Coach Hurley honored as hometown hero at Duke
Coach Hurley honored as hometown hero at Duke

Legendary Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski stands beside ASU men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley as they watch a video highlight package of Hurley’s playing days at Duke. Photo by Katie MacCrory/Sun Devil Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. — Bobby Hurley walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium early Saturday afternoon and took a quick look around.
The exhibition basketball game between Arizona State and Duke wouldn’t be played until 7 p.m. Sunday — leaving plenty of time for Hurley to stress and worry about his Sun Devils.
This moment, then, was a memory.
Of a time when Hurley helped Duke win back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992.
Of a time when he became — and remains — the NCAA’s all-time assists leader with 1,076.
Of a time when the the kid with the scrawny 6-foot, 165-pound frame became college basketball royalty, so much so that Duke retired his No. 11 jersey on Feb. 28, 1993, just a year after his playing career ended.
“As much as I’m nostalgic about being here — and this means a lot — I didn’t need closure,” said Hurley, who is beginning his 10th season as ASU’s coach. “I think the way I left it was pretty good, but it’s like another taste, another way to say goodbye.”
Hurley would have preferred the weekend wasn’t about him. He repeatedly noted how the proceeds for the exhibition game were going to Duke Children’s Hospital, that it was an NIL (name, image and likeness) fundraising opportunity — ASU boosters were invited to a private reception with Hurley and legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski Saturday night — and how playing Duke inside Cameron and in front of a raucous sellout crowd would help his young team down the line.
“We play some hard games really early in our schedule,” he said, “so I think this is going to hopefully pay dividends for us once we start for real.”
Maybe so, but the weekend wasn’t about basketball or boosters. It was about a legend returning home.