Quick Facts
Biography
Randall William "Randy" Bennett (born (1962-06-09)June 9, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Saint Mary's College of California. Bennett has led the Gaels to a 314–147 record in his 15 years as head coach. Despite the longtime dominance of Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference, Bennett has made Saint Mary's into arguably the Bulldogs' top challenger for conference honors, with several 2nd place finishes and five NCAA tournament appearances, culminating in regular season conference championships in 2011, 2012 and 2016 as well as WCC tournament championships in 2010 and 2012.
Early life and college playing career
Born in Mesa, Arizona, 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 (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 under Hank Egan. Bennett then coached at Idaho 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 Saint Mary's College of California 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, and 2013 and National Invitation Tournament in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Given this success, Bennett has been linked to several coaching jobs in higher profile conferences in recent years, most recently at California, Oregon State, Oregon, and Utah of the Pac-12.
Bennett is currently signed at Saint Mary's through 2021.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary's (West Coast Conference) (2001–present) | |||||||||
| 2001–02 | Saint Mary's | 9–20 | 3–11 | 6th | |||||
| 2002–03 | Saint Mary's | 15–15 | 6–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2003–04 | Saint Mary's | 19–12 | 9–5 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2004–05 | Saint Mary's | 25–9 | 11–3 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Saint Mary's | 17–12 | 8–6 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2006–07 | Saint Mary's | 17–15 | 8–6 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2007–08 | Saint Mary's | 25–7 | 12–2 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Saint Mary's | 28–7 | 10–4 | 2nd | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2009–10 | Saint Mary's | 28–6 | 11–3 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2010–11 | Saint Mary's | 25–9 | 11–3 | T–1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2011–12 | Saint Mary's | 27–6 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | Saint Mary's | 28–7 | 14–2 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2013–14 | Saint Mary's | 23–12 | 11–7 | 4th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2014–15 | Saint Mary's | 21–10 | 13–5 | T–2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Saint Mary's | 29–6 | 15–3 | T–1st | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2016–17 | Saint Mary's | 5–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Saint Mary's: | 319–149 (.678) | 149–67 (.690) | |||||||
| Total: | 319–149 (.682) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||