflection of that.
Tom Hardon (32:46)
Johnny Walker should be next. Shout out to our ACH head coach.
Andrew Hayslett (33:10)
And you'll see it more in the arena as well with a lot of things. built a new, not a new, but they refurbished a hallway inside, I believe by the locker rooms where they come out, which I think is really cool. They also, they speak in their jerseys. They got that fourth jersey, that throwback, which I think really looks cool. I don't know what you guys think, but.
Tom Hardon (33:36)
I'm all for it. I am a strong advocate of the NHL adopting what college does and having teams where there are whites at home and have row teams wear dark jerseys. This is an exception that I'm going to make because I want to see these and I'm going to go full in and call it a reverse retro because that is essentially what this uniform is. It is the old club jersey that the team wore for the 22-23 and 23-24 seasons. But
in maroon with the gold trim and I I want to see that in person. I want to see that at least you know a handful of games at mullet.
Austen Bundy (34:15)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, again, look good, play good. ⁓ I think ASU has always done a great job with their uniforms and figuring out those fantastic designs with Adidas. ⁓
I mean, just going right back to Joey, mean, anyone who says this is too soon to retire, it's not like he's not made a name for himself in the NHL already. I mean, the guy is the guy in Seattle now. I mean, he was already doing pretty well when he was with Ottawa, but to be selected in the expansion draft showed how much confidence an organization like Seattle had in him. And now he's pretty much taken that number one job. ⁓
We'll see how well he does this year, but I think he's going to be the guy in Seattle and it may not be his final destination, but I could very well see him being one of those goalies that gets picked up in a trade deadline deal for a Stanley Cup contender at some point, maybe not this season, but somewhere down the road. ⁓ I think Joey DeCourt is going to be one of the first, if not the first Sun Devil to lift the Stanley Cup at some point.
Tom Hardon (35:15)
I love that and let's also not forget that he made history in the 2024 Winter Classic recording the first ever shutout in the Outdoor Series. he's already making his mark on the NHL. He keeps Sparky on his goalie helmet with every design. He bleeds maroon and gold. He's a Sun Devil to the core. And this is incredibly well deserved for him. And I'm just, I consider myself lucky that I'm going to be in attendance for his retirement and that I got to.
to watch a handful of games that he played. I actually went to the Yale series in 2018, right, know, towards the end of those toiling years and saw his play against Yale. Now, granted Yale was not and still is not the best of teams to measure up against, but I saw the way he played. And walking out of the arena with my dad, I turned to him, I said, you know, this team is right on the cusp of being really good.
little did I know that we would make the tournament the very next year making my words extremely prophetic, but It speaks to it speaks volumes to just how far this program has come Unfortunately, the covert year really did the team in with playing on the on the road the entire season but I think this program is right back where it should be and is going to be a strong contender for years to come now that we've got our strong recruiting base and
Even power saying we don't have to go into the portal nearly as much as we had to in years past focused on bringing guys in guys who are going to buy into the program and develop them up and keep them for two or three years until they sign or get drafted or whatever the future holds for them. But.
Austen Bundy (37:00)
Could you imagine if
the program had gone D1 just a little sooner and they got Austin Matthews in there? We already know he said he would have committed, he would have done it. He said that the program been D1 when he was eligible, he would have done it, he would have been there.
Tom Hardon (37:14)
There is photographic evidence online of Austin Matthews wearing Arizona State hockey apparel and what could have been, what could have been, we may always wax poetic about that, but nothing we can do about that now. Just hopefully bring, if the NHL comes back, coax Austin to come back and play for his hometown team. That's something that I will settle for. Get him away from Toronto. We don't need him and need him up there.
But I could talk about hockey for hours and hours. We've got other sports to go ahead and cover. We've got basketball that's getting ready to start up, both men's and women's, starting just about a month from now. Men's basketball is going to have their first exhibition game on October 12th at UC Irvine. And I think the ongoing question is, how hot is Bobby Hurley's seat coming into the season?
Austen Bundy (38:07)
say it's pretty close to scorching at this point. mean we all thought last year he wasn't gonna make it to his last year in his contract. ⁓ I think Bobby's really in a tight spot and not just because they haven't gotten results but I feel like
he's really had he's been dealt some bad hands and I don't know if that's just because the recruiting has been off I mean I don't know if you can even say that because he's brought in a lot of really really big recruits but they don't seem to gel they don't seem to actually translate into anything on the hardcore and then
some of them leave and they end up playing fantastic or just good enough to be the NBA lottery pick that everyone thought they were going to be ⁓ and i don't know if that just comes down to coaching is Bobby losing his touch coaching wise or is there something wrong with the culture that these guys are not able to play as a cohesive unit on on the hard court
I also think there's a little bit of a mix of the Big 12 being one of the best conferences in basketball. So I think it's real difficult for Bobby Hurley to build these rosters that can compete with the rest of the conference that doesn't necessarily have these big superstars, but just are really well coached and just have a lot of great role players that know exactly what they need to do. And it just translates into offense and incredible defense. ⁓ Bobby's seed is definitely at
it's probably max setting right now when it comes to heat. ⁓ I would be surprised to be honest with you if ASU does not have a 500 or better record by Christmas if Bobby is still around.
