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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 one, welcome all to another episode of Echo from the Buttes. I'm your host, Tom Harden, standing in for David Hellman. With me as always are my co-hosts, Austin Bundy and Andrew Hazlett. And for the first time tonight, we are joined by our own basketball expert, Aya Abdeen. Aya, welcome to the show. We're glad to have you.
Aya Abdeen (00:16)
Hi.
Thank you for having me guys. It's great to talk about all things Sun Devils hoops and especially about the incredible run the Sun Devils women's volleyball team has had. You know, it came to an end to the Creighton Blue Jays, especially they gave them a lot of challenges in four sets today, but we're excited to take a deep dive in.
Tom Hardon (00:42)
Well,
we'll get right into volleyball with that. And was a magical run for JJ Van Neels team getting to the Sweet 16 this season. As you mentioned, I unfortunately it came to an end today against Creighton three sets to one. But I don't think enough can be said about just how exciting this volleyball team is to watch. And for somebody like me who's never really expanded outside of the big four sports, I made it to the first round matches last Thursday and
Aya Abdeen (00:52)
Yeah.
Tom Hardon (01:12)
It was an electric atmosphere.
Aya Abdeen (01:15)
But sure it was like, you know, it really stands out to me about this women's volleyball team is how, how can, how do you have this competitive spirit and especially how they, how do you bring in the grit on and off the court? Like they have like whenever they have this monster blocks, it's, it's pretty cool to get the defense engaged in this game as well. And what also really stands out to me as well is adding in
Noemi Guover, junior ⁓ transfer from Nebraska, she has been pretty outstanding. And not to mention that she was named Big 12 of the year for like her kills. And she's literally been everywhere. So tons of respect to JJ Vaneo's coaching staff. during the game on Thursday, Creighton has given them a lot of challenges.
And even though they won by, they only won the second set. It was, I have to say credit to Creighton Blue Jays for giving them, giving them problems on the court, but they have a lot to learn and continue to build on throughout the next few years for this volleyball program. They have come a long way.
Tom Hardon (02:36)
Yeah, I was keeping tabs on it throughout the day and that first set I think is really what did the Sun Devils in going to going to extra points with Creighton taking the first set 26 to 24 Arizona State coming back to win the second set but I don't I just don't think the ladies were able to fully recover from that extended first set.
Aya Abdeen (03:00)
for sure. That's what, that's definitely changed the trajectory of the game. Especially when I was watching the volleyball game earlier today, there were ad-iams and stories about Ava Martin's sister, Grace. She's going to be joining the Sun Devils Women's Volleyball Program next year. And I'm like, this is pretty fascinating. So to see how, ⁓ so to see how, how it translates, how it all translates, especially like how
Even though they got something from the second set, but third set, that's what definitely inside me I was thinking they wouldn't be able to recover. They were like really close to getting into their first Elite Eight of program history. But respect to the Sun Devils Women's Volleyball team. They have a hell of a season for sure. 28 for record. It will continue to get better for years to come.
Tom Hardon (03:53)
you
Andrew, you were in the building as well last week. What was your biggest takeaway from that first round win? It was a really just all around dominant performance over Coppin State.
Andrew Hayslett (04:14)
Yeah, those first two games were because I was in the building for both of those two. Just the fans are so impactful. You can tell just getting everyone else on the team amped up when you have that such of a home court advantage on your side. asked JJ a question and then one of the pressers. ⁓
Mountain America Stadium about that and he talked about how it just gives the team such a huge advantage. That's why they didn't lose a single match at home this season. Didn't lose a single regular season home match last season as well. Yes, they did lose the NC the for the second round game at DFA last year and then I think in his first year as head coach they only lost one game at Home League to Oregon so it
I think the home court advantage for ASU women's volleyball is huge and that's why they're able to be so successful at home and so dominant.
Aya Abdeen (05:17)
100%. I second that. Andrew.
Tom Hardon (05:21)
Austin, I want to throw this to you with the success that volleyball has had. How high is the ceiling for years to come in your opinion?
Austen Bundy (05:30)
I mean, I think they're just getting started. mean, we've, only seeing the tip of the iceberg here. This sweet 16 run is going to be massive in recruiting. think it's going to be gigantic for JJ Van Neil to go out and to say, Hey, we have a legitimate program here. We are no longer this obscure program where you have to go scrapping through the transfer portal, where you have to go, ⁓ looking for random high school, ⁓
gems in the rough type of deal. mean, he's going to be able to go out into the portal and say, look, we can actually win a lot of games. can win championships here. And he's going to start pulling a lot more of these high rated recruits to come to the desert and give ASU a shot.
