Wilner-Arizona State hires Randy Bennett: Why a match decades in the making is right for Bennett and the Sun Devils

Common sense prevailed in the nonsensical world of college sports Monday when Arizona State hired Randy Bennett away from Saint Mary’s to revitalize its sagging men’s basketball program.

A university that prides itself on innovation and new leadership models reversed course and made the most predictable inside-the-box decision imaginable.

It had the added benefit of being the shrewdest move on athletic director Graham Rossini’s chessboard.

Bennett is a phenomenal coach, deeply respected within the profession and arguably the best developer of talent and game strategist Arizona State has ever employed.

What’s more, he’s a Valley native whose father, Tom, coached at Mesa Community College. That connection should help generate critical NIL support within the region.

“It was going to take a special situation for us to leave Saint Mary’s,” Bennett said in a statement issued by Arizona State. “And I am energized, driven, and focused on taking over Sun Devil Basketball, a program I am very familiar with and grew up watching.”

We also suspect Bennett was high on the list of coaches that Arizona State’s chief rival would rather not take charge in Tempe. But more on the Arizona factor momentarily.

The move makes oodles of sense for Bennett, who led Saint Mary’s to 12 NCAA Tournament bids in his 25 years at the tiny private school in the East Bay hills. (In the 25 years prior to Bennett’s arrival, the Gaels made the NCAA Tournament twice.)

But the landscape is changing, both for the Gaels specifically and the West Coast Conference generally. With Gonzaga moving to the rebuilt Pac-12 this summer, the WCC is losing its biggest brand and Saint Mary’s is losing at least two Quadrant I games per season, with enormous consequences for its NET ranking and NCAA Tournament prospects.

The conference won’t be the same without the Zags, and Bennett is 63. It was now or never. To pass on Arizona State was to accept that he would likely retire at Saint Mary’s, in a depleted, marginalized WCC.

Granted, the new gig won’t be easy. Even with promises of NIL support, plans to remodel the ancient Desert Financial Arena and competent leadership inside the athletic department, Arizona State is a middle-of-the-pack program in the loaded Big 12 and, by 100 country miles, the No. 2 program within the state.

But that is precisely why Bennett is the perfect hire.

What Arizona State is to Arizona, Saint Mary’s is to Gonzaga.

 

Bennett spent the past quarter-century competing against a behemoth, against a program with greater resources and more community support and superior recruiting prowess and a longer NBA pipeline.

Through sheer ingenuity and acumen, Bennett elevated Saint Mary’s to the point that the Gaels beat Gonzaga on a regular basis.

The dynamics in Tempe and Tucson aren’t identical, but they are surely comparable. Bennett is a master at doing more with less, which brings us to the Arizona factor.

Now, to be clear: Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd isn’t going to lie awake at night fretting over the Bennett hire. (For one thing, he has a national championship to chase.) But there were dozens of coaches Lloyd undoubtedly would have preferred to see replace Bobby Hurley.

After all, he spent 20 years at Gonzaga, matching wits with Bennett and the Gaels.

He knows how much respect his former boss, Mark Few, has for Bennett.

He knows Bennett can find high-level players in every nook and cranny of the globe and lure them to a school with second-tier resources and a third-rate arena.

And he knows Bennett’s teams are well drilled, physical and make you work for everything. They are a pain in the you-know-what to play.

During Lloyd’s long tenure in Spokane, the Zags lost to Saint Mary’s 11 times — this, despite massive advantages in resources and personnel.

Does Bennett’s homecoming mean the Sun Devils will pull even with Arizona on the competitive landscape? That they will join the Wildcats and Houston and Kansas atop the Big 12 hierarchy? Not at all.

But Arizona State doesn’t have to pull even with the Wildcats for Bennett’s tenure to be successful.

He needs to beat Arizona periodically and finish .500 or better in the Big 12.

He needs to lead the Sun Devils into the NCAA Tournament every two or three years.

He needs to make them relevant in the crowded Phoenix market.

Based on the magic Bennett performed in Moraga for decades, his prospects for success in Tempe are high.

It’s a tough job in a rugged conference with a powerhouse rival 90 minutes to the south, all of which makes it the perfect situation for Bennett to do what Bennett does.

And for everyone else in the Big 12, including Arizona, life just got incrementally more difficult.

---

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline