Randy Bennett
Randy Bennett (born June 9, 1962)
Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Saint Mary’s Gaels
Current conference: West Coast Conference (WCC)
Saint Mary’s record: 533-216 (.712)
Overall record: 533-216 (.712)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 10 (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 1 (2010)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 7 (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021)
- WCC Regular Season Champion: 5 (2011, 2012, 2016, 2023, 2024)
- WCC Tournament Champion: 4 (2010, 2012, 2019, 2024)
Awards:
- WCC Coach of the Year: 6 (2008, 2011, 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
2001-present | Saint Mary’s |
1999-2001 | Saint Louis (asst) |
1996-1999 | Pepperdine (asst) |
1988-1996 | San Diego (asst) |
1986-1988 | Idaho (asst) |
1985-1986 | San Diego (asst) |
Randy Bennett Facts
- Randall William Bennett
- Born June 9, 1962
- Hometown: Mesa, Arizona
- Alma Mater: University of California, San Diego (BS, 1986)
- Played at Mesa CC (AZ) for two years, then played for head coach Tom Marshall and the (then Division II) UC San Diego Tritons
- Spent sixteen seasons as an assistant coach, spending time working under Hank Egan and Brad Holland at San Diego, Tim Floyd at Idaho and Lorenzo Romar at both Pepperdine and Saint Louis
- Hired as the Saint Mary’s head coach in 2001, inheriting a Gaels team that had gone 2-27 the previous year; by year three, the Gaels finished 2nd in the WCC and by year four were back in the NCAA Tournament
- Bennett has been to ten NCAA Tournaments and seven NITs during his tenure at SMC
- Has claimed five WCC regular season titles, four WCC Tournament championships, and won the WCC COY Award six times
- Outside of his first two rebuilding years, Bennett has only finished lower than 3rd in the WCC one time (4th place in 2014
Randy Bennett Coaching Tree
- Adam Caporn (Long Island Nets)
- Rick Croy (California Baptist)
- Eran Ganot (Hawaii)
- Todd Golden (Florida, San Francisco)
- David Patrick (Sacramento State, UC Riverside)
- Jim Shaw (Western Oregon)
- Kyle Smith (Stanford, Washington State, San Francisco, Columbia)
- Lamont Smith (San Diego)