Aya Abdeen (06:15)
the Gran Rosini effect. That's a great point you made, Austin.
Tom Hardon (06:20)
Absolutely, it makes Arizona State much more of a destination rather than a starting point to move on elsewhere. Lots of exciting things to come for volleyball for years to come. Unfortunately, it had to come to an end earlier ⁓ on Thursday, bigger and better things coming up for the 2026 season, that is for sure. Now we'll go on to what could really be the talk of the campus and
Arizona State women's volleyball not volleyball basketball. We just talked about volleyball Arizona State women's basketball undefeated to start the season to really really solid games in the brand January classic over the weekend and then last night or on Wednesday night a 74 to 60 win over Penn State Will these ladies lose a game I have go ahead and take it away
Aya Abdeen (07:17)
It's hard to tell at this point, but the Molly Miller effect is just the beginning. mean, seeing how they went after Molly Miller, especially after moving on from Natasha Adair. I have to say, covering the ASU Women's Basketball as a student for the State Press over two years before getting to cover Molly Miller's first season as an alum, I have tons of respect for Natasha Adair.
A change is definitely needed for this program because the Sun Devils Women's Basketball program has been to the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament since 2019. was one of Charlie Turner's final years before she retired in 2022. So to see how Arizona State is going back to their winning ways, not to mention that their 11-0 start.
is the best in program history. Like not gonna lie. See how Molly Miller and the players, the type of players she brought in to the program? Y'all, this team is something special to watch guys. I remember one of the memories I've had of this season so far was seeing Marlee Washnitz game winner. She took the ball when Gabby Elliott dropped the ball. I thought Gabby Elliott was going to...
to drill the game winning three pointer, but she actually got double teen and Marlee Washnitz picked it up, made a no look three pointer and she was in shock. Mind you, she was in shock after she made a game winning three pointer over the University of Las Vegas Lady Rebels, which is literally insane. Like I was going to get a video on my phone.
Tom Hardon (08:54)
And.
Aya Abdeen (09:13)
But funny enough, my phone turned into cinematic and I wasn't able to get a shot off of it. But my goodness, getting to enjoy, getting to enjoy the sights and sounds inside Arizona State's women's basketball games is entertaining. Y'all better get your popcorn ready because they ain't done yet. Especially they also have big 12 conferences games coming up as well. So I mean, Molly Miller,
She is a game changer for this women's basketball program. So I'm so excited to see what more this team has in store. mean, Gabby Elliott, she is a scoring machine. McKenna Brackens, she is also a double-double machine. There's a lot to take away from this team. And I'm excited to share more stories on Devils in Detail.
Tom Hardon (10:08)
You know, with the Big 12 schedule coming up ⁓ right before Christmas, Andrew, what is the biggest challenge that you see in conference play for ⁓ the Way of Sun Devils?
Andrew Hayslett (10:21)
Big 12s is a stacked basketball conference in both men's and women's. So playing conference play obviously the non-conference schedule comes before the conference schedule. You're gonna face gauntlets like TCU, Iowa State, teams that just have been good for very long time versus teams that...
some of these group of five teams that are are closer to cupcakes than gauntlets you'll see a lot in in both men's and women's basketball kind of goes both ways you'll see more tougher games more losses start to rack up ⁓
Aya Abdeen (11:05)
For sure. I second. I agree with you on that, Andrew. But I mean, I forgot to mention a little bit about the men's basketball team as well. But to see how the men's basketball team is ⁓ literally surprising everyone. Not to mention that they participated in a tournament in Hawaii. ⁓ even though they fell to the University of Southern California Trojans in the final, they still have a lot to take away.
from how they've been building continued to improve day by day for men's basketball team as well. And especially Bobby Hurley, it might be one of the best seasons he has ever coached for Sun Devils men's basketball. So I have to add in that as well.
Tom Hardon (11:51)
We've opined many times in recent weeks about how this is Bobby's, potentially his swan song season. Is there a performance this year that you could see where he returns to Tempe next season?
Aya Abdeen (12:11)
Ooh, this is a good question. It might depend, as Andrew said just a few moments ago, it might depend on how the Sun Devils do in the conference play. I mean, conference, it's a whole new challenge, right? So it's going to be pretty interesting to see how it will all translate for both women's and men's basketball teams as well. Not to mention for the women's basketball side, Molly Miller led Grand Canyon
Tom Hardon (12:39)
that. ⁓
Aya Abdeen (12:40)
women's
basketball to ⁓ an NCAA tournament appearance this past season. So this is going to be really interesting for next few weeks for both men's women's basketball teams for sure.
