Arizona State will not play in a bowl game and has imposed a one-year ban ahead of the 2023 season, according to multiple reports.
According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the self-imposed bowl ban comes amid a 2021 NCAA investigation into the tenure of former head coach Herm Edwards. The NCAA is looking into allegations of recruiting violations during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
The program notified members of the team early Sunday, according to Thamel, and the reaction was “devastating.”
Some of the allegations stemming from the NCAA investigation include a “mother of a player purchasing tickets for travel to campus, staff members giving tours to up to a dozen recruits in vans when visitors were prohibited, and a position coach working out a prospect in a local park while he was in town and evaluating the video of the illicit workout in an offensive staff meeting,” according to Thamel.
Arizona State declined to comment “when asked specifically whether some type of fine had been an option,” according to Thamel.
Five full-time coaches were fired or left the previous coaching staff seemingly as a result of the impending NCAA investigation, according to Thamel.
The bowl ban comes before Kenny Dillingham makes his head coaching debut for the Sun Devils. He was hired to succeed Edwards who was fired after three games into last season.
Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson told Brett McMurphy of Action Network that “in light of the ongoing investigation & our membership obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the matter, we will not be commenting further at this time.”