Andrew Hayslett (39:53)
That's certainly fair. mean, you've got some tough teams on that schedule. Oklahoma, UCLA, some good good powerhouse teams and then who knows who they're going to be playing in the Maui invitation and they've got Texas there in the first round. They also have got Gonzaga in the before then. So some tough games for sure. ⁓
I think Bobby's gonna make it to the end of the year. I just don't think they want to pay the bail, which is fine. I get your saving money, but you better have an idea who that next guy is pretty quick. ⁓ Because I think everyone knows Bobby Hurley's essentially a dead man walking this year. I think it's...
unless he goes out and makes the NCAA tournament for some reason, which he could do. I think there's a pretty good chance he's getting fired, like it or not, because I believe he's been the longest tenured coach in Sun Devil basketball history, which is an accomplishment. And he's done a relatively good job for this program, considering what it has been in the past.
Tom Hardon (41:20)
It's a tough outlook for men's basketball this season. The Athletic put out their preseason Big 12 rankings not too long ago and ranked ASU 16th out of 16 in the Big 12.
Andrew Hayslett (41:28)
Thank
Austen Bundy (41:34)
That means we're winning it all, Tom. We've read this book before.
Tom Hardon (41:38)
The script is written, we should just book our tickets to Kansas City now, right?
Austen Bundy (41:44)
Exactly.
Andrew Hayslett (41:44)
will still
be playing whether they're a blast or first, I think. So...
Tom Hardon (41:48)
But you know, book the ticket, just buy the championship game tickets right now.
Andrew Hayslett (41:54)
That's fair.
Tom Hardon (41:56)
The starting five, we're bringing in four transfers as the projected starting five. We've got Maurice Odom coming in from Pepperdine, Adante Holloman from Georgia Southern, Marcus Adams Jr. out of Cal State Northridge, Alan Mubeka from Oakland, and then more, Massamba Diop coming over from Spain. It's a tough road. ⁓
Andrew Hayslett (42:15)
you
Tom Hardon (42:19)
Admittedly, I am not the biggest basketball fan. I will go to maybe two games a year and I'll pretend to watch a little bit, but even I can look at this starting five and think to myself, is this going to do it? what is this? are we looking at here?
Andrew Hayslett (42:40)
Yeah.
Austen Bundy (42:40)
I
Tom Hardon (42:40)
But it's.
Austen Bundy (42:41)
agree with you. I, to be honest, I missed the days of Remy Martin and that exciting, ⁓ exciting starting five that we had, ⁓ especially, again, another team that got was victimized by the COVID year would have made the tournament and more than likely could have made it a couple of rounds deep because they were, they were that good that year. ⁓ But like you said, this is going to be difficult to stomach. I think for a lot of Sun Devil fans, mean, last year there were higher expectations having ⁓
Was it Josh Christopher that we had last year? Yeah. Having him and a lot of other transfers that we thought were going to translate into more points on the court there. I think this year people are going to have to lower their expectations and essentially just...
take what we're gonna get because I mean, at least that's how I'm gonna go into this season is just no expectations and just see what we get. Because like Andrew said, think Hurley's a dead man walking when it comes to his job. And the product we're gonna get is hopefully something respectable, but I would not be surprised if this team has single digit wins by Christmas.
Tom Hardon (43:56)
Well, pivoting from a team with a coach almost assuredly on the way out to a team with a coach on their way in, let's look at ASU women's basketball and Molly Miller coming in from Grand Canyon University, certainly injecting a lot of life into some buzz around the women's program, had a ⁓ struggle to their season last year. is this the breath of fresh air that women's basketball
needs to to use a very poorly thought upon rebound.
Andrew Hayslett (44:33)
It could be because I see on pretty much, fairly often I see on my phone, ⁓ Molly Miller's at this event, Molly Miller's at this event. I did not see the same thing with Natasha Adair. Because when Natasha Adair inherited the program, ASU women's basketball was respectable. And now in Adair's time,
Austen Bundy (44:33)
Yeah.
Andrew Hayslett (45:02)
She wasn't very good as a head coach, just put it at that. So I think getting rid of her was obviously a step in the right direction. But how much is it with Molly Miller? That's to be decided.
