TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Randy Bennett was thrilled to be introduced as the next coach at Arizona State, his hometown school and the only place that could lure him away from a 25-year career at Saint Mary's.
A health issue interrupted, sending him to the hospital and pushing back his introductory news conference to five weeks after he was hired.
“Sorry about the pump fake on the first one,” Bennett said Thursday. “I should do much better on this one.”
Bennett
had said no to overtures from bigger programs for years, comfortable with his family and his place in the basketball world at Saint Mary's.
When Arizona State came calling after the firing of Bobby Hurley, the job was too good to pass up for a coach who grew up in the Phoenix area and watched the Sun Devils in their heyday.
The 63-year-old coach has settled into his “dream job” — after a bit of a scare.
Hired on March 23, Bennett started feeling ill shortly after arriving in Phoenix. Arizona State's trainer took him to the hospital and he spent the next 10 days dealing with and recovering from an undisclosed medical issue.
“Thank God for Mayo Clinic,” Bennett said. “I don’t know where I’d be without them. It threw me off a bit, but the last thing I needed to be doing was stressing out about the portal, the job. Now I’m catching my stride, working longer days. We’ve gotten a lot done in five weeks. I feel good."
Bennett has been able to dig in since his hospital stay, filling out his coaching staff, building a 12-player roster with a transfer portal haul ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 by the 247 Sports composite.
Versatile forward Paulius Murauskas followed Bennett from Saint Mary's after averaging 18.4 points per game. Former Gaels guard Dillan Shaw also joined Bennett at Arizona State, along with Portland guard Joel Foxwell. Boston University forward Ben Defty and Gonzaga forward Emmanuel Innocenti.
Bennett still needs to add two players but likes where his roster stands as he makes the shift from the West Coast Conference to the rugged Big 12.
“It’s a tough job because it’s in the Big 12,” he said. “You’re looking at some really good programs that are really well-coached. That is the challenge right there. ASU has always been able to get good players and I think we can be good pretty quick.”
Bennett had his share of success at Saint Mary's, turning a program that went 2-27 before he was hired into a West Coast powerhouse that went to the NCAA Tournament 12 times and had a .750 win percentage — fourth nationally behind Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas.
After 25 years, he felt it was time to move on.
Bennett grew up in Mesa, Arizona, played high school basketball not far from Arizona State's campus and played two seasons under his father, Tom, at Mesa Community College before transferring to the University of San Diego.
The homecoming was spurred on even more by Gonzaga's upcoming departure to the Pac-12.
The Gaels held their own against the national powerhouse Zags, but losing them will weaken the WCC, making it harder to get the Quad 1 wins needed for at-large NCAA Tournament berths.
"Gonzaga was the flagship program of that league and has been for 25 years,” Bennett said. “We’ve won the league the last four years — they tied us for two — so I kind of felt like I don’t know how much more we can do. With Gonzaga leaving, it’s going to be harder to do, not easier to do.”
Bennett's dream job won't be easy by any stretch.
The Sun Devils missed six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments while rival Arizona has regained its luster under coach Tommy Lloyd, earning its first trip to the Final Four since 2001 last season.
When Arizona State fired Hurley, the focus was on one coach to hopefully turn the program around.
“When this process began, there was one name at the top of the list and we’re lucky that one name that was at the top of the list was the coach we’re here to welcome and introduce today, Randy Bennett,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said.
The early pump fake out of the way, Bennett is driving hard in his new, dream job.
___
AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
