Arizona State University has found its Bobby Hurley replacement.
The Sun Devils named Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett the next man to lead the ASU men’s basketball program.
The deal would be for five years and Bennett informed his current team of his impending departure during a team meeting on Monday, according to ESPN.
Bennett said in a statement that it would have to “take a special situation for us to leave Saint Mary’s,” which the Arizona State job seemed to be.
“I am energized, driven, and focused on taking over Sun Devil Basketball, a program I am very familiar with and grew up watching,” he said. “We are in the best basketball conference in the nation and I look forward to the opportunity and am excited to meet everyone who wants to help this program reach our goals in the new landscape. My staff and I will be ready for the challenge.”
Bennett led the Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team for 25 seasons, making 12 NCAA Tournament appearances during that span and won at least a share of the WCC regular-season championships for four consecutive seasons. The Gaels fell to Texas A&M in the opening round of March Madness this year.
One of the biggest moments for the Gaels during Bennett’s tenure, which began in 2001, came in 2010 when they made the Sweet 16 and defeated No. 2 seed Villanova.
Saint Mary’s had been one of the most consistent mid-major programs in the country after Bennett took over.
The program had been coming off a season in which it had won just two games the year before Bennett’s hiring and he turned it into one that had at least 20 wins in 18 of his last 19 seasons there.
Bennett has significant ties to the area around Tempe, having grown up in Mesa, Arizona, and his dad served as a successful coach at the high school level before coaching 19 seasons at Mesa Community College.
Arizona State University made the decision not to renew the contract of longtime coach Bobby Hurley after they lost in the Big 12 Tournament to Iowa State.
Hurley coached at ASU for 11 seasons and had taken the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances during that span.
“Bobby Hurley has made incredible contributions to the sport of basketball, and that certainly includes many memorable moments during his time as our head coach,” athletic director Graham Rossini said in a statement back when the news was announced earlier this month.
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