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ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. penciled in Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor as one of his personal favorites by position this NFL Draft.
Five days removed from linking the Sun Devil to the San Francisco 49ers at No. 27 overall in his two-round mock draft, Kiper continues to praise Iheanachor as one of the best tackle prospects on the board.
Iheanachor should be a first-rounder based on his potential, but he’s probably a second-rounder when it’s all said and done… I love everything about his journey to this point and how he just keeps getting better and better.
After migrating to the United States from Nigeria at 13 years old, he transitioned from basketball and soccer to football for the first time at East Los Angeles College.
He impressed enough in his first season within the sport to receive an offer from ASU, where he would eventually become the full-time starting right tackle by 2024. In his last season at the collegiate level, Iheanachor earned All-Big 12 Second-Team honors after allowing zero sacks and 14 pressures in 860 total snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Iheanachor has also taken full advantage of the pre-draft period to boost his draft stock. He recorded standout performances at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine before getting some one-on-one work with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel at ASU’s pro day.
Over the past week alone, ESPN’s Matt Bowen named him the most explosive offensive lineman available while NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah slotted him in at No. 31 overall in his top 150 prospects list.
Kiper is the latest entry on the list of analysts and reporters labeling Iheanachor as one of the most tantalizing names on the board due to the athleticism and measurables he’s showcased over the past three months.
He’s 6-foot-6 and 321 pounds, and he has 33 7/8-inch arms. Iheanachor ran an incredible 4.91-second 40 at the combine, too, showcasing his quickness. Despite being new to the game, he started 31 games in college, and he went up against some good edge rushers at right tackle. The arrow is pointing up on Iheanachor.
NFL Mock Draft Database projects Iheanachor coming off the board around the No. 30 pick. Draft analysts have him landing with teams such as the 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles (No. 23), Houston Texans (No. 28) and New England Patriots (No. 31).
Kiper’s mock draft also projects ASU wide receiver Jordyn Tyson to land with the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 9 overall. If his predictions prove true, this would mark the first time multiple Sun Devils are selected on Day 1 since Adam Archuleta (No. 20) and Todd Heap (No. 31) were picked in the 2001 NFL Draft.
The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Thursday at 5 p.m. MST. Arizona Sports’ Draft Roundtable starts at 2 p.m. MST for coverage of the first round.
They say it’s best to stick to what you know, and that’s exactly what Arizona State men’s basketball coach Randy Bennett has done to begin his first transfer portal haul.
Bennett spent the previous 25 seasons coaching Saint Mary’s and won the West Coast Conference seven times (four tournament titles), and now two of his first ASU portal additions have come from the same conference.
Sunday’s addition was the biggest thus far: a likely starting point guard in Joel Foxwell (Portland), who made First Team All-WCC while dishing out a freshman-best mark 6.5 assists per game. His last game against Bennett and Saint Mary’s included 27 points and five assists in a six-point loss.
Gonzaga utility guard Emmanuel Innocenti was the other WCC addition, projecting as a connective role player on offense with stingy defense (2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game with just two total turnovers over his final 11 games, 371 total minutes).
Bennett is yet to bring over any of his former Gaels, but the Sun Devils are in the hunt for the services of at least two.
Forward Paulius Murauskas, the No. 9 player in the portal, according to 247 Sports, averaged 18.4 points per game in 2025-26 to earn his second consecutive First Team All-WCC honors.
ASU previously hosted Saint Mary’s standout freshman Dillan Shaw for a visit, per 247 Sports’ Dushawn London. The 6-foot-8 wing made the WCC All-Freshman team after averaging 7.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game on 41.6% 3-point shooting.
The Sun Devils also flipped previously Saint Mary’s-committed JRob Croy, the No. 126 player in 2026 and the son of new associate head coach Rick Croy, who had spent the last 13 seasons as Cal Baptist’s head coach.
With players no longer able to enter the portal after Monday, April 21, here’s a closer look at ASU’s activity as Bennett builds his first roster:
PG Joel Foxwell (April 19) from Portland — The 6-foot-1 point guard led all freshmen in assists per game (6.5) and was 13th among all players. The No. 20 point guard to enter the portal, he added 15.6 points and 1.5 steals per game.
F Emmanuel Innocenti (April 13) from Gonzaga — The 6-foot-5, 198-pound forward averaged six points per game on 46.9% shooting and 28.4% from deep in 35 games played last year. He added 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and a steal across 24.3 minutes per game.
C Nate Garcia (April 11) from Cal Baptist — The 7-footer played 98 minutes across 16 games this season, including a career-high 17 minutes against BYU. He scored a career-high 13 points in an overtime win against UT Arlington.