Tom Hardon (12:54)
We're gonna go around the room real quick. We're gonna take a look at the Big 12 schedule as a whole, and I will start with you both for men's and women's. What's the biggest game that is circled on your calendar, excluding the rivalry games?
Aya Abdeen (13:12)
Definitely the TCU Horned Frogs. The Horned Frogs has come a long way from where they were a few years ago. They had to had tryouts for injured players during the season and look where they are right now. They are one of the contenders for the Big 12 Championship titles. So I have my eyes set ⁓ on TCU Horned Frogs and especially the Iowa State Cyclones. It's going to be really interesting to see how
Tom Hardon (13:14)
Thank
Aya Abdeen (13:42)
how they match up with audio quirks as well.
Tom Hardon (13:48)
Awesome, ⁓ your two games to watch out for, one for men's, one for women's.
Austen Bundy (13:53)
If I'm gonna go with the men's, I think I was going back and forth between the BYU game coming up on January 7th or the Houston game on the 18th. I feel like those are gonna be two gigantic tests as much as they're both top 10 teams. I mean, I would probably lean towards the BYU game considering that's a little bit more of a, I mean, it's the lower of the ranked teams right now. BYU is number 10, Houston's number seven.
Honestly, you could see ASU losing to both of them just given to how good of programs, I mean, those two are, but I'm leaning towards the BYU game because that's going to be ASU's first major test coming out of non-conference. They've got UCLA, number 25 coming up here soon. But if you can win a conference game against a ranked opponent, I mean, that's, you can't ask for anything better at that point. And it's going to be one of those.
Big test for Bobby Hurley to prove to the rest of the fan base, basically say, yes, we can win big games. Yes, we can still recruit. Mo Odom is still going to be a guy that was not a fluke in the early season here. He's going to be the star of the game, or sorry, the star of the team in all of these games. ⁓ But.
If they can keep it close with BYU, I will have a little bit more confidence going into the rest of the conference schedule. ⁓ Looking at the women's, I would say it's a tough one. I I have made a lot of good points. ⁓ very much opponents you want to be looking at and being able to show that you can handle them. I would maybe say a much deeper into the schedule. I'm looking at
Baylor number 13 Baylor that's going to be one of those games where I think ASU is going to be compared to them based on roster makeup and potential. So if ASU can go into that game with I think they will go into that game with a similar record to the Lady Bears and if they can again play that close even if they can pull off that upset I would be shocked if Baylor is not ranked going into
Aya Abdeen (15:45)
Yes.
Austen Bundy (16:12)
that matchup, but you pull that upset and Molly Miller, if ASU's not already ranked at that point, Molly Miller has made a massive announcement to the rest of the sport that I just went from a group of five school that I took deep into the tournament and just turned around a whole new program here in the desert. So keep your eyes on us. Take us seriously.
Aya Abdeen (16:32)
I agree with all the points you have made on that as well, Austin. And especially I forgot to talk about the men's side of it as well. I could see like how, I could see a loss to BYU as well, especially BYU, they are one of the top 10 ranked teams as well. So I agree with all the points you have made.
Tom Hardon (16:40)
And that's it.
Thank
Andrew, your two games to keep an eye on for conference play.
Andrew Hayslett (17:00)
Well, if you're not gonna give me Houston Austin, I'll take it. Because Houston's been the best team in the Big 12. For a few years now, I almost won the national championship last year on that game, which I have some friends that are Houston fans, so. ⁓
Yeah, I like to bring that up every once in a while. But ⁓ they've been such a good team historically as of the last five, 10 years, it's hard to not overlook them and say, ⁓ if ASU can contend, be single digit points for the whole game.
ASU basketball might be good on the men's side. On the women's side, I'm going to look a little bit different route. Oklahoma State's 10-1 right now and ranked 23rd. So I want to go a little bit different compared to what everyone else has gone.
And this is kind of a team that's similar in the rankings. ASU's a little not ranked right now, but probably in the next set of rankings might get ranked. So we'll see how that goes. That's kind of what I'm going after.
Tom Hardon (18:14)
Well, guys, Austin and Andrew, you guys took ⁓ my two men's games that I was gonna ⁓ shout out. So I'm gonna go with the Oklahoma State game coming up on February 10th. ⁓ I always just like looking at the straight up records. And to me, I see an undefeated Oklahoma State team coming in as just, I mean, as a challenge and a big opportunity for... ⁓
for the men's team to rise to that occasion. And if they're still playing to the level that they have in non-conference, just keep on rolling and keep making noise throughout the conference. On the women's side, I'm looking at Iowa State on the women's side. Tough road matchup.
