Reports began surfacing on Saturday that Arizona State would be moving on from women’s basketball coach Natasha Adair. Adair struggled in Arizona State’s first season in the Big 12, with the Sun Devils finishing with a 10-22 record overall and 3-15 in Big 12 play.
There was plenty of reaction on social media, but one take stood out above the rest. Arizona women’s basketball play-by-play voice Cindy Brunson seemed to insinuate a racially-motivated decision by Arizona State.
Brunson originally posted on X, “Hate this for Coach A. She literally got zero support, NO NIL money, nada.”
A back and forth with one of her followers took Brunson down the rabbit hole of race.
Then, after beating around the bush, came this more direct insinuation.
There’s no doubt that Bobby Hurley has struggled mightily during his first season in the Big 12, with the Sun Devils sitting at 4-15 in conference play entering the final Saturday of the regular season.
But the notion that these decisions are motivated by race is a gross accusation to play footsie with, as Brunson decided to do.
Arizona State Basketball Struggles
Adair finished her time at Arizona State with a conference record of just 7-47 between two seasons in the Pac-12 and one in the Big 12. And while Hurley has been mediocre, at best, during his time in Tempe, he is only two seasons removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance.
I’m not going to die on the hill of defending Bobby Hurley’s tenure. That’s not the point. But these decisions are largely motivated by a multitude of factors such as contracts, money, tenure, potential replacements, and much more.
Brunson is a long-time broadcaster who should know better. Alleging and insinuating universities are firing and retaining coaches based on their race is one of the more irresponsible commentaries one can make with absolutely nothing of substance to back it up.
