After parting ways with Bobby Hurley earlier this month, ASU is set to hire Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett to lead its men's basketball program.
"It was going to take a special situation for us to leave Saint Mary's, and I am energized, driven, and focused on taking over Sun Devil Basketball, a program I am very familiar with and grew up watching," Bennett said per an ASU release. "We are in the best basketball conference in the nation and I look forward to the opportunity and am excited to meet everyone who wants to help this program reach our goals in the new landscape. My staff and I will be ready for the challenge."
Bennett, who grew up in Mesa and played basketball under his father at Mesa Community College, returns to the Valley after a quarter-century coaching the Gaels, whose 27-6 season ended in a 63-50 loss to No. 10 seed Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In 25 seasons at Saint Mary's, Bennett won four West Coast Conference tournaments, qualified for the NCAA Tournament 12 times and compiled an overall record of 589-228 while turning Saint Mary's into one of the premier mid-major programs in the country.
Despite inheriting a roster that went 2-27 in the year before his hiring, Bennett led the Gaels to 24 consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better, including 19 seasons above 20 wins. The 63-year-old coach was named the WCC Coach of the Year on seven different occasions, winning the award four consecutive years between 2022 and 2025.
Bennett's departure comes at a time when the WCC is about to lose Gonzaga, its cornerstone program, to the Pac-12 next season, putting the future quality of the WCC into question.
The hire comes just weeks after ASU let Hurley go after an 11-year stint in Tempe and a third-straight season without an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Sun Devils finished below .500 five times this decade and only made the NCAA Tournament once in the last seven seasons.
READ MORE: BREAKING: ASU men's basketball to part ways with head coach Bobby Hurley
Bennett is athletic director Graham Rossini's third head-coaching hire, following Molly Miller (women's basketball) and Jamea Jackson (women's tennis) in the past two years, and furthers ASU's increased commitment to its athletic programs under new leadership.
"Coach Bennett is one of the most accomplished and respected coaches in college basketball," Rossini said per an ASU release. "We were drawn to his sustained success over multiple decades, his strong recruiting relationships across the country, particularly on the West Coast, and his proven ability to identify and develop international talent."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Jack McCarthy and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at pvallur2@asu.edu and follow @PrathamValluri on X.
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Pratham Valluri is a sports reporter at The State Press. He is a junior majoring in sports journalism with business and data analytics minors. He’s in his 5th semester with The State Press working previously as an opinion writer.