And going into going to Ames, no matter what the sport, it's always ⁓ a fun environment. you like to always like to see how teams do on the road. this is ⁓ a big opportunity for the women on the road, both games in February.
Aya Abdeen (19:29)
I agree,
but to add on to your point as well, Tom, is that Audie Crooks, she is literally making history out there. Like she has been such an impressive scorer on the court and I think she is also second behind Brittany Greiner, who used to play for Baylor from 2009 to 2013 for most of.
Tom Hardon (19:35)
It's literally...
Thank
Aya Abdeen (19:56)
for most points with 20 or more points scored with like 78 or 80 games, which is like such an impressive fact to bring up. So I'm excited to see how Arizona State and Iowa State will match up as well.
Tom Hardon (20:12)
It's very exciting to see both teams playing well to start the season. Women's ⁓ next game is coming up on Sunday, December 14th at Oregon State. And then again, at Gonzaga on the 16th before opening Big 12 play at home against Colorado.
Men will be back in action against Santa Clara on Saturday in the Jack Jones Hoops Classic before traveling to UCLA on the 17th. So lots of of upcoming basketball action for both the men's and the women's side.
Pivoting back over to football. Football season's not over. Arizona State still has the upcoming bowl game on New Year's Day against Duke. Stay tuned for Austin Bundy's retrospective previewing the 2025 Sun Bowl to on Devils in Detail, recapping the 2014 Sun Bowl for ASU against Duke.
But there has been some news recently for some level football and we're not going to talk about the elephant in the room just yet. We do have exciting news that Keith Abney named first team All-American still waiting on the consensus All-Americans to be determined at the end of bowl season. But you know guys, how deserving is Keith of this honor? Austin, we'll start with you.
Austen Bundy (21:36)
I mean, very. was a heart of the defense and guy who came up huge in massive moments in a lot of these wins this year. mean, there's not a whole lot more you can describe him as versatile. I mean, he's the type of guy who can make plays when you need to. He's going to lead. I mean, the biggest part of his deserving this was the fact that he was the leader of the defense. He was the guy that would rally the troops and
I'm really happy to see him get this deserved honor. mean, there's no greater guy on this roster I think who would deserve an All-American nod like this. And I think it's going to do a lot for his potential NFL prospects if he decides to go that way.
Tom Hardon (22:22)
I and Andrew, guys were around the team for a lot of the practices this season. How much did that leadership stand out on the practice field and translate to the games?
Andrew, go ahead and take this first.
Andrew Hayslett (22:36)
Yeah, I'll start here. ⁓ He was always a leader in practice. You could tell. Everyone on the defense respected him a lot. Same with the offense. When we would see 11 on 11 drills, you didn't want to go up against Keith Avny on defense because he's a locked down corner. That's what you see on game day. Gets interceptions. Just what he does.
Tom Hardon (23:07)
I hear your takeaways from his performance throughout the season. ⁓
Aya Abdeen (23:10)
So one of the plays that really stands out to
me, there was actually two. So first one was the game ceiling interception he had against West Virginia to keep the Sun Devils alive for the Big 12 Championship contention on November 15th. I remember getting to ask him, remember getting to interview Keith Abney in the post game about ⁓ his impressions on the interception.
And he told me he told me and the reporters that he his eyes were set on the West Virginia quarterback and he got the interception which was my goodness that atmosphere. I still think about it to this day which is like wow. And then the other the other play that I have in mind about Keith Abney was his blocked field goal he had on in the first half against Arizona Wildcats. Well.
You know what had happened the rest of the game? Disaster with the turnovers has happened. But to see Keith Atmey's impact on the defensive end, it means a lot to the Sun Devils team. And I'm excited to see how it will continue to grow from there, whether he returns to Arizona State for the next season or he declares for the NFL draft. The teams will love getting to have him his team on the defensive end of the NFL.
Tom Hardon (24:36)
You bring up that interception against West Virginia and I was in the crowd. was just the groundswell of noise and you're feeling it deep in your bones when crowd just rises up and you know that the game is sealed.
making a major, major well-deserved honors for Keith. And I hope he will be finding his way back to Tempe for next season. But if he does declare for the NFL draft, some team will be incredibly lucky to have him. I do want to pivot to some of the players who have already declared for the draft. One very unsurprising to see Jordan Tyson declared for the draft. It does not appear that he will be ⁓
Aya Abdeen (25:10)
for sure.
