Arizona coaching royalty weighs in on Randy Bennett hire, big cigars, more…

Arizona high school coaching legend Sammy Duane Jr. was on the other end of the text exchange Tuesday morning. The topic was Randy Bennett, hired as the new basketball coach at Arizona State. 

“Great hire!!!!, Home run!” was his initial response. 

Because we are quick to forget the coaching legends and move on to the next hot item, all Sammy did was win eight state titles between Corona Del Sol and Perry. His Perry teams featured current NBA players Jalen and Cody Williams, and a kid you might’ve heard of named Koa Peat. His 90-year-old father and Bennett’s dad go all the way back to the 70’s at Tempe and Westwood high schools, respectively.  The Bennett and Duane names are at the top of the Arizona coaching pyramid, with a combined 1868 wins, excluding Randy’s accomplishments.

“I think Randy will connect with the local coaches with his deep roots and love for this community. He will develop a positive team culture here as he did at St. Mary’s.”  Sammy was just getting warmed up, “If you have watched Randy’s teams, you will see they play with a purpose and an identity. They will play hard and the right way. He is a proven winner, an outstanding coach, but a better person. He is what Arizona State needs at this time”. 

I half-jokingly finished our back-and-forth keyboard chatter with, “You’d make a great addition to his staff.” his response was “Ha! He is trying to win!” Sammy is in his first year working outside of coaching, in a role for the Mesa Public School District. 

This and that

Before Bryce Drew was hired at GCU, Bennett was one of the names President Brian Mueller coveted. Hopefully, Arizona State and GCU can work through their differences in hierarchy and play each other annually on campus, not in downtown Phoenix…

Tommy Lloyd has seen plenty of Bennett from his days at Gonzaga. Does the “rivalry” with Arizona become more competitive?…

Bennett has proven to acquire talent from around the world. Will he take the same trek in Tempe? From my understanding, the NIL isn’t as steep in some cases with foreign players…

Scheduling? UCLA, New Mexico, San Diego State, and GCU would be a great starting point for the 26-27 season. Adding St. Mary’s would be a smart move, too. You have to get the fan base interested, unlike games like Utah Tech and Southern Utah. Tough to balance a soft schedule, a game or two, when you’re in the best basketball conference in the country…

 

What the big cigars tell me…

Some, not all, believe that the hiring of Bennett is underwhelming. I don’t believe that’s true. The notion that he’s too old (64 in June) is silly when you look at names like Izzo(71 years old), Pitino(73) Calipari(67) and Kelvin Sampson(70) getting it done. It’s just that Bennett has been at a West Coast, mid-major program for so many years, he’s flown under the national radar for fans to follow. Also had a few of the cigars point out that he’s not as charismatic as Kenny Dillingham. Well, I can’t speak to that because I haven’t been around him to make that call, but some evidently have. Also, not many, if any, are as charismatic and spring-loaded as Dillingham. Bad comp…

 

I’ll be most interested to hear President Crow’s remarks from the podium at the introductory press conference on the hire…