TEMPE – The Arizona State men’s basketball team is off to a hot start, winning its first two games of the season behind strong performances from point guard Moe Odum and center Massamba Diop. Now the biggest test of their young season looms when No. 19 Gonzaga visits Desert Financial Arena Friday night.
ASU coach Bobby Hurley has revamped the program with an overhaul of foreign talent, led by Diop, a 7-foot-1 force in the paint from Senegal who has made waves across the college basketball landscape after showcasing some sweet handles and hitting a step-back 3-pointer.
Picked to finish last in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, the odds have been stacked against the Sun Devils. But since winning their first two games of the season, and displaying flashes of talent from around the floor, some preconceived ideas about the team have begun to shift.
“I expect it to be a sold-out crowd,” Odum said. “We want to shock the world. That’s what’s on our mind and that’s one of our goals. We didn’t just transfer here to lie down — we came here to prove something, and Friday we got a chance to do that.”
Odum doesn’t see a reason to look too deep into ASU’s early play this season, stressing the Sun Devils need to prove themselves down the stretch after a pair of dominating victories over Southern Utah and Utah State.
“It’s basketball, you can’t really criticize anybody after playing two games,” Odum said. “We have 34 more games left, so you can’t really say anything to anybody. We didn’t play anybody, so I can’t really say anything to anybody.”
Odum, one of 14 new players on the Sun Devils’ roster, was a force to be reckoned with during his time at Pepperdine before coming to the Valley during the offseason. He averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 assists per game in his 2024-25 campaign with the Waves, and brings much-needed playmaking to ASU.
Odum doesn’t think the newly constructed roster will hinder his desire to succeed this season. He also has experience against the Sun Devils’ upcoming formidable matchup.
Odum dropped 24 points and eight assists on Gonzaga last December when he played for Pepperdine. He hopes to do more of the same as a Sun Devil against the 3-0 Zags.
Odum has had Gonzaga circled as one of ASU’s biggest games since the beginning of the year, citing it as the team’s first hurdle of the season.
“I’ve been talking to them about Gonzaga since day one,” Odum said. “That’s our first big test. You got to be on your P’s and Q’s and just go out there and play with high effort.”
The fresh start of the new season brings excitement and curiosity about new players, and Diop is at the forefront of those conversations.
Diop, a freshman from Rufisque, a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, spent most of his young playing career in Spain, where he played on the Real Madrid U18 team and two years with Gran Canaria.
Most recently, Diop went viral on social media after hitting a step-back 3-pointer and breaking his defender’s ankles in the process — a skill not often seen from a 7-footer.
“I’ve never seen a 7-footer that can move like that,” Odum said. “I feel like his maturity from when he first got here to now has just skyrocketed. He used to take plays off when he was tired, now he pushes through. He used to just walk away before when I’d yell at him, now he tells me, ‘Hey, I got you.’”
With so much foreign talent, communication between players can be tough. Odum doesn’t feel there have been any hiccups with language barriers so far, especially between him and Diop, who is fluent in four languages and is quickly perfecting his English.
“He can understand me, he just can’t speak it,” Odum said. “But I don’t say any big words or anything like that.”
Hurley, meanwhile, has to plan for a familiar face. Guard Adam Miller transferred out of Tempe last year and landed at Gonzaga.
Miller spent two seasons with ASU, averaging 9.8 points and two rebounds while playing close to 30 minutes per game last year in what was considered a lackluster season.
“I’m a human being, it’s going to be a little weird,” Hurley said. “Seeing him in a different jersey. He gave the program everything he had and never cheated anything, so (I’m) always rooting for him. He fits their team really well.”
Odum’s performance against Gonzaga in the past didn’t go unnoticed by Hurley and his staff; part of recruiting the guard was taking into account his success against strong programs.
“We wanted to look at some of his best games,” Hurley said. “Against a team like Gonzaga, that’s the kind of team you’re going to see in the Big 12 and how that will translate. We definitely watched those films while in the portal.”
A 9 p.m. tipoff Friday night, followed by an 11 a.m. kickoff when ASU’s football team hosts West Virginia Saturday, essentially turns the weekend into a doubleheader, with some ASU fans anticipating little sleep, if any, between the two games.
Hurley hopes to see as many fans in the arena as possible, believing his team deserves the fans’ support.
“I think our guys have earned it,” Hurley said. “This is kind of a clean slate. These guys haven’t done anything to not come in here with great energy and support this team, especially when you have a high-profile opponent like Gonzaga.”
Odum shared the same message, hoping ASU supporters will outshine what is typically a strong traveling fan base for Gonzaga.
“Nothing is given. I’ve been on teams where I was the favorite the whole year,” Odum said. “I’ve also been on teams where I was the underdog the whole year, and when I was the favorite I lost games, and when I was the underdog I won games. You just never really know with basketball.”
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