Arizona State to hire St. Mary’s Randy Bennett as next head coach, replacing Bobby Hurley

Arizona State is expected to hire St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett as its next head coach, per Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman. He will replace Bobby Hurley, who was not retained after his contract expired.

Bennett built St. Mary’s in to a perennial NCAA Tournament team across his 25 seasons with the program. The Gaels went 9-20 during his debut campaign in 2001-22 and went on to make 12 March Madness appearances under his watch. Prior to Bennett’s arrival, St. Mary’s had only made three trips to the Big Dance in program history.

St. Mary’s also won four West Coast Conference tournaments under Bennett, including the 2024 title. The Gaels have also won four straight conference regular season championships and Bennett became a seven-time WCC Coach of the Year.

By taking over at Arizona State, Bennett will return to his roots in Arizona. A Mesa native, he also started his playing career at Mesa Community College before two seasons at UC San Diego. He then began his coaching career at San Diego in 1985-86 as a volunteer assistant before two years at Idaho as a graduate assistant from 1986-88.

That’s when he headed back to San Diego as a full-time assistant coach from 1988-96. From there, Bennett was an assistant at Pepperdine from 1996-99 and at Saint Louis from 1999-2001. St. Mary’s then hired him in 2001.

All told, across his 25 seasons as Gaels head coach, Randy Bennett amassed a 589-228 overall record and went 304-99 in West Coast Conference play. He also had a 7-12 record in NCAA Tournament games. In 2010, St. Mary’s made just its second-ever trip to the Sweet Sixteen in its third trip to the NCAA Tournament under his leadership.

Arizona State last made the NCAA Tournament in 2023, which was the third such appearance under Hurley. He finished with a 185-167 overall record as Sun Devils head coach, including a 90-115 mark in conference play across both the Pac-12 and Big 12.

“Coach Hurley has made incredible contributions to the sport of basketball, and that certainly includes many memorable moments during his time as our head coach,” Arizona State athletics director Graham Rossini said in a statement. “While we will not be extending his contract, we are so grateful for the 11 years that Coach, Leslie, Cameron, Sydney and Bobby Jr. spent with us at ASU. We wish Coach well moving forward and we are thankful for his leadership while at ASU.”