ASU Docuseries falls through but athletes still being paid

Back in April, it was announced that Bobby Hurley and Arizona State’s men’s basketball program would have a television docuseries covering the 2024-25 season for the Sun Devils.

The idea in part was that it would help increase the nationwide brand of Sun Devil basketball, lead to more players potentially wanting to play in Tempe and increase NIL opportunities, something the school and team struggled with in the past.

Recently, it was reported that the series itself fell through and that the money promised to players for participating in the series was not being paid. The latter half is not true, according to the father of one of the team’s players.

Per Haminn Quaintance, father of standout freshman Jayden Quaintance, his son and others have been paid in full despite the negative circumstances surrounding the docuseries. Ahmed Chamseddine, who represents ASU forward Basheer Jihad through Synced Sports Agency, also confirmed what the elder Quaintance said on X, saying, “Coach Hurley and the collective have delivered. Basheer has gotten paid in full and on time. Zero issues,” in a post.

“I mean, a lot of times the business negotiations and things break down and you don’t get a deal done. It happens all the time in the business world,” coach Bobby Hurley said ahead of ASU’s loss to Kansas. “We didn’t get the deal that we hoped we could get with that. We’re going to explore and be creative and try and find ways to maximize our NIL program.”

When asked about any negative consequences of the docuseries not coming to fruition, Hurley said there were none at all, adding, “We honor our commitments here.”

However, Hurley didn’t seem to completely leave another similar opportunity out of the cards if the right opportunity were to present itself, as long as the situation made sense for the team.

“We have young, exciting players like Joson (Sanon) and JQ, and hopefully guys that we’re recruiting that could tell an amazing story, if the right situation comes up and a deal comes up,” he said.

Hurley plans to keep the same roster building mindset it had when creating this iteration of Sun Devil basketball, noting the ASU docuseries hiccup won’t be affecting how competitive ASU will be on the NIL front.

“I want to have a blended roster,” Hurley said. “I want to have portal guys, I want to have returning players. I’m not going to abandon top high school recruits. We’re going to try and get guys like JQ and Joson to come in here and help us win and be immediate impact guys and guys that are going to go on to the NBA, so that’s been our blueprint.”

It hasn’t impacted the Sun Devils’ ability to recruit. Trevor Best, a high school teammate of Quaintance, recently committed and ASU remains a possibility for ESPN’s number-eight ranked high school prospect Koa Peat, who attends Perry High School.

While Quaintance didn’t comment on his father’s statement, the 17-year-old freshman said he’s thoroughly enjoyed his short time as a Sun Devil so far.

“It’s been an adjustment for sure, but I’ve been trying to enjoy the process,” Quaintance said. “As much as I can, try different things, put myself in positions to learn and improve. So it’s been a great experience.”

Despite his young age, Quaintance has shown a confidence and awareness in his game beyond his years as he looks to take his game to the next level. He’s averaging nearly a double-double with 9.4 points and 8.4 rebounds a night while leading the Big 12 in blocks with 3 per game.

“I mean, he’s fantastic kid,” Hurley said of Quaintance. “His work ethic is ridiculous. His he loves the game. He’s passionate about getting better, and he’s just every day, every week, you’re seeing improvements in different ways, and I think his efficiency has been way better over the last couple of weeks on the offensive side.

“Defensively, he’s just going to give you everything he has, and it’s great instincts. And I think our players are trusting what he could do with the offensive end a little more too.”