The Big 12 Conference will have at least three new head coaches next season, and Arizona is very familiar with two of them.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello is reporting that ASU is set to hire Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, while Cincinnati is hiring Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun. They would join Kansas State’s Casey Alexander, who came from Belmont, are new coaches in the Big 12 in 2026-27.
Bennett, a native of Mesa who went 589-228 in 25 seasons at Saint Mary’s, brought his final Gaels squad to McKale Center
in October for an exhibition. The UA won 81-68, and in previous years played closed door scrimmages against Saint Mary’s under both Tommy Lloyd and Sean Miller.
Saint Mary’s lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Texas A&M, its 12th NCAA appearance under Bennett including five consecutive tourneys.
ASU last made the NCAA tourney in 2022-23, one three trips it made in 11 seasons under Bobby Hurley. Hurley went 185-167 with the Sun Devils, the second-most wins in school history, but he was just 4-19 against Arizona including 1-10 against Lloyd.
Calhoun, who graduated from Cincinnati in 2004 and was a student assistant under Bob Huggins, is fresh off leading Utah State to NCAA tourney appearances in both seasons he was at the school. The Aggies beat Villanova in the first round in San Diego on Friday, just the program’s third time winning a NCAA Tournament game in more than 50 years, before getting eliminated by the UA on Sunday.
The 44-year-old Calhoun is 297-159 as a head coach, starting at Division II Fairmont State before going to Youngstown State and Utah State. He replaces Wes Miller, who did not make an NCAA appearance in his five seasons with the Bearcats.