Austen Bundy (45:19)
Yeah, I agree with you there. There's a lot to be proven, but I'm excited for the future of women, of the Sun Devil Women's Basketball. I mean, it's a long way that they have fallen. And I don't necessarily lay the blame at too many people's feet. Sometimes you get just not.
great recruiting classes, sometimes the coaching just isn't up to par, and clearly that looked the way, looked to be the way it was the past few years. But I think Molly Miller has a culture reset coming for this team, and I think that's really gonna benefit them, especially bringing in the type of hustle and the type of hard work, or work ethic that she had over at GCU.
I think that's something the Sun Devils could really use and I think she's going to change the course of the program for the better. And I think this first year is going to be one that everybody's going to pay close attention to, but I also think people need to, again, temper expectations and any sort of improvement on last year is just a step in the right direction.
Tom Hardon (46:27)
You know, I see in see in Maloy Miller a little bit of what I saw from Kenny Dillingham after he was hired as the head coach for football. And I'm going to agree with you there 100 % Austin. It's not going to be an overnight change. Incremental improvement this season is what you want to see. look to season two and beyond for
the real culture of Molly Miller to take effect and really see what this team is going to be made of. There has been some positive movement in the portal as a result of her being named head coach. And I think this is really just going to be a wait and be surprised season. Like you said, temper expectations. And honestly, I think just kind of
kind of take what we get. It sounds a little bit bad to say that, but I think in a first year with a new head coach, unless it is catastrophically bad, if we're O-ing whatever in February, then you're starting to think, OK, was this really the right fit? But it's not going to be cause for concern if it's only a little bit better than last year. Like I said, any improvement is good improvement.
We've got men's basketball starting up on November 4th versus Southern Utah. Women's starts up on November 3rd against Coppin State, both games at home at Desert Financial Arena, which earlier this week it was announced that DFA will be undergoing approximately $100 million renovation to be started to be estimated to be completed by 2029, I believe. So it's a.
very much needed upgrade to an arena that I don't think has been touched by a contractor since 1974. Just pulling that out of nowhere.
Austen Bundy (48:30)
Sounds good, right?
Tom Hardon (48:35)
But hopefully good things on the horizon for both men's women's basketball on and off the court.
Andrew Hayslett (48:35)
Yeah.
Yeah, DFA is a, like, for what it is, it's good. Like, it's lasted a long time. It's a stadium that hasn't had renovations in a long time. Which, it's good that you've had it, but with things aging.
Things need renovation and DFA does need renovation right now, but it's Regardless, it's a fine stadium. It's fun when you need to very loud in there all the noise echoes certainly one of the top environments I've been in once two years ago when ASU basketball men's basketball played U of A Noise was just echoing and echoing. I think the loudest sporting event I've been in at ASU personally
personally.
Austen Bundy (49:33)
Yeah,
it's an intimate arena to put it lightly. I rarely was there for any times where it was loud enough to really feel like that or the way you probably felt, Andrew. But again, some darker years for ASU. But yeah, I think the only thing that I have tangibly seen, but then again, I haven't been paying too close attention to DFA's upgrades in the last few years. think the only thing I've noticed that they've upgraded is the banners. I think that's the only thing they've changed is they swapped out the banners for the
the championships and the retired numbers, that's all I noticed.
Tom Hardon (50:09)
Yeah, just very little cosmetic updates here and there. That's, I think, all that's been done as of recently.
We're going to look here at another team that calls DFA home, and that's our volleyball team. Off to a very good start at 11 and 2, just coming off a 3-0 match win at Kansas State. Completed the sweep in Kansas this past week, taking down number 18 Kansas by score of three sets to two.
I got into volleyball a little bit last year, went to a couple of the home matches against BYU in Kansas State. Both were wins, so I think I'm probably due to go back for another one to keep my winning streak going. But it's exciting to have some of these lesser attended sports really bring the team and the whole program into national prominence.
Andrew Hayslett (51:12)
Yeah, kind of circling back to what we talked about Kenny Dillingham and Molly Miller a little bit. J.J. Van Neil has been that guy since he took over at ASU. This is his first coaching job, mind you, and he only in three seasons has like 11 or 12 losses, which in a volleyball conference that was as good as the Pac-12 was last when he went in there. And the Big 12 is a little bit worse conference, but still.
That few losses in that long of a time is insane. He's doing a lot of great things. ⁓ Did some great work with the transfer portal all three years. He has been here as the head coach. Yes, Kenny Dillingham is great, but I think J.J. Van Neel is the best coach in ⁓ all of ASU athletics right now.
