Tapping into the “Guard U” mantra gives ASU a sweet déjà vu against Kansas
His heels paced the maroon-and-gold pitchfork at midcourt. He stared toward the Jumbotron, watching four players be recognized for senior night. Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley smiled, wearing simplistic attire for the final regular-season game of the year against No. 14 Kansas.
Hurley wore a gray hoodie that read “Guard U,” honoring the slogan that defined the peak of his 11-year ASU tenure. The term, coined during the 2017-18 season, marked the first of three straight 20-win seasons for the Sun Devils and included two NCAA tournament appearances. That momentum faded, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020-21 team finished 11-14, and the highs of the “Guard U” era have yet to return.
Eight seasons later, ASU has found itself in the NCAA tournament just once in the last six seasons, which has eroded the once-eager Sun Devil fan base in support of Hurley’s vision. His contract as head coach of the program is set to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season, and he has not yet signed a new deal with the University.
“I think they, they understand the writing on the wall,” Hurley admitted about his players’ knowledge of his uncertain future with ASU. “There’s not, like, a lot of discussions about it. But, I could assume that they would, they would have an idea.”
The Sun Devils’ final home game of the year against the Jayhawks saw students sporting gold “Guard U” shirts. As Hurley cheered for his seniors, celebrating their accomplishments, the crowd in Desert Financial Arena sported perhaps his most crucial accomplishment in Tempe.
For one more night, support for Hurley was reminiscent of his best day coaching the program. “Guard U” was the call to action, and against one of the best players in the nation, that’s exactly what ASU did.
The Sun Devils encapsulated the mantra of “Guard U,” holding a potential No.1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft to just 15 points en route to the Sun Devils (16-14, 7-10 Big 12) 70-60 win over Kansas (21-9, 11-6), their second win against an AP top 15 team in just three weeks.
“I don’t think we could have beaten anybody on our schedule two months ago, shooting 32%, I don’t care who it is,” Hurley said, noting the Sun Devils’ lackluster shooting. “But we’ve come a long way, particularly on the defensive end, and just really good effort.
Standing 6-6, Freshman guard Darryn Peterson is at the top of every NBA scout’s mock drafts. Coming into Tuesday, Peterson was averaging 19.7 points per game, shooting lights out 47% and 40% from beyond the arc as the talisman for Kansas.
Against the Sun Devils, however, Peterson shot a season-low 16.7% from the floor, knocking down just 2-of-11 3-pointers. The “Guard U” defense began with clogging the paint, as Hurley wanted to take away any options for Peterson and Kansas’ other guards to drive to the basket freely.
“We wanted to force them to make jump shots,” Hurley said. “They’re a team that, really, could attack the paint, and they were able to do that some in the second half and Peterson, but we wanted to show bodies to those guys.”
The first half, especially, was picture-perfect for ASU on both ends of the floor, leading by 20 points at the break, its best margin of the season. Freshman forward Massamba Diop scored five points out of the gate, and the Sun Devils led for the entire half.
That energy was ignited tenfold after Kansas head coach Bill Self was ejected from the game after picking up two quick technical fouls with 6:07 left in the first half.
“The first half was kind of like an out-of-body experience,” Hurley detailed. “A very unusual first half. I thought we played as good a defense as we played all season in that half and overall the whole game.”
Barring some instances, ASU’s offense wasn’t picture-perfect, which showed in the second half as the Jayhawks mounted a daunting comeback. Throughout multiple runs, the visitors found themselves trailing 57-55 with 4:04 to play and all the momentum.
Senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson would knock down an ever-so timely 3-pointer, but Kansas had a chance to respond. That was until senior guard Melvin Council Jr’s pass was stolen by ASU senior Moe Odum. The 6-foot guard sprinted down the court and lofted a pass toward the rim for his more vertically gifted teammate. Johnson’s layup and quick five-point spurt gave ASU the necessary breathing room to close out the contest.
“It was a very emotional game for a lot of reasons, the senior day always is, really, guys played their hearts out for Arizona State all year,” Hurley praised. “So really, was happy to see guys like Moe Odum and Pig Johnson today have the opportunity to have moments.”
“Guard U” and its origin can’t be told without Kansas. Hurley is 3-1 all-time as a head coach against Kansas, the other two wins coming in 2018 and 2019, the pinnacle of Guard U basketball.
The first win in particular is widely regarded as the biggest in Hurley’s 11-year tenure. ASU defeated the Jayhawks on the road 95-85 and skyrocketed to No. 3 in the AP top 25 poll just after; the program hadn’t reached that status since 1981.
“Shannon Evans and Tra Holder and Kodi Justice,” Hurley rattled off names of former players on that 2017-18 team as the reason why he wore a “Guard U” hoodie on Tuesday. “The three guys that really jump-started relevancy for this program, getting it to number three in the country. And I wanted to think about them as the game progressed, because those guys are so important to me.”
While players such as Odum and others have no recollection of the golden era of “Guard U,” their affinity for Hurley leaves them no choice but to embrace the culture themselves, particularly against the program that started the frenzy itself.
“If he says, ‘Guard U’, then it’s we’ve got to have his back to show it’s ‘Guard U.’” Odum said.
Senior night added another emotional layer to the sentimental matchup that occurred on Tuesday. Hurley noted a moment before tipoff when he was looking around the arena and saw Odum’s mother, Lucretia April Montgomery, was in tears watching her son play his final home game as a college basketball player.
The night was emotional before it even began for Odum and all the seniors, underclassman teammates wore their jerseys during warmups, such as Diop wearing Johnson’s, or sophomore guard Trevor Best wearing Odum’s
“It was heavy on me, I cried,” Odum said. “I cried before the game. I cried with my mom and dad. Me and [Johnson] cried together. It was super emotional. Because four years in college is hard, like it’s not easy, especially where we come from. We could be anywhere right now.”
Odum dominated in the game, scoring 23 points and dishing out six assists, he hit timely 3-pointers (5-10) and knocked down 8-of-10 free throws to get his side over the line. Other notable performances include Johnson’s crucial nine points and graduate forward Allen Mukeba’s block and steal despite playing through an injury.
With Peterson in the building, viewers piled in from across the country, including NBA executives, former professional sharpshooter and now Atlanta Hawks assistant GM Kyle Korver, who was in attendance. Yet it was Diop whose 19 points and nine rebounds meant he stole the show for the most exciting player in the building.
“Peterson is a phenomenal prospect,” Hurley stated. “He showed in the second half, especially, why. But I know there were a lot of NBA guys in the building, and they had to be looking at that guy.”
Hurley’s history with Kansas is one any ASU fan can look back on fondly, beyond his 3-1 record against the Jayhawks all-time. Hurley’s dominance over Rock Chalk dates back to 1992, when, as a Duke Blue Devil, he scored 12 points and dished out nine assists to defeat Kansas in the 1992 National Championship Game, winning the first of his two NCAA tournament titles.
If there was any scenario for Hurley to coach ASU for the final time in Tempe, this was it.
“I always feel like this enormous emotion with the seniors and the last game and the whole stuff,” Hurley said. “And then just this opponent and the history I’ve had as a player and coach with Kansas, just kind of very ironic and very, very weird day.”