Tom Hardon (25:24)
playing in the bowl game. But we've also had Xavian Alford, Justin Watley, and our favorite tight end, Shama Mateur, all declared for the draft. These guys are, in my mind, these guys are cornerstones of the Sun Devil team, very valuable pieces. Tyson, unfortunately, throughout the year, played by injuries, but when he was on the field and when both he and Sam were on the same page,
They were just absolutely electric and there's gonna be several Sun Devils who hear their names called. Andrew, were there any surprises so far of who's required for the draft?
Andrew Hayslett (26:08)
not really it's I at this point I can I can only say I'm surprised so-and-so hasn't declared for the draft yet like I can say that ⁓ CJ fight is kind of surprised that he hasn't declared yet but in two weeks he might have declared so it's like I'm not surprised by who has declared at this point
When we're sitting in a month or so talking about this of saying who stayed, who didn't stay, I might have some other surprises, but that's all I have for right now.
Tom Hardon (26:50)
Yeah, I know it's always a moving target on who's going to declare. I've been seeing CJ fight, like he said, he is mulling his options, how, like us, in your opinion, how does this set the Sun Devils back leading into next season, or where do you see the next guy stepping up to fill these spots?
Austen Bundy (27:17)
I mean, it does set them back pretty far in the wide receiver room considering there weren't a whole lot of younger guys behind him. There were more other transfers and seniors that were here that probably won't be next year. I Jordan was a junior. He definitely should have declared like he did. He's going to be a top 10 pick. The first top 10 pick ASU's had since 2002, I believe. And I don't doubt.
that Kenny is going to find a way to bring in some really good talent in the portal. I mean, we've already got a highly rated prospect who's going to be coming in as a true freshman, whether or not he gets playing time, who knows? But it's always very encouraging to see Kenny be able to go out on the recruiting trail and bring in somebody who could be that next Tyson, somebody who's going to ⁓ be fresh and hopefully impressive on the field, whether that's in his...
first year here or if it's going to be in a red shirt down the road. ⁓ But it's going to have an impact considering that you don't have Tyson. I guess we'll shift to this eventually here, but you're not going to have quarterback Sam Sam will have it. It's going to be a transition year for ASU. And I think it's going to be another one of those years where you temper expectations if you're a Sun Devil fan because.
Yes, Kenny has been able to turn things around before, but I think this is going to be a growing pain season next year. We have to kind of wait and see what we have and whether or not Kenny is going to be able to develop some brand new guys who are going to be stepping in early on, or if he's going to find somebody in the transfer portal who is already a veteran and is looking for their last hurrah down here in the desert. Either way, I think ASU fans have a lot to look forward to as much as there are big names that are going out the door. ⁓
Setback or not, there's always an opportunity to rebound and if there's anything Kenny Dillingham has proven to people is that he knows how to rebound. He's done it game in, game out, season in, season out, going into year four. Fans should have confidence that this team is not going to be terrible next year.
Tom Hardon (29:26)
Well, he did bring up the the elephant to the room and Sam Levitt ⁓ will not be overwhelmingly will not be a Sun Devil next year. I think he is just about nine tenths of the way out the door. But I want to go around the room and everybody's overall impression of this whole situation. I will start with you. What's your overall impression on on this Sam Levitt news?
Aya Abdeen (29:36)
Yeah.
So I was just at the practice earlier today when Kenny Dillingham spoke to the reporters about the transfer when he was asked about the transfer portal and then he stated that I think that the portal is just a numbers game. You got to get a certain amount of numbers and because the portal opens after early signing day, you can't really, if you lose a guy you weren't expecting, it's hard to replace that kid with all high school
guys because a lot of those high school guys were taken up early so based off of the timing of the Porter window and of the high school signing day it almost kind of pushes you more to have to replace all of your transfers with portal kids so if we lose a transfer or if we have a number we're probably going to have to replace it with a portal guide to get us to that depth going into next year so to see how see how Kenny got in depth about what
Tom Hardon (30:42)
Thank you.
Aya Abdeen (30:54)
his approach to basically the transfer portal. It's going to be really interesting and they have a lot of big shoes to fill in. Fill in from the big three that they used to have. Sam Leavitt, Kamps, Kanabu and especially Jordan Tyson. It's going to be really interesting to see who they go after, not to mention Jake Fetty. Kenny Dillingham praised a lot on Jake Fetty during Monday's presser, which
Tom Hardon (30:59)
Thank
Thanks.
