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Arizona State has found its replacement for Bobby Hurley.
The Sun Devils are hiring Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett as their next head coach, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel. The sides are finalizing a five-year deal, and Bennett told his team of his plan to leave for Arizona State on Monday afternoon.
Saint Mary’s didn’t waste any time, either. The Gaels are expected to promote assistant coach Mickey McConnell to replace Bennett. McConnell played at Saint Mary’s himself under Bennett, and has been an assistant there since 2019.
Bennett, 63, has spent his entire coaching career at Saint Mary’s, where he was first hired in 2001. He pretty quickly turned the program into a mid-major powerhouse. The Gaels won seven regular season WCC titles under his watch, including the last four, and they reached the NCAA tournament 12 times. Before he was hired, Saint Mary’s had only been to the NCAA tournament three times in program history.
The Gaels have won at least 20 games in every season dating back to 2007, save for the shortened COVID-19 campaign of 2020-21. They went 27-6 this season and reached the NCAA tournament, though they fell to Texas A&M in the first round.
Bennett, who is an Arizona native, will attempt to revive the Sun Devils’ program after several rough seasons under Hurley in recent years. The team missed the NCAA tournament in each of the past three seasons, and just barely had a winning record this season with a 17-16 finish.
While he got them to the NCAA tournament three times, and the team even climbed as high as No. 3 in the national rankings briefly during the 2017-18 campaign, Arizona State failed to win a NCAA tournament game or receive better than a No. 11 seed under Hurley’s watch. Arizona State let Hurley’s contract expire at the end of their season, ending his 11-year tenure there.
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The Sun Devils are hiring Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett as their next head coach, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel. The sides are finalizing a five-year deal, and Bennett told his team of his plan to leave for Arizona State on Monday afternoon.
Saint Mary’s didn’t waste any time, either. The Gaels are expected to promote assistant coach Mickey McConnell to replace Bennett. McConnell played at Saint Mary’s himself under Bennett, and has been an assistant there since 2019.
Bennett, 63, has spent his entire coaching career at Saint Mary’s, where he was first hired in 2001. He pretty quickly turned the program into a mid-major powerhouse. The Gaels won seven regular season WCC titles under his watch, including the last four, and they reached the NCAA tournament 12 times. Before he was hired, Saint Mary’s had only been to the NCAA tournament three times in program history.
The Gaels have won at least 20 games in every season dating back to 2007, save for the shortened COVID-19 campaign of 2020-21. They went 27-6 this season and reached the NCAA tournament, though they fell to Texas A&M in the first round.
Bennett, who is an Arizona native, will attempt to revive the Sun Devils’ program after several rough seasons under Hurley in recent years. The team missed the NCAA tournament in each of the past three seasons, and just barely had a winning record this season with a 17-16 finish.
While he got them to the NCAA tournament three times, and the team even climbed as high as No. 3 in the national rankings briefly during the 2017-18 campaign, Arizona State failed to win a NCAA tournament game or receive better than a No. 11 seed under Hurley’s watch. Arizona State let Hurley’s contract expire at the end of their season, ending his 11-year tenure there.
Continue reading...
