The top two baseball teams in the Pac-12 that played over the weekend at Phoenix Municipal Stadium — Stanford and Arizona State — are two programs that were just as close competitors in the recruitment of Saint Louis graduate Nu‘u Contrades.

They weren’t as comparable around the time he made his

decision in September 2021. The Cardinal went on to win the Pac-12 for the second time in four seasons — not including a 2020 campaign cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic — all while the Sun Devils finished with fewer than 30 wins for just the third time among the many 50-game schedules played throughout their rich history.

A clear gap in success separated the two schools, a gap that Contrades has since helped narrow with a notable freshman campaign that neither could have seen coming a few years ago.

Before he became ASU’s starting third baseman, before he won Pac-12 Player of the Week, before he received recognition as Hawaii Gatorade Player of the Year, Nu‘u was just another name of another kid from Oahu, where his talent would’ve been all but obscured without a family that invested in his eventual exposure.

“Costly journey but well worth it,” said Coby, his mother.

Complications arose due to COVID-19. With limited opportunities to travel to West Coast tournaments and clinics, Contrades only played a handful of games as a sophomore at Saint Louis before the pandemic shutdown and had a shortened junior season thereafter. Most of the college interest he received during that period was mainly based on video footage he directly provided. Amid such restrictions and uncertainty as to when they would loosen, he verbally committed to Cal State Northridge by early 2021.

Still, his parents were prepared to give their son the necessary exposure they believed he deserved — and ultimately drew — during a summer in which he and his father, Cory, “lived” on the mainland. He competed in California and Arizona primarily, and it was only a matter of time until more prominent schools such as Stanford and ASU entered the picture.

“He got an opportunity to go out and play, and then he seen all the other offers and interest he was getting, so that’s when he kind of opened up his recruitment again,” Cory said.

Suddenly, Contrades had some tough decisions to make. He decommitted from CSUN in August and soon after determined a schedule of visits among the new schools vying for his pledge.

First was ASU, which evidently cleared his calendar from then on.

Contrades loved it and didn’t look back but for a difficult conversation with his Stanford contacts, who apparently weren’t ready to accept defeat, all but facilitated at least partially due to circumstances un­related to baseball. He would’ve needed to add more Advanced Placement and honors classes to his schedule already a month or two into his senior year to adhere to the school’s academic demands, according to his parents, who added that his Stanford recruiters went so far as to suggest a direct call to his high school counselor.

“He always wanted to go to Stanford, but just knowing what was ahead of him, he was like, ‘Ooh,’ you know,” Coby said. “Was hard, was a hard decision.”

After all, ASU may have needed Contrades more than Stanford in the early stages of the Willie Bloomquist era. He played 14 MLB seasons after competing for a College World Series under legendary Sun Devils skipper Pat Murphy, whose winning culture was something he sought to renew in his return to the program.

The catch: Bloomquist hadn’t ever coached before and ASU hadn’t been to a CWS since 2010, which was also the last time it finished atop the Pac-12 standings. He sought to remedy the reoccurring weaknesses that led to one of the Sun Devils’ worst seasons in recent memory through the transfer portal, picking up a consensus top-three class.

But Bloomquist didn’t lose sight of his long-term goal: to build ASU back to its powerhouse past.

He indicated on multiple occasions that freshman development was one of the biggest factors in working toward such a future, which appears to be faster approaching than many expected. Certainly not many, if that, saw ASU — projected to finish sixth in the preseason Pac-12 coaches poll — playing for first place in the conference in a May series with Stanford, the reigning champions who received nine of 11 preseason votes to repeat.

Though the Sun Devils were swept by what is now a consensus Top 5 Cardinal squad, they have three freshman starters whose contributions have been paramount to a major turnaround in Bloomquist’s second season: Contrades, shortstop Luke Hill and center fielder Isaiah Jackson.

“You look at other Power 5 schools across the country: Freshmen, you better be pretty dang special to come in and start,” Bloomquist said. “To get the playing time that they’re getting now to develop them for their careers and their futures here, it’s invaluable.”

Patience has been Bloomquist’s calling card throughout the process, especially when he consistently slotted Contrades into the starting lineup even as he hit 6-for-34 with only three RBIs to start his college career. Bloomquist reasoned that his particularly impressive management of the hot corner, where he’d committed just three errors and made as many or more highlight assists, was more than enough to see him through his early offensive struggles.

“When he wasn’t swinging the bat great early, he was playing Gold Glove defense at third,” Bloomquist said. “I just think having that range and that athleticism at third base still puts him in the plus column on a daily basis, even though his offensive numbers weren’t there at the time. You know, he’s saving runs still on his defense.”

Tweaks then streamlined his once long-looping leg kick and rather keenly aggressive approach at the plate. And what followed was an unreal stretch of offense from the 19-year-old that helped ASU to its best Pac-12 start since 2009, Murphy’s last season at the helm.

Across a 16-game stretch, Contrades batted .485 with six home runs, 26 RBIs and 12 multi-hit performances.

“Bloomy having confidence in me to keep me in that lineup even though I struggled a little bit just helped me to keep going,” he said.

His average has since regressed to perhaps a more reasonable mean (.312), but that doesn’t tell the whole story at this point. He appears to have found day-to-day confidence with a coach he trusts and who trusts him as part of an ASU team nearing the ethos of its rich, eminent history.

“Now that the offense is coming around, it’s a package player,” Bloomquist said. “That’s the kid we knew we were getting.”