Aya Abdeen (31:22)
They also had a sunbow availability as well.
Tom Hardon (31:28)
When you mentioned Jake Fetty and you know, Cam Dyer is on the roster as well. You Andrew, do you see the do you see Coach Dillingham going heavy after an upperclassmen in the portal or do you see development of these younger guys and hopefully retaining both quarterbacks for for as long as long as he can during their careers?
Andrew Hayslett (31:52)
I think Dyer and Fetty will be on the roster next year. I think it's almost certain he's going to get a quarterback in the portal. The question is, that will that quarterback expect to be a starter for a year or two or just kind of be a backup of more like Jeff Simms was or Trenton Bourguet was? And I tend to think he wants to get someone. I think he wants competition.
And if the quarterback will start next year, that's up in the air. But I think he's going to get someone who can compete with Fetty and Dyer and raise them up from a veteran perspective.
Austen Bundy (32:34)
If I can jump in here, I think somebody that Kenny should target in the portal is Harvard's Jaden Craig. He's the school's passing leader all time. Threw for 2,869 yards this year, 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in the Ivy League. I get it, it's the Ivy League, but still to do that for Harvard in a league where Yale typically dominates, he had a 61.5 % completion percentage.
8.5 yards per attempt averaging 260.8 yards per game. mean, that's nothing to turn your nose out at. I mean, that's a solid talent. Can you imagine if you bring him into a power five program? We've seen Kenny develop guys before. I feel like if you can bring somebody like that is pretty impressive and bring them to the Harvard of the Southwest. I mean, what better fit could it be to bring in someone like Jayden Craig to create that competition and potentially win out the job? I mean, all he's going to do is make.
the guy's in the room better even if he doesn't win the job.
Andrew Hayslett (33:35)
Enjoy.
Tom Hardon (33:35)
let's also not
forget that the Harvard Yale game did determine the Ivy League champion for this year and sent an Ivy League team to the college football playoff for the first time in league history. Andrew, you were going to jump in.
Andrew Hayslett (33:47)
Yeah, going
off what Austin said, it's not unheard of to bring someone from ⁓ a group of five or a FCS. We've even seen Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss go from Ferris State, a D2 school, and also a D1 hockey school. I want to throw that in there. ⁓ To Ole Miss, when the...
top SEC programs and lead that team to a playoff appearance with all that drama going on down there, which is a lot to say the least. So it's not that unheard of to go get a FCS guy. That's not something I would worry about just because it's FCS. It doesn't matter.
Tom Hardon (34:40)
Austin, I want to throw this question to you. Is Sam's impact ⁓ on Arizona State football diminished because of the way he did not attend the end of season banquet, being the only captain not to attend?
Austen Bundy (34:57)
It's definitely not a good look. I can understand why he was probably advised not to go just because there were going to be questions. It was going to... I would not be surprised if maybe he thought to himself, if I appear at this thing, all the questions, all the speculation is just going to create this atmosphere and draw the attention to me when it should be on the teammates and all the other seniors. I get it. If that was the way he was thinking about it, I respect that. But also at the same time,
It's easy enough to show up to something like that. And even if he's got to speak potentially to then at that point, use it as a moment to heap all the praise on your teammates and make yourself more team guy and just short sentence of like, yeah, there's, there's questions about stuff with me, but I'm not here to address that. is about the team. Like it's easy enough to go and, and say something that just shows that you are at least a team player. ⁓ I'm not going to entirely fault him for.
that decision, think he's got bad advice. I think he's getting some bad advice from his camp and the decision making process is not necessarily completely on him. ⁓ His impact on the program and overall, I don't think it's going to be diminished to the point where now you see Sam Leve and people are going to be throwing eggs at his picture on campus. I don't think it's going to get like that. People are going to forget about it eventually.
