Arizona State basketball coach Randy Bennett is diving into his ‘dream job’ following health issue

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Randy Bennett was thrilled to be introduced as the next coach at Arizona State, his hometown school and the only place that could lure him away from a 25-year career at Saint Mary’s.

A health issue interrupted, sending him to the hospital and pushing back his introductory news conference to five weeks after he was hired.

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“Sorry about the pump fake on the first one,” Bennett said Thursday. “I should do much better on this one.”

Bennett had said no to overtures from bigger programs for years, comfortable with his family and his place in the basketball world at Saint Mary’s.

When Arizona State came calling after the firing of Bobby Hurley, the job was too good to pass up for a coach who grew up in the Phoenix area and watched the Sun Devils in their heyday.

The 63-year-old coach has settled into his “dream job” — after a bit of a scare.

Hired on March 23, Bennett started feeling ill shortly after arriving in Phoenix. Arizona State’s trainer took him to the hospital and he spent the next 10 days dealing with and recovering from an undisclosed medical issue.

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“Thank God for Mayo Clinic,” Bennett said. “I don’t know where I’d be without them. It threw me off a bit, but the last thing I needed to be doing was stressing out about the portal, the job. Now I’m catching my stride, working longer days. We’ve gotten a lot done in five weeks. I feel good.”

Bennett has been able to dig in since his hospital stay, filling out his coaching staff, building a 12-player roster with a transfer portal haul ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 by the 247 Sports composite.

Versatile forward Paulius Murauskas followed Bennett from Saint Mary’s after averaging 18.4 points per game. Former Gaels guard Dillan Shaw also joined Bennett at Arizona State, along with Portland guard Joel Foxwell. Boston University forward Ben Defty and Gonzaga forward Emmanuel Innocenti.

Bennett still needs to add two players but likes where his roster stands as he…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/arizona-state-basketball-coach-randy-213102050.html

Author : JOHN MARSHALL

Publish date : 2026-05-07 21:31:00

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