Eric Sorenson
Summer vacations and rising temperatures are two staples anyone who lives in the Valley can relate to.
Ray Anderson has been turning up the heat since arriving on campus at Arizona State and whenever he steps away from his on-campus office for some much-deserved down time the Vice President for University Athletics/Athletic Director will reflect back on another busy year helping re-shape and improve the intra-structure of Sun Devil Athletics.
“Our trajectory here, overall, is on a real upswing,” Anderson told Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat in a recent phone interview wrapping up the 201-15 athletic season. “The new coaching that we brought in are just really, really exciting.”
The headliner of the newcomers is Sun Devil basketball coach Bobby Hurley who hopes to build on his success at the University of Buffalo and win more consistently, something which ultimately got Herb Sendek fired.
“We feel Bobby Hurley will give us a new direction,” Anderson explained to Cesmat. “We think he’s off to a terrific start.”
Anderson also re-tooled ASU’s swimming program luring legendary coach Bob Bowman to ASU. Bowman recently tabbed legendary local swimmer, Shadow Mountain High alum and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Misty Hyman to the staff.
“We came in here with a commitment that all sports matter,” he said. “We owe our best effort in all the sports and swimming and diving…we needed to upgrade. There’s a big community out there that can be served by Arizona State having a real robust swimming program.”
The second-year AD is also confident the facility upgrades, like the currently re-modeling of Sun Devil Stadium, will continue as long as makes sense strategically and financially for the University.
Enjoy that summer vacation Ray Anderson.
You certainly deserved it.
