It was Christmas in July for the Arizona State men’s basketball program last week after the announcement that sophomore forward Marcus Bagley was withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft and returning to Tempe.
Bagley entered his freshman season with the rightful pomp and circumstance that should come with his title as one of the highest-rated Sun Devil basketball recruits in program history, and he spent his first few outings making good on that hype.
A breakout 21-point performance against Houston Baptist came in just his third game. He would go on to score in double figures six more times last season, the best of which was a 19-point outing against Oregon State, where he shot 4-of-9 on threes.