TEMPE – The lights went out, flames shot into the air and Sun Devils fans turned up the heat with a warm welcome for Randy Bennett as he took the court for his regular-season coaching debut with Arizona State.
As student and fan cheers echoed through Desert Financial Arena, Bennett barely reacted. The crowd grew louder, but Bennett sat on the bench, keeping his focus on the game and his opponent, East Tennessee State.
After 25 seasons at Saint Mary’s, Bennett turned the page to a new chapter in his career. The Mesa Westwood High School graduate returned to his Arizona roots, taking the sideline for the first time in a regular-season game as coach of the team for which he grew up rooting.
Bennett’s journey to his Sun Devils debut came with an unexpected detour. After accepting the coaching vacancy on March 23 following Bobby Hurley’s departure, Bennett had an undisclosed heart issue that led to a 10-day hospital stay at Mayo Clinic, delaying his introductory press conference to May 7.
Despite the unexpected setback, Bennett was roaming the sideline when the Sun Devils defeated East Tennessee State 75-65, giving Bennett his first victory at ASU.
When asked what it meant to finally coach the team he cheered for growing up, Bennett struggled to put the significance into words.
“The only way I can say it is, this means a lot to me,” he said.
The victory did not come without obstacles. Only two players returned from last season’s roster. New situations bring challenges, but Bennett knows he must establish his coaching philosophy while his players build chemistry because they have limited experience playing together.
Bennett spent much of the game on the bench, allowing his assistants to play a more active role in communicating with the players offensively. Only occasionally did his calm demeanor give way to emotion on the defensive side of the ball.
He jumped out of his seat when his team drew a charge and remained standing for multiple possessions until a TV timeout after disagreeing with a foul called on Paulius Murauskas.
Arizona State led the entire second half, but the Buccaneers tested the Sun Devils’ poise when they cut the lead to five at the halfway point.
“What I was pleased with (was) composure,” Bennett said. “Because it was kind of ratty there for a while, and we were choppy on defense.”
Bennett is no stranger to success, having established Saint Mary’s as a consistent NCAA Tournament threat. During his time in the West Coast Conference, Bennett compiled a 589-228 record with the Gaels and made 12 Tournament appearances, including six since 2019.
During his time at Saint Mary’s, his teams emphasized getting stops on defense and finding high-quality looks offensively while controlling the pace and limiting mistakes.
Bennett’s offensive philosophy was on display Monday. The Sun Devils created open looks but struggled to knock down shots early, shooting 3-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half.
ASU found more success from 3-point range in the second half, connecting on 41.7% of its attempts. ASU also won the turnover battle, committing 10 to East Tennessee State’s 13.
Portland transfer guard Joel Foxwell played a pivotal role in creating offense for the Sun Devils with 15 points and five assists. He helped create opportunities for his teammates while adjusting to the blitzing and pressure from the Buccaneers’ defense.
For Foxwell, Bennett’s system means making quick decisions to get his teammates open and keep everyone involved.
“Randy’s just giving me the opportunity to go out there, run the team and give the guys the best shot possible,” Foxwell said.
Foxwell’s responsibility was evident throughout the game. The Sun Devils always looked to make the extra pass to help create open looks, something Bennett emphasized at Saint Mary’s.
Despite the improvements offensively, Bennett’s defensive expectations are still a work in progress. Murauskas followed Bennett from Saint Mary’s to Arizona State and wasn’t satisfied with the defensive effort, since he knows the standard.
“I don’t think we played great tonight,” Murauskas said. “I’m not satisfied with it, but it’s good that we grabbed the win. That’s the most important thing.”
While Bennett’s first victory signals the beginning of a new era in Tempe, the challenge of competing in the Big 12 still looms. He built Saint Mary’s into a consistent postseason contender, but now he faces the task of achieving the same level of success in one of college basketball’s toughest conferences.
Bennett understands building a successful program takes time, and he believes the Sun Devils have plenty of room to improve.
“We gotta play better,” Bennett said. “If you act right and play hard, I think people appreciate that. And we’ll do that, but we’re just not where we need to be yet, and we won’t be for a while.”
When the final buzzer sounded and the Sun Devils celebrated their season-opening win, the veteran coach remained stoic, treating it like any other.
For Bennett, it was just one game, but it marked the beginning of a new chapter in his home state.
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
