Where’s the beef? After administrative feud defined relationship, ASU, GCU finally settling rivalry on court

ASU guard Alston Mason celebrates after the Sun Devils came away with an 87-76 victory over GCU in the Hall of Fame Series game Thursday night in Footprint Center. (Photo by Emma Jeanson/Cronkite News)

PHOENIX – The relationship between the Valley’s two Division I basketball powers is an odd one. On Thursday night at Footprint Center, the Grand Canyon and Arizona State men’s basketball teams faced off in the Hall of Fame Series in a battle for community supremacy.

GCU’s rise from athletic afterthought to March Madness darling suggests an ideal crosstown rival for ASU. However, a history of bad blood between the schools at an administrative level prevented the rivalry from ever truly blossoming on the court.

Grand Canyon’s for-profit status was a major point of contention for Arizona State president Michael Crow. The tension boiled over at two inflection points, with the most recent coming in a scathing exchange between Crow and GCU president and CEO Brian Mueller in 2017.

“And so we’re not interested in increasing the stock value of a company. We are interested in playing college teams,” Crow told reporters in 2017.

Mueller fired back with an open letter which included accusing Crow and ASU of “repeated attacks” against GCU’s reputation as a for-profit university. It has since found its way to nonprofit status in the eyes of the state of Arizona and the International Revenue Service, and only recently with the U.S. Department of Education. The bitterness caused hesitation between the two schools to take their rivalry to the athletic arena.

Thursday’s game allowed that rivalry to be solved by players on a court rather than school presidents firing angry statements at each other from rooms about 16 miles away from one another.

“It’s great for the city and state of Arizona to see two teams of that caliber just go at each other,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “I thought it was quality basketball.”

The scene at Footprint Center reveals a sea of purple (GCU) and gold (ASU) Thursday as a rivalry that was practically nonexistent in recent years picks up steam. (Photo by Emma Jeanson/Cronkite News)

Hurley’s Sun Devils walked away with an 87-76 win, despite oddsmakers favoring the Lopes by 5.5 points. His sentiment was shared with the coach wearing purple as well.

“I think it was a lot of great energy on both ends to start the season,” GCU coach Bryce Drew said. “That environment was better than an NCAA Tournament game out there and it was fun to coach and fun to play in.”

Drew’s team benefited from the environment more than Hurley and his Sun Devils did, as GCU’s Havocs flooded the vertical stands of the Footprint Center and made it feel more like a game at Global Credit Union Arena than a neutral site.

In many ways, Drew’s successes at GCU have placed pressure on Hurley to improve what has been a middling program at Arizona State under his watch aside from a handful of solid seasons. In his first four seasons coaching the Lopes, Drew’s teams played in three NCAA Tournaments, even pulling off an upset over St. Mary’s in the 2024 NCAA Tournament before falling to Alabama in the Round of 32 in a tight game.

Hurley took the Sun Devils to the Dance three times over his nine Pac-12 seasons. Now in the Big 12, Grand Canyon must be the least of his worries to prove the Sun Devils can be a strong basketball program. Thursday allowed Hurley and his Devils to put those doubts to rest.

The makeup of the two teams is different. Drew relies on experienced transfers and players committed to the program for the long run. Hurley’s new-look young group with a handful of older journeymen to steady the ship when needed outclassed the Lopes. Three freshmen, guards Amier Ali and Joson Sanon and 17-year-old forward Jayden Quaintance, played 11, 29 and 24 minutes respectively. All made impactful plays in the game. GCU played three freshmen for a combined seven minutes.

Sanon found himself matched up with GCU’s seven-year veteran guard Tyon Grant-Foster throughout much of the game. Grant-Foster, the reigning WAC Player of the Year, made his season debut against ASU. He likely didn’t expect Sanon, who was suiting up for Vermont Academy a year ago, to light him up for 21 points and five 3-pointers.

“It looked like I was watching him in a gym in April … in Rock Hill, South Carolina,” Hurley said. “Man, (Sanon) was playing with the ultimate confidence and he’s such a gifted kid. When he gets in a zone like that, he’s virtually unstoppable.”

The matchup between a player being talked about as a Naismith Award candidate and a potentially budding superstar who entered college with the vaunted 4-star recruit title is what the rivalry should be about. Grant-Foster distinguished himself respectfully as well, scoring 19 points in his return to the court.

But Sanon’s age and academic status didn’t matter Thursday. He was wise beyond his years on the basketball court. Down five with the first half winding down and the GCU crowd growing increasingly raucous, Sanon sensed a moment. Center Shawn Phillips Jr. zipped a pass to Sanon on the left wing. Shot fake, no bite. Pass fake, bite. He fired. He drilled it.

“That’s normal, to be honest,” Sanon said. “I just hooped tonight, I’m not going to lie.”

Sanon’s explosion and a level of connectivity defensively allowed the Sun Devils to storm to an impressive victory. But the fact the victory came as a surprise to some pundits and fans in the Valley is exactly what Hurley wanted to fix with this win.

Arizona State is now a member of arguably the nation’s premier men’s basketball conference. There can be no questions about who is better in the Valley when the opposition is a member of the WAC. That those questions remained heading into Thursday’s matchup shows the bleak history of men’s basketball in Tempe. That stretches beyond Hurley, as he’s had more success than most other coaches at Arizona State. The start of this season hasn’t been a cakewalk, and Hurley hopes people are taking notice.

“Nobody in the country through four games has played a harder schedule than us,” Hurley said. “For us to be where we are right now, we’re really in a good spot … we’re excited about where we’re going.”

With the athletic program receiving new life after former athletic director Ray Anderson’s departure and the exciting football program, Hurley’s team could be the next domino to fall. A win over GCU was a step in the right direction if that is to happen.

For the Lopes, Thursday’s game marked their first real test of the season and they failed to pass. Granted, the team was without forward Duke Brennan, formerly of ASU, who had played well in the team’s first two games. The Lopes only play two more games against power conference foes, with a potential third depending on how the bracket shakes out at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational in Palm Desert later in November.

As for the future of the crosstown rivalry, Drew doesn’t want ASU to maintain bragging rights for very long. After a home-and-home series in 2020 and 2021 and the game on Thursday, both coaches expressed interest to keep the games going.

“I liked it a few years ago when we did it … I thought it was a good thing,” Hurley said. “They’ve arrived as a legitimate threat in college basketball … so we could certainly negotiate and talk about that.”

Unfortunately, the decision ultimately comes down to the two dueling administrations. For now, they seem to be willing to play ball with one another, but things can change quickly in the Valley.