In a brief statement released to the media Sunday morning, Arizona State University’s Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson announced that the school “informed the NCAA and Pac-12 conference that it will self-impose a one-year postseason ban on its football program for the upcoming season.”
The self-imposed ban came in reaction to an ongoing NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations during the term of previous head coach Herm Edwards. Edwards, who was fired three games into his fifth season leading the Arizona State program, along with defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce, and offensive coordinator Zak Hill, were the center of the investigation into recruiting violations during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
The announcement came less than a week before the first game of the 2023 season, which is scheduled for Thursday, August 31. The upcoming season will be the last for ASU as a member of the Pac-12 conference, and the first for new head coach Kenny Dillingham.
“We received horrible news on a Tuesday practice in the morning,” Dillingham said. “To think that 18 to 22-year-olds are going to go out and have a good Tuesday practice is absolutely delusional.”
The news was especially devastating for student-athletes playing their final season of college football, who now will not have the opportunity to compete in a bowl game.
“It was very emotional, especially for seniors, guys that possibly aren’t coming back, guys that for sure aren’t coming back. We all think we have a really good team that would have made a bowl game and that could have exceeded expectations,” redshirt Junior tight end Jalin Conyers said. “We still have a game to play each and every week. We have 12 games to show what we have, and we have a really big one at the end of the week.”
Dillingham also stated after practice that he told his players that the situation is out of their control, and the focus must remain on the season ahead.
“You can take a second to get upset about [the ban],” redshirt senior defensive back Jordan Clark said. “But ultimately, the season starts to get played. All of these teams are still on our schedule. We’re just trying to win football games.”
The Sun Devils begin the 2023 campaign in just four days when they face Southern Utah at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MST.
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