Bennett’s Sun Devils are laying the foundations for new year after establishing a 12 man roster

The beginning of Randy Bennett’s tenure as Arizona State men’s basketball head coach was anything but an easy transition for the 63-year-old. Bennett– the former head coach at St Mary’s for the last 25 years setting numerous program records. 

However, after being hired on March 23, Bennett started feeling ill leading to his hospitalization for 10 days at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. For the last five weeks through Bennetts recovery, his staff and the University have been planting the seeds for the Sun Devils 2026-27 campaign. 

When Bennett arrived in Tempe, the roster was barren, the sole returners from the Sun Devils previous season are guards Bryce Ford and Vijay Wallace– who didn’t play last season due to injury. 

Since then however ASU, has built an exciting roster featuring two of his former players Dillian Shaw and Paulius Murauskas, two starters for Bennett last season, Murauskas was the team’s leading scorer averaging 18.5 points per game. 

Bennett, a Mesa native, claimed in his 25 years at St. Mary’s he never had desires to leave for any other program, barring Arizona State. Since moving back to the Valley Bennett’s initial impressions of Tempe left him in amazement of what the city has become since he was a child. 

“ASU is such a huge part of the Phoenix metropolitan area,” Bennett said during his introductory press conference Thursday. “But it it’s also still a college campus. Like,  it has the feeling of a college campus, yet it’s just massive. It’s powerful.

“The campus like knocked out all those dorms and put in a great little food restaurant places and the hotels. None of that was there. So, it’s he’s done uh he’s Dr. Crow’s done a good a fantastic job.” 

While the spectacle of coaching for the university he grew up minutes from attracted Bennett to the job, what kept him interested were the conversations he held with ASU’s President Michael Crow and Athletic Director Graham Rossini. 

Financially, Bennett’s desire to build a program based on talent retention matched Rossini’s vision, which has led to major decisions surrounding how to allocate NIL funds. According to Bennett, 7-foot-1 center Massamba Diop, who finished second in scoring for the Sun Devils last year at 13.4 ppg, set an bidding price that was “just too high,” for ASU to match. Diop recently transferred to Gonzaga for next season. 

“I just had to feel from them that they got it,” Bennett said claiming he wasn’t sure if Crow and Rossini understood what financial resources would be needed to create a successful program. “You have to have some money, best way to do it is if you can retain players and that’s the way we’ll do it and but you have to have money for that. Now, if you go in the portal all the time, it’s I I don’t know if it’s twice as much, but it’s probably a time and a half.  And so our deal handshake was ‘I’m going to need your help.’” 

Culturally, Bennett claimed he’s been welcomed with open arms, a video of him meeting Sun Devil women’s basketball head coach Molly Miller showing a light hearted meeting between the two. 

“When I met her I was most impressed with her energy level,” Bennett said of Miller. “She was just have great energy and she was one of them that made me feel really welcome right off the bat.

“The way he leads his athletic program is very team oriented and it’s the same way he wants his sports teams. So, I think he’s pretty true to his philosophy on that.”

WIth the foundations laid, the Sun Devils next marquee task is to finalize their non conference schedule for the upcoming season. Bennett confirmed ASU’s involvement in the Acrisure tournament held in Palm Springs near Thanksgiving. Along with reverse matchups against Oklahoma in Norman, and former Pac-12 matchups with UCLA and Oregon State. 

“We need to have a good schedule always. I think it’s a huge part,” Bennett said. “I think it goes coaching, recruiting, scheduling. It’s a huge part. You can schedule yourself right out of tournament, especially in the Big 12. You’re going to get plenty of good games in the Big 12. So, we had to be pretty strategic and smart on filling out the rest schedule.” 

A program ASU will be certain to play twice in Big 12 play is Arizona. The 2026 Final Four participants swept the Sun Devils last season, and over the previous decades the Wildcats have become a staple for basketball excellence in Arizona and the Nation. For Bennett and ASU, establishing a program to their stature is the ultimate goal. 

“They’re not coming down. You got to go up,” Bennett said on Arizona. “And people when they make the mistake of, ‘hey, they’re losing this guy and this guy, they’ll be down.’ They’re not.

“That’s where we need to get to is we’re the programs big enough, stable enough, built enough that you you just keep bringing in new guys and keep getting them right,” 

Three time NBA Champion Byron Scott, and two time all star Fat Lever were the marquee Sun Devils of the last 1970s and early 1980s during the time Bennett grew up in Phoenix. Lever himself went to high school in Tucson but chose to play for the Maroon and Gold. 

Another pinnacle goal of Bennett’s is to maximize the talent that already resides in the 48th state. Something Arizona has done well i.e recruiting Koa Peat who averaged 14.1 ppg who attended Perry highschool in Gilbert. 

“We have resources here. This place, you mean play in front of your family and friends,” Bennett said. “No reason to leave. We just have to get good enough that they feel like they’re going to go to the NCAA tournament.” 

Bennetts ties to the valley run deeper than just location, it also set the foundation for his career as a college basketball coach. His father, Tom Bennett, coached for 19 years at Mesa Community College where he won six Region I Championships. Randy himself played for his dad going 56-10 over two seasons. 

Tom is now taking on a light associate coaching role with the team, allowing him to come out to practice every once in a while, helping his son and giving them another opportunity to be alongside each other for the game they love. 

“I hope we can get him out to practice once a week,” Bennett said. “Once a week would be cool. And I think he’s excited about having a team to follow and he’s been hit me with a zillion questions about who we’re recruiting and how’s it going. So anyhow, he’s great.

“He’s into it and I’m glad he’s got a I’m glad he’s got something to be excited about.”