ASU men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley announced at his introductory press conference Friday that ASU assistant Stan Johnson would remain on staff and Buffalo assistant Levi Watkins would follow Hurley to ASU.
Johnson will certainly help in local recruiting, an area that Hurley that recognized would be important.
“Stan has great connections, great ties, great relationships with the players,” Hurley said. “I had several great conversations with him. I feel very comfortable with him and feel he’s going to do a great job.”
Freshman guard Kodi Justice said Johnson was a huge help to him last season both on and off the court and he is happy that Johnson will be back next season.
"I think it's going to be great for every single one of us," Justice said. "Having Stan there is just like having another parent always having your back, helping us develop."
Freshman guard Tra Holder also said that Johnson coming back to the program will help with the transition between staffs and with the team's development.
"Coach Stan is very important to me and we built a great bond over last year and I'm just looking forward to playing with him for another year and whatever comes after that," Holder said.
Johnson had been with ASU for the past two seasons, replacing assistant Dedrique Taylor, while Watkins comes to ASU from Buffalo. With Watkins and Hurley, Buffalo advanced to its first NCAA Tournament in 2015.
"I had a tremendous staff at Buffalo with Levi Watkins and Nate Oats and Ben Wood, and we all worked terrific together, and those guys did a phenomenal job," Hurley said. "And we'll continue to build it out here. But we are going to recruit nationally, as well. We are not just going to limit ourselves to any areas of the country."
Watkins played for NC State under Herb Sendek from 2002-05. Following his playing days, Watkins served a variety of roles for the Wolfpack, including video coordinator and director of basketball operations.
With Watkins and Johnson, ASU still has another staff position to fill. Sun Devil Source reported, citing sources, that Barret Peery would not be retained and that Buffalo interim coach Nate Oats is likely to join ASU's staff if he doesn't end up getting the Buffalo head coaching job.
"With Levi now coming in and joining us right away, and Stan already being in place; more importantly, just for the players right now, they can count on having some people in place that they can trust, that they know; that's going to make the transition easier," Hurley said.
Reach the sports editor at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow @jjanssen11 on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
