East Coast basketball fans needed a post-11 p.m. weeknight bedtime to see Deandre Ayton鈥檚 down-the-stretch dominance at ASU on Thursday.
His 29-point, 18-rebound effort against Alabama on Dec. 9? His 24 and 14 at Utah? Also in games played until 11 p.m. Eastern time.
And at least those games had the widespread reach of ESPN coverage.
Ayton鈥檚 23 points and 19 rebounds against ASU on Dec. 3 鈥 and his 19 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks at Washington 鈥 were on late-night Pac-12 Networks broadcasts. His dominance at UNLV in overtime on Dec. 2 spilled into Dec. 3 for those East Coast viewers 鈥 who managed to have CBS Sports Network on in the first place.
So maybe it鈥檚 no wonder ESPN draft analyst Mike Schmitz noted that, while Oklahoma鈥檚 Trae Young has 鈥済obbled up college basketball headlines,鈥 the player he called 鈥溍坭种辈モ檚 cyborg鈥 is 鈥渜uietly having one of the most productive and efficient seasons by a 7-footer in recent memory.鈥
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But with the NCAA Tournament less than four weeks away, maybe word is finally getting out east of the Rockies. Reporters from USA Today and The Athletic followed Ayton around this week, while he made a recent appearance on ESPN鈥檚 鈥淪portsCenter鈥 and was also prominently featured in a Jan. 30 Bleacher Report article entitled 鈥淒eandre Ayton Knows He鈥檚 No. 1.鈥
And he does, apparently. Ayton was quoted in that story saying 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think 鈥 I know I鈥檓 the No. 1 pick in the draft.鈥
Schmitz and fellow ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony debated whether Ayton actually is that, in part because of his defense and also because of a skilled Slovenian guard named Luka Doncic.
But it was a long debate, a lot of words spent talking about a player so good that ASU coach Bobby Hurley said Ayton 鈥渕ay be the best big I鈥檝e seen in college as a player or coach.鈥
And UA coach Sean Miller? He may have just about run out of ways to describe Ayton, after the Bahamian big man threw down 25 points, collected 16 rebounds (eight on offense) and blocked three shots 鈥 including a 3-point attempt by backcourt dynamo Tra Holder 鈥 in Thursday鈥檚 77-70 win at ASU.
鈥淚 thought Deandre was a player 鈥 I haven鈥檛 seen a whole lot in my lifetime,鈥 Miller said Thursday. 鈥淗e was a dominant, dominant player and 鈥 really, a lot of our other guys played well 鈥 but he was the difference.鈥
Cool and confident, with a laid-back island vibe that sometimes shields his fierce confidence and intensity, Ayton can take it either way. He isn鈥檛 full of words, but also isn鈥檛 shy in interviews.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 Superman,鈥 Ayton told The Athletic.
Yet he also shrugs off all the recent attention he鈥檚 received.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been on the radar a lot,鈥 Ayton said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really pay attention to that type of stuff, because you know any of it can bring you down. So I try to stay focused鈥 on basketball.
Ayton is also quite aware there are some other pretty good players around him, too, and is just as confident in their abilities.
When asked whether Allonzo Trier called for a pass that Ayton dished to him to set up a dagger 3-pointer toward the end of Thursday鈥檚 game, Ayton said he did. But he also indicated he would have thrown him the pass anyway.
鈥淚 know how he plays,鈥 Ayton said. 鈥淚 mean, we鈥檙e the best in college basketball, so we know each other鈥檚 role.鈥
Ayton also looked dumbfounded when someone asked what he thought of the two 3-pointers fellow 7-footer Dusan Ristic hit.
Like, as if, Ristic couldn鈥檛 hit them?
鈥淲hat game was it that he hit those three 3s?鈥 Ayton asked, referring to UA鈥檚 Jan. 27 home win over Utah.
鈥淵eah, Utah. We do that in practice. We shoot 3s in practice. So we鈥檙e used to it, to be honest, taking that open shot.鈥
But all this isn鈥檛 to suggest the cyborg doesn鈥檛 have a pulse.
Like everyone else inside Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday, Ayton could feel a charged atmosphere like few others he鈥檚 seen, one that compared with hostile environments the UA has faced at New Mexico, Utah, and Washington.
It all just threw another log on Ayton鈥檚 fire.
鈥淭his was pretty fun,鈥 Ayton said. 鈥淭his one was up there.鈥