I do think it's going to leave the same taste in everyone's mouth as when Jayden Daniels left. Granted, there was the whole Herm Edwards debacle, Antonio Pierce, all of that to kind of overshadow the departure. This time around, feel like though, because it was Sam, once we finally know where he goes and potentially whatever terms he potentially was offered from somewhere else, it very well could come down to, at least this is what I'm speculating, this is my personal...
theory on this is that he got an offer from an SEC school he could not refuse. And I'm not going to blame him for something like that to be able to go to an SEC school to potentially try and win a national championship. And he's cashing in on a bigger payday. The guy was a projected draft pick this coming spring, and that all fell apart with the injury. I get it. ASU has sometimes been a launching pad for the NFL. mean, look at Jordan Tyson. We've seen a whole lot of others in the past too, but it's very much a
More of a hit and miss than it would be if he were to go to an scc school you go to an scc school you automatically have all those espn eyeballs on you and those scouts are going to be constantly at his at his game, so I Would not be surprised if he is fully healthy at whatever school he ends up at and they do decently well with him under center if he does better than he did Last year at this school then he will his projection in the following draft I think will bump up considerably and I don't think
you can blame him for that. don't think you can blame ASU for that. It's just the way the rest of college football is built nowadays. no, I don't think his impact is going to be damaged. I don't think it's going to be reduced in the way we think it's just going to be the new normal in college football where if ASU finally goes deep in a college football playoff, wins the big 12 multiple times over the next 10 years, ASU will be a destination where
people are leaving schools to come to us potentially and that's just the way business is going to be done. So I think for now people kind of have to take this pill and swallow it and realize that ASU is a leap, a launch pad for careers right now where Dillingham is going to have to prove further that he is a play, he should be a destination rather than a development stop on a lot of these guys careers.
Andrew Hayslett (38:42)
Austin, is there any particular SEC school that you have in mind where you think he might wind up as speculation at this point?
Tom Hardon (38:42)
and
Austen Bundy (38:50)
I don't, so Auburn has always been the one kind of scratching at the back of my mind because I don't see him landing at any of the major contenders. I see him landing at a school that really needs a jumpstart, but not an SEC school that is going to be a long-term project. I think Auburn is one good quarterback away from getting back into the mix. And I think if they land someone like Sam Levitt, the weapons will come in, whether in the portal or in the recruitment.
class. I'm not sure where Auburn's 2026 class is, but they are a school that will draw enough talent and Sam I think elevates whoever's already in that room. So that's just where I would see a good fit. It could very well not be an SEC school for all we know he's going back to the Big Ten potentially. mean
Who knows where he ends up landing to go and try and win a national championship someplace. But I just know wherever he lands is automatically going to be considered for a preseason top 25 ranking just because of how well we've seen him play.
Tom Hardon (39:56)
And for the record, I don't want to be bad mouthing Sam or his camp in any way. I don't view this as entirely the same as the Jayden Daniels situation for the reasons you mentioned, Austin, the overhanging issues with the program. Like you said, this is the new normal. Sam.
from your for Sam's part, you he did lead Arizona State to the Big 12 championship in the college football playoff. And for that, you know, I think that it's from my perspective, at least it's not worth funneling in, you know, anger, dislike, whatever adjective you want to, whatever verb you want to throw at them.
Instead, just to focus on the next generation of players who will wear the maroon and gold and hopefully return Arizona State to that level that we briefly tasted and hope to taste again. I do want to ⁓ move on to hockey. It is a big, big weekend in Arizona State hockey. The team is on the road in Duluth this weekend. ⁓
practicing earlier today on ⁓ as we record on Thursday for this weekend's matchup against the number five ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and This is a team that the Sun Devils played six times last year four times in the regular season and twice in the NCHC quarterfinals at Mollet Arena took the season series with a 4-1 and 1 overall record, but this is not the same Bulldogs team that
The Sun Devils faced last year. ⁓ Minnesota Duluth does have a firmly established number one goaltender in Adam Gion, who was on the roster last season. Split time and net with ⁓ Zach Sandy and really just never had that vote of confidence to really play to his potential. But now as the number one guy under Scott Sandlin, he has played all but 15 minutes of games this season and
and Sanlund's top line of the Plant brothers, Zam and Max, as well as Jason Chagabay is arguably the best line in college hockey. Andrew, what have you seen as ⁓ you beef up on the Bulldogs in advance of this matchup?
Andrew Hayslett (42:28)
That's exactly who I was going to talk about the Plant brothers and Shaga Bay is there as a line. They're one of the best lines in college hockey, like you said, Tom. And the question is, how is the Arizona State defensive core going to stop them? That's kind of been the question all years. Is the D-Core going to stop these top offenses that we've seen? Some days they have, some days they haven't.
I don't know what this D-Core is going to do. I don't know which 6 or 7 players are going to play that on Friday and if that 6 and 7 could be a different group on Saturday.
There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of moving pieces. I'd like to see Tucker Ness and Lincoln Keene in there in particular, just big bodies that can lay hits down, set the tone.
