Arizona State basketball hires Randy Bennett, longtime Saint Mary's coach

A significant college basketball coaching shift is happening on the West Coast.

Randy Bennett will be the new Arizona State coach, leaving Saint Mary's after spending 25 seasons turning the Gaels into a respectable mid-major program. His final game was a 63-50 loss to No. 10 seed Texas A&M in the first round of the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament.

The Saint Mary's job was Bennett's first head coaching role when he took it in 2001, taking over a program that had had little success. After just three NCAA Tournaments prior to his arrival, Bennett took the Gaels to the Big Dance 12 times during his tenure, including each of the past five seasons with at least 26 wins in each campaign during the run. The most successful run of Bennett's tenure was the trip to the Sweet 16 in 2010 as a 10th seed.

During his time, Saint Mary's elevated itself as one of the most successful mid-majors, competing with fellow West Coast Conference member Gonzaga and often taking down the powerful Bulldogs. By putting out quality teams for most of his tenure, the conference was able to send two teams to March Madness consistently, a rarity for mid-majors.

Bennett's overall record is 589-228 and he won more than 75% of his conference games. The Gaels won seven West Coast Conference regular season titles and four tournament titles. He also developed future NBA championship players in Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova.

While it is a shock to see Bennett leave a role where he spent a quarter of a century, the 63-year-old coach is from Mesa, Arizona, just east of the Arizona State campus in the Phoenix metro area.

“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 in a statement.

He will be tasked with trying to revive the Sun Devils, who were unable to sustain success in the 11 seasons under Bobby Hurley. During Hurley's time, Arizona State made the NCAA Tournament just three times — all as a No. 11 seed — and won two First Four games, with the program's last major achievement being a Sweet 16 run in 1995.

The task will only be more challenging with Arizona State in a crowded and loaded Big 12, with a losing conference record in its two seasons in the league.

"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 said.

Bennett's departure also comes as Saint Mary's enters a new era of the West Coast Conference, which will be greatly affected by Gonzaga leaving for the Pac-12 next season.