Austen Bundy (52:07)
That's high praise. I mean, he's got the resume to back it up right now. I think ASU is a program in women's volleyball has gone into the Big 12 and filled the void left behind by Texas. And you see the Texas women's program is doing what it's doing in the SEC, but.
that program really dominated the conference prior to ASU's arrival and now I think ASU has stepped up and taken that mantle and they're not giving it up. mean they've really got the talent, they've got the hype surrounding them and it's like Tom said like it's really encouraging to see some of these programs that don't get enough attention on the national stage getting the attention that it deserves from the student body and the attention that it deserves from the rest of the community in Tempe and in the valley.
that really helps build not only the brand but it helps ⁓ build up the student athletes as well. These girls that deserve a lot of the attention that they're getting because of their skills.
Tom Hardon (53:10)
Yeah, it's definitely exciting times and volleyball is number eight in the nation. Let's shout them out for being another team, very highly ranked in their respective poll.
Andrew Hayslett (53:23)
They swept,
they beat Penn State, the reigning national champion earlier this year. So this, team can do some damage in the playoffs, which the one mark against JJ Van Neil is that he hasn't really gone super far in the playoffs. But I think this is year where he can make a deep run this with the team he's got.
Tom Hardon (53:50)
Well, here's hoping that can happen. if you're attending the hockey game at 5 o'clock on Saturday, why not make it a double header? Stop on by DFA at 1 o'clock. That's volleyball's next home game against Utah. So go ahead. What was that?
Andrew Hayslett (54:06)
Have the rings here. ⁓
They've got the ring ceremony from last year's Big 12 rings.
Tom Hardon (54:13)
That's
right. So perfect time to go out and ⁓ support the team. A couple other, want to give a shout out to ⁓ soccer. 8-1 and 2 record on the season and really, really impressive in Big 12 play. Have you guys, Andrew, you been able to get out to a match this season?
Andrew Hayslett (54:35)
I have not.
Tom Hardon (54:38)
What's up?
Austen Bundy (54:38)
I haven't been able
to attend, I noticed that they had a huge upset over it was BYU, right, that they upset earlier in the season?
Tom Hardon (54:45)
Yeah, number 10 BYU September 18th. Hard to go wrong with an upset there. Last game was a loss against UCF on the 28th. They'll be back at home against West Virginia on October 5th, who was right outside on the cusp of the rankings for soccer. So yet another sport to show your support for. Last item that we have for this show.
Andrew Hayslett (54:48)
Thank
Tom Hardon (55:14)
ASU baseball got a big commit in E.J. Meyer, the younger brother of Red Sox top prospect Marcel Meyer coming out of Sarita High School, committing for next season. know, Andrew, you're big in, you're keyed into baseball. Is this, what does this mean for Willie Blomquist and baseball next season if he, as the season starts?
Andrew Hayslett (55:42)
Yeah, if
you can retain him and not have him get drafted, that's obviously going to be huge because this guy, obviously has a brother that knows what he's doing. And Willie Bloomquist, he's gotten some good players as freshmen, like Landon Harrison, who had a very good year, but Bloomquist builds teams more from the portal, traditionally speaking.
⁓ But if he can get some good ⁓ freshman talent, homegrown talent, I think that that would be huge for him. I know he doesn't build, I think it's kind of a mix of building it from the portal and freshmen, but if you can get more away from the portal, I think that's sets you up better for success and no matter the sport.
Tom Hardon (56:36)
And actually I do want to correct myself real quick. He's a 2027 high school grad. So it would be for the spring of 2028. Wanted to fact check myself there before we go too much deeper.
I think we may have possibly lost Austin, but that's a big, big commit for baseball. Hopefully, ⁓ hopefully he doesn't get drafted out of high school and sign away from ASU as so many commits have in the past. But ⁓ this bodes well for baseball coming down the line. Austin, do we have you back?
Austen Bundy (57:16)
I'm here if you can hear me.
Tom Hardon (57:19)
Yep, I can hear you now. You were caught up there a little bit, just closing the book on Meyer. Hopefully he sticks and does see campus here for the 2028 season.
Austen Bundy (57:35)
Yeah, for sure. It would be a huge addition to the program and it would be great if they could keep around, not be drafted like Andrew said. Bloomquist needs all the help he can get because the program is one of those teams that seems to be right on the edge of competing for some sort of championship, maybe not a national championship, but there may be just a few pieces away from being able to sustain some success and potentially get to Omaha one day.
Tom Hardon (58:01)
It'd be nice to change that banner for the first time since 1981. I take my annual picture of the banners and manually put in whatever year we're playing in. I've done that the last seven years, so I'd like to not have to do that for another year.
Well, that's going to about wrap it up for us at Echo from the Buttes for tonight. It's been a great night covering all the other sports that we don't normally get to talk about. ⁓ looking at us at Devils in Detail. We'll have coverage of hockey all weekend long. We'll keep bringing you the football news throughout the weekend and basketball ramping up. It's going to be a busy time for ⁓ Sunnival Athletics.
For Andrew Hazlett and Austin Bundy, I'm Tom Harden. As always, forks up and go Devils!