Bickley: Randy Bennett would be a home run hire for ASU
The Valley is a great place to dwell. Unless you are the lads’s basketball coach at Arizona State University.
Can Randy Bennett juice up a high-major, low-ceiling, dead-end program?
Bennett is reported in serious discussions to exchange Bobby Hurley at ASU. Some scoff at Bennett’s age (he turns 64 in June) and whether or not he is coming to the desert for paid retirement. I don’t.
The Mesa native is a confirmed winner even when handicapped by restricted sources. He has led St. Mary’s to 12 NCAA Tournament berths in 25 years. He’s constructed a program fueled by a global pipeline, ok to problem the West Coast mid-major dominance of Gonzaga. He was the WCC Coach of the Year 4 years in a row (2022-25). He would be a home run hire for ASU.
Context issues. While a transfer to the Big 12 has been a godsend for Kenny Dillingham’s soccer staff, it has been a slippery slope for the basketball program, one already saddled with NIL limitations, a drained and historic area, and a finances that is half of what the University of Arizona basketball spends on a yearly foundation.
But this season, the Big 12 despatched eight groups to the NCAA Tournament. Which means ASU must be the equal of Central Florida, ok for eighth place within the convention. Bennett could make that occur.
His groups have a distinct taste. They play painfully gradual on offense. They are ruthlessly and relentlessly boring. They lull defenses to sleep with movement and backdoor cuts. He additionally believes in pack-line protection, a man-to-man strategy with a heavy emphasis on assist from teammates, taking away penetration and forcing the opponent to attain from the perimeter. In different phrases:
He is aware of precisely what sorts of gamers he needs, and as a end result, he is aware of precisely what he is wanting for in recruits. He will scheme ASU basketball into a larger state of competitiveness.
Bennett may be the alternative of Dillingham on the size of youthful exuberance. But he is additionally native, deeply related to the state of Arizona. He starred at Westwood High School. He performed for his father, Tom, at Mesa Community College, the place Elder Bennett constructed a stellar program.
Randy Bennett is not a sizzling prospect climbing the ladder or the following massive factor in faculty basketball. His persona is modest. He is not going to win over an apathetic fan base with phrases alone.
But he’s native, adorned, demanding and extremely competent. And to repeat what others have already stated:
This is Arizona State basketball, a program that comes with warts and flaws. And in relation to their present head teaching emptiness, there’s Randy Bennett and everybody else.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 am – 10 am on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