W Marcus Vaughns (April 10) from LSU — The son of a 1987 NBA Draft pick (Brian Vaughns), he came up through the NBA Global Academy in Australia and was the No. 92 prospect in his class at the time of his LSU signing, according to 247 Sports.
G Pig Johnson (April 10) — The Sun Devils’ sixth man who was third on the team with 13.2 points per game, Johnson will seek legal counsel to help him through a waiver process, according to Jeff Goodman. He played three seasons at the NAIA level before getting to ASU.
G Trevor Best (April 10) — Best appeared in 29 games over the past season and a half after joining ASU between semesters in 2024-25 when he was reuniting with high school teammate Jayden Quaintance. He stuck around with head coach Bobby Hurley after Quaintance transferred to Kentucky but played just 5.8 minutes per game as a sophomore.
F Santiago Trouet (April 9) — The 6-foot-10 Argentinian was key to ASU finishing its season with six wins in its last 11 games after it was 2-9 in the previous 11. His 6.1 rebounds per game led the team.
C Massamba Diop (April 8) — The 7-foot-1 center blocked 69 shots across 33 games (all starts) to set a new program record for blocks by a freshman in a single season, ranking sixth by any Sun Devil in program history. His 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game were both second on the team, behind point guard Moe Odum and Trouet, respectively.
G Noah Meeusen (April 7) to DePaul — The combo guard was one of the team’s more important contributors after settling in from a preseason ankle injury. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a team-high 1.4 steals per game over 30 contests with eight straight starts to end the season.
F Kash Polk (April 2) to Jacksonville State — The only freshman out of an American high school on Hurley’s final squad, Polk provided extra defensive length at 6-foot-10 in spot moments to the tune of six games with three total minutes before medically redshirting. He was the No. 304 player in 2025, according to 247 Sports’ composite ranking.
G Adante’ Holiman (March 30) — A preseason elbow injury forced the 6-foot Holiman to medically redshirt without any minutes played. He was expected to have a role on the offense after he was the Sun Belt’s leading scorer in 2024-25 (16.9 points per game with 38.9% 3-point shooting).
F Marcus Adams Jr. (March 19) to Hawaii — Adams played in 14 games off the bench before a back injury took the rest of his season away. He was emerging as a bench contributor with an 11-point performance that included three 3-point makes in a 16-point win over Oklahoma in the first of what would be a season-high six straight games with double-digit minutes.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks reinstated left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. from the 10-day injured list on Saturday after his astonishingly rapid return from a torn right ACL suffered last season.
Gurriel was carted off the diamond at Chase Field on Sept. 1, less than eight months ago, and with his return to the lineup on Saturday, he will have missed less than two months of game action despite the devastating injury.
“He sat in my office, walking in on crutches post-surgery and promised me that he’d make this as quick a turnaround as possible,” manager Torey Lovullo said on Friday. “So he got after it, and the time that I spent talking to him this offseason when he was in Miami, he was doing a great job of committing to that.”
The Diamondbacks designated first baseman Luken Baker for assignment to make room on the roster for Gurriel.
Gurriel spent much of spring training in the backfields taking live at-bats from major league and minor league pitchers alike. He did not play in a Cactus League game but got in some action after the club broke camp.
The final boxes he checked was playing in back-to-back rehab assignment games for Double-A Amarillo on Tuesday and Wednesday, as he started both days in left field and finished 2-for-8 with a double and a home run.
There has to be a level of caution taken with Gurriel’s return-to-play progress, which would have been the case had he not made a quicker-than-typical recovery.
According to UCHealth, athletes typically take at least eight to nine months to recover from a torn ACL, with 10 months or longer associated with a decreased risk of re-injuring the knee. Even toward the end of spring training, Lovullo mentioned late April as the earliest he expected to see Gurriel.
Gurriel has been a productive run producer for the Diamondbacks through his three-year tenure, not a star but a streaky hitter who can carry the offensive load for stretches when he heats up.
He hit 42 home runs with a .765 OPS over his first two seasons, including his first All-Star selection. Last year was more of a grind (.713 OPS), but he was trending upward before the injury with seven home runs and 32 RBIs in August.
The Diamondbacks could use his power potential in the middle of the lineup to lengthen the batting order.
For Gurriel, this is an important season, as Arizona has a $14 million club option for next season to retain him with a $5 million buyout.
In spring training, Lovullo had said the plan was for Gurriel to return as a designated hitter primarily, but it appears they will see how he handles left field off the IL. With Jordan Lawlar out until June with a broken wrist, left field has been platooned by Jorge Barrosa and Tim Tawa before Gurriel’s return.
