Arizona State men's basketball gets early jump on season with foreign tour

The Arizona State men's basketball team is going to boast nine newcomers this season. What better way to build team chemistry than take a trip?

The Sun Devils are doing just that, leaving Monday for a 10-day tour that will include stops in Paris, Athens and Mykonos. Because they'll be playing games, they have to start practices a little earlier than they normally would which should also facilitate the getting acquainted process.

And yes there will be plenty of times built in for sightseeing. Junior point guard Frankie Collins says he's excited about hitting the Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa. And the Eiffel Tower as well.

"Any time you can travel and spend time together like we'll be able to do on this type of trip it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," head coach Bobby Hurley said. "Just seeing all these historical sights, cities with rich culture and history and being able to share those experiences. These additional practices have been great. We have taken full advantage of those. We've done a lot more team-oriented stuff this summer than any other year so we're pretty far along in that regard. The games will be beneficial but it's more about the team bonding, time we'll spend seeing the sights, dinners we'll have. All those ways we can accelerate the process of bringing together this group of people."

The Sun Devils try to take a foreign trip every few years. The last came in 2019 when ASU and Colorado traveled to China for games as part of a Pac-12 global initiative.

Hurley's 2017 team went to Rome and Barcelona. That team started the regular season 12-0, with Hurley acknowledging that foreign trip factored in that strong start because it had that bonding experience and got to practice early.

The Sun Devils are coming off a 23-13 showing the past season that included an impressive 98-73 win over Nevada in an NCAA March Madness play-in game in Dayton. The postseason run ended two days later with a two-point loss to favored TCU in Denver.

The 23 wins were the squad's most since 2009 (25 wins led by James Harden) and for just the second time in the past 28 seasons.

Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Luther Muhammad were the only two players from last year's squad that exhausted their eligibility but a handful of others opted for the transfer portal, leaving Hurley to have to reload once again. Collins, junior wing Jamiya Neal and senior forward Alonzo Gaffney are the lone holdovers.

Hurley was most excited about his team's work ethic and team camaraderie, crediting that for the success last season. He sees that potential in this year's version as well.

"We've had a good summer, obviously a lot of new faces. Trying to get guys acclimated to a new environment, a new way of doing things but it's exciting. It's refreshing to be in the gym and seeing the level of talent, seeing how those options can work together," Hurley said. "This group really seems to like each other. Our practices have been competitive. Off the court we seem to be gelling as well."

Hurley will be leaning on the returning trio, most notably Collins who was a starter. Neal had a breakout month at the end of last season, benefiting from added playing time with Austin Nunez sidelined with a concussion and he should contend for a starting spot this season.

"They've been very vocal. They're coming off a 23-win season so guys you're bringing back have credibility because they had that successful season and when these guys are talking it has meaning. They're focusing on communicating better and I've relied on them to talk to the guys about how we do things, how we operate. They've been good leaders for our guys so far," Hurley said.

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Hurley departed Tuesday's Zoom call with the media, giving way to his players — Neal and Collins. He jokingly applauded Neal for his recent performance in a summer league in which he had games of 47 and 45 points but also reminded his player he had 50 in a game in his Jersey City playing days.

The players say the added bonding time will be beneficial. They will play three games with opposing teams made up of a combination of college-age players and younger European professionals.

"Just being able to get away from where we are now, put our phones down, connecting with each other, that's going to help us on the court," Neal said.

"We had some good moments last year but every aspect of the game we have to be better," Collins said. "Being efficient, being consistent and being guys that step up every night. We have to be the ones to get it done."

Neal says he has been surprised at how well things are already coming together.

"I don't think it's been weird. We've actually been meshing really well," he said. "These guys came in and they're workers They come in expecting to work. They came in expecting nothing less than that so that's what you want in a group of guys. They want to do their jobs and want everyone to get better."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State men's basketball to go on foreign tour