Randall William Bennett (born June 9, 1962) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and the current head men's basketball coach at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

. He has led the team nine NCAA tournament appearances, regular season conference championships in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2023, 2024, and 2025 as well as WCC tournament championships in 2010, 2012, 2019, and 2024.

Early life and college playing career

Born in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, Bennett graduated from Westwood High School in Mesa and began his collegiate career at

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a Public college, public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the Unite ...

, playing under his father Tom from 1980 to 1982. Bennett then transferred to the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

(UC San Diego). As a senior in the 1984–85 season, Bennett averaged 7.0 points and 1.5 rebounds. Bennett graduated from UC San Diego in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in biology.

Coaching career

While completing his degree at UC San Diego, Bennett began his coaching career in the 1985–86 season as an assistant coach at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

under Hank Egan. Bennett then coached at

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

under Tim Floyd from 1986 to 1988. After two seasons at Idaho, Bennett returned to the University of San Diego and rejoined Egan's staff as an assistant coach. In 1994, Brad Holland replaced Egan and retained Bennett, until Bennett left in 1996 to be assistant at Pepperdine under

Lorenzo Romar Lorenzo Romar (born November 13, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball, Loyola Marymount Lions, a position he has held since 2024. He pre ...

. In 1999, Bennett followed Romar to Saint Louis. Bennett became a head coach for the first time in 2001 when

hired him. Inheriting a team that won only two games the previous season, Bennett improved his team's win–loss totals every season until 2004–05, when Saint Mary's went 25–9 with a berth in the NCAA tournament. Bennett has led Saint Mary's to the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2021. Given this success, Bennett has been linked to several coaching jobs in higher profile conferences in recent years, most recently at

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Oregon State,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

of the Pac-12. Coach Bennett signed a ten year extension with Saint Mary's Gaels through 2026–27.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Saint Mary's profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Randy 1962 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Arizona Basketball players from Mesa, Arizona College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Guards (basketball) Idaho Vandals men's basketball coaches Mesa Thunderbirds men's basketball players Pepperdine Waves men's basketball coaches Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball coaches Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball coaches San Diego Toreros men's basketball coaches UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen