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ASU selects Bobby Hurley as head men's basketball coach


ASU head men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley

ASU will formally announce Bobby Hurley as the head men's basketball coach at a press conference April 10.
Photo by: SUNY Buffalo

April 09, 2015

Arizona State University has hired Bobby Hurley as the school’s new head men’s basketball coach.

Hurley comes to ASU from the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he led the Buffalo Bulls to their first ever NCAA tournament last month.

“In Bobby Hurley, we have found a top-flight coach who will take our basketball program to the next level and a mentor who will foster academic success among all of our student-athletes,” ASU President Michael M. Crow said in a statement announcing Hurley’s hiring.

Hurley is perhaps best known as a collegiate player. From 1989 to 1993, Hurley was the point guard for Duke University’s men’s basketball team. He led the Blue Devils to three Final Four appearances and two consecutive NCAA championships in 1991 and 1992.

He will be introduced as a Sun Devil Friday.

“Bobby is energetic, passionate and tough, and his contagious competitive fire will bring unmatched vigor to our men’s basketball program,” said Ray Anderson, ASU’s vice president for university athletics and ahletics drector. “A teacher, first and foremost, he is a proven winner as both a player and a coach, and understands the steps it takes to be a champion.”

After his success at Duke, Hurley was selected seventh by the Sacramento Kings in the 1993 NBA Draft. He played for the Kings and the Vancouver Grizzlies and worked as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers.

His coaching career began in 2010 when he was named an assistant coach at Wagner College. Before being named head coach at Buffalo, he was an associate head coach at the University of Rhode Island.

Hurley’s family is steeped in basketball tradition. His father, Bob, Sr., is a high school coach who was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2010. His brother, Dan, is the head coach at Rhode Island.

In a statement, Hurley said he expects to lead ASU’s men’s basketball team to “regularly compete for conference and national titles.”

“With the full support of this community there is no doubt in my mind we are going to build something truly special here in Tempe,” he said.

For more information about the hiring of Hurley, see the announcement from Sun Devil Athletics.