Don’t mean to flare up any PTSD within the Sun Devils faithful. But cast your minds back to how their 2025 season ended. ASU had one hand on that Peach Bowl trophy, courtesy of star tailback Cam Skattebo’s heroics. A performance that’ll go down in the annals of college football. Alas, Texas pipped them to it- just. But now that the adrenaline has leveled out and the dust has settled on the season, HC Kenny Dillingham can and should take solace from their traversal up to that juncture. He took the team from the pits of the Big 12 to winning the conference championship. That said, they cannot afford to rest on their laurels. The standards have recalibrated, and the bar has been set rather high. High enough for it to seem unassailable without Skattebo, now a New York Giant. But help is on its way to Tempe.
Cam Skattebo was a Swiss Army knife for Arizona State. He didn’t just move the chains out of the backfield with his legs. He caught passes, blocked for QB Sam Leavitt and spearheaded the team from a leadership standpoint. Heck, he even threw touchdowns off play action a la that Peach Bowl! That’s 5 voids Kenny Dillingham needs to refill within his roster. Ironically, he’s onboarding exactly that many new players. Talk about efficiency. Now conceded, these incoming players don’t have qualities that are directly transitive of what Skattebo brought to the table. But spreading your chips across the rest of the team, rather than having a heliocentric figurehead, is shrewd and makes sense. As such, Dillingham is bringing in players across multiple position groups on both sides of the football. Beginning with an instant influx of talent in the secondary.
ASU and Kenny Dillingham dipped their proverbial feet into the transfer portal and have caught a big, familiar fish. On3’s Hayes Fawcett reports safety Maurice Williams Jr. has committed to ASU. He was previously at Big 12 contemporaries Houston. The Texas-native was a 3-star prospect in the ‘24 class and right away played 10 games as a true freshman. Clearly this is someone that can exceed that 3-star label and ascend within the confines of quality coaching and an environment conducive to his development. Snagging him from in-conference UH is also a massive statement that’ll reverberate across to the other members. ASU wasn’t a flash in the pan, they’re here to stay.
BREAKING: Houston transfer Safety Maurice Williams Jr. has Committed to Arizona State, he tells @on3sports
The 6’1 210 S appeared in 10 games as a True Freshman last seasonhttps://t.co/RlUbB6EMhS pic.twitter.com/vZ54W4J93A
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 29, 2025
Concurrent to the portal and Maurice Williams Jr., ASU is also taking strides on the high school recruitment front. What’s hardware and success really worth if it’s not sustained? Kenny Dillingham realizes this and has the foresight to lock down names from the class of 2026. The Sun Devils have got a commitment from 4-star wideout Nalin Scott, also reported by Hayes Fawcett. At 6’3, Scott has an intimidating frame that’ll translate to the collegiate game brilliantly. Coach Dillingham fended off interest from the SEC and the B1G to acquire him and bolster his receiving corps. Things are trending well out in Tempe right now, and the program’s momentum has permeated over to the recruiting front. 247Sports’ ASU correspondent/insider Chris Karpmen relayed some more good news.
Kenny Dillingham is putting the pedal to the metal in his recruitment drive post-Cam Skattebo
3-star linebacker Oscar Aguilar has committed to the Sun Devils. Aguilar was on campus last week, and clearly liked what he saw. Nearby California has perpetually been a happy hunting ground for ASU and Aguilar represents just that. With the future shaping well, Kenny Dillingham is making sure the present is not losing out either. Maurice Williams Jr. isn’t the only new portal acquisition. Same Leavitt and Skattebo’s successor, Kanye Udoh, sure will be licking their chops after seeing the team add muscle on the offensive line.
What’s better than one offensive lineman to protect the quarterback? Two. And what’s better than that? If they’re exact clones of each other, quite literally. Coach Dillingham has acquired the services of twins Brent Helton and Wade Helton from Iowa State. Yet another poaching job in the Big 12, which is quietly becoming a trend. The brothers each have 4 years of eligibility left and are both 6”5, north of 300lbs. Protecting the quarterback as well as creating spaces for the running game should, in theory at least, be easier with this pair in the O-line room. Whether they actually suit up and take to the line of scrimmage while Sam Leavitt and Kanye Udoh occupy the backfield is a question, but they still bring excellent depth with upside for the future.
Winning the Big 12 in year 1 after realigning from the Pac-12 was a huge deal for the Arizona Sun Devils. Yet, they’re far from satisfied. Here’s an alarming stat that doubles as a microcosm of the culture Kenny Dillingham has got going in Tempe. How much his players are bought in. ASU is getting 79% of their production in 2024 to return for 2025. In a sport where players leaving is the only bit of continuity you’ll find, that’s spectacular. Almost every important piece, like a Sam Leavitt, is back on campus. To see out what they’ve set in motion. It’s a good time to be an ASU fan.
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