And from there you have guys that can hopefully score goals. saw Joe Schellberg last time out against Ohio State record his first goal. You've got him and he'd like to get Anthony Dowd and ⁓ Justin Kipke going to get score some goals as well. And then
your other guys, ⁓ Brazen Bozer, just have him continue to do his thing. He's been probably the best defenseman for the Sun Devils this year, and I think he'll continue to do that.
Tom Hardon (44:04)
And Justin Kipke is the other guy I was going to bring up as far as the decor. And I think the key for Coach Powers and the Sun Devils will be getting that size to disrupt that top line. Because when you look at Minnesota Duluth's roster outside of that top line, only two other skaters have recorded 10 or more points. That top line accounts for 45 % of the team's scoring.
as I noted in my preview on Devils in Detail earlier this week. So I think size is really going to be the key to shut those guys down and really disrupt their offensive pattern because the rest of the team, while they can play shutdown defense, talking about Minnesota Duluth, if you can eliminate that threat from the top line, you're looking at
a couple of low scoring games that will come down to the performance of either Connor Hasley or Samuel Urbann in Net.
Andrew Hayslett (45:11)
Yeah, I'd like to see Hasley back there in that, but I wouldn't see a split. I mean, that's not unrealistic to see. I like what Hasley's done as of late, just continuing to rattle off wins, being a consistent presence, make a lot of great saves.
But offensively, want to talk about that too is Cruz Lucius and Colin Potter. We saw them play together at the end of the game on Saturday against Ohio State a few weeks ago. Potentially those two could play together alongside whoever they throw at left wing, maybe Jack Beck, maybe Bennett Schimick. But regardless of that, I think a Lucius Potter connection would
be really effective on the ice for the Sun Devils and everything else would kind of trickle down from there.
Tom Hardon (46:04)
This is a homecoming of sorts for a lot of this roster. Four Sun Devils hail from the state of hockey. Cullen Potter, Bennett Shimick, Cruz Lucius, and Tucker Ness all from Minnesota. it'll be seen just how warm that welcome will be for them. Hopefully they do have some friends and family that are in the arena to.
Throw some support towards Arizona State. A couple of streaks to keep an eye on for skaters. Colin Potter, coming off of his NCHC Forward of Week performance on December 2nd, brings a seven-game point streak in which he's recorded four goals and five assists.
Cruz Lucius has a three game point streak of his own, one goal and three assists. And want to shout out Ben Shimok. He's within striking distance of 100 career points. He's got 40 goals and 56 assists on the season. And I believe he is the only active player to record at least 40 goals and 50 assists. So really, no.
Really great, great opportunity for him to hit that career milestone. Austin, what's your biggest X factor for hockey this weekend, especially coming off of a sweep with two overtime games?
Austen Bundy (47:28)
I mean, I think I got to go with goaltending. It's as simple as that. I mean, against these high powered offenses, you're going to get now going into more conference play, especially the number five team in the nation. You're going to need solid goaltending. I think if you can escape the first period, minimal damage. And I'm talking maybe one goal. If you can get out of there without having being scored on, great. You're in fantastic shape. But if you get out of that first period with maybe just one goal scored on you, you're still in the ball game here. You're going to be able to ⁓
to compete, you're going to throw them off their game just a little bit. So if they can be disciplined, they can get pucks deep, four check, and solid goaltending. think that's going to be the key to winning this series. And mean, speaking of keeping things warm, mean, why don't we just play this game out on Lake Superior? mean, looking at the wind chills out there, negative 30s up there in the state of hockey, let's just go play the game out there on the lake. Why not at this point?
Tom Hardon (48:25)
I think I just got hypothermia when you mentioned that. I would rather not.
Andrew Hayslett (48:31)
Yeah, we already know the tales of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Don't need anything worse.
Austen Bundy (48:38)
It's not November anymore, we're good.
Tom Hardon (48:41)
Don't need to give ⁓ the interior ocean another victim to claim as her own. But this is a very key series. Like we said, number five team in the nation according to the USCHO poll, but according to the more important NPI rankings, which is what will determine ⁓ the national tournament.
Minnesota Duluth is coming in at number four and starting next week on Devils in Detail, I will be doing a more detailed breakdown of the current NPI rankings and what that means for Arizona State and giving a broader picture of what the current tournament would be based on those NPI rankings. So stay tuned for that new column coming out next week.
Any last thoughts from we'll go around the room. Any last thoughts for for anybody?
Well, that'll just about do it for this edition of Echo from the Buttes. For Iyabdin, for Andrew Hazlitt, for Austin Bundy, I'm Tom Harden. And as always, give them hell devils.