Another one bites the dust.
Austin Nunez, who seemed to be a key piece for the future of Arizona State basketball, officially entered the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon. Nunez is now the fourth former ASU player to enter the portal in 2023.
The freshman guard, a former four-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, checked into 28 games this season averaging 4.5 points per-game and shooting 41.5 percent from the field on an average of 16.3 minutes of playing time. Nunez averaged 0.9 assists, 1.1 rebounds and 0.7 steals per-game.
ASU Basketball: Austin Nunez capitalizing on opportunities as a freshman, playing with “super-high IQ” https://t.co/iTWL1qAezM
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) December 16, 2022
Nunez was a real contributor in Bobby Hurley’s lineup, putting up career-highs in points against VCU and Michigan early in the year, but was sidelined for the rest after sustaining a concussion against Utah on Senior Night.
After losing DJ Horne and Jamiya Neal to the portal last week, the path was clear for Nunez to take over as the No. 1 guard for ASU. Now, Bobby Hurley has even more searching to do over the summer.
Hurley, who held a press conference Tuesday to discuss his extended contract, made no secret of his players returning home to take “a look at the situation” in terms of their future. But, he did thank them all for “elevating ASU basketball and helping reestablish the program.”
The vision of the future is now a bit less clear than yesterday, but that doesn’t mean the fog will hold forever. Hurley and his staff will likely be aggressive in the transfer portal this year, just as they were the last.