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

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

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 Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate pr ...

. He has led the team to several second-place finishes and nine NCAA tournament appearances, culminating in regular season conference championships in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2023 and 2024 as well as WCC tournament championships in 2010, 2012 and 2019.

Early life and college playing career

Born in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community ...

, Bennett graduated from Westwood High School in Mesa and began his collegiate career at Mesa Community College, 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 or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

(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 Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Sc ...

under Hank Egan. Bennett then coached at

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

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. 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 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023 and

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

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 state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, Oregon State,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

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