Randy Bennett took over as the head men's basketball coach prior to the 2001-02 season and in five years as the head coach at Saint Mary's College, he's brought the excitement back to the program after leading the Gaels to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005. The at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament marked the fourth in the school's history and first since the 1996-97 campaign.

In his five years at Saint Mary's, Bennett has led the Gaels to a 85-68 (.555) overall record while compiling a 38-30 (.559) mark in West Coast Conference action. He became just the fourth head coach in school history to lead SMC to the NCAA Tournament when the Gaels garnered a No. 10 seed in 2005. His 85 wins currently ranks fourth in school history, one behind Bill Oates' seven-year mark of 86. Of the 27 coaches to roam the sidelines at SMC, Bennett ranks second in winning percentage for SMC coaches that have led the Gaels into 100 or more games.

During the past three seasons, Bennett has guided the Gaels to 61 total wins, just over 20 wins per season. The 61 wins since the 2003-04 campaign mark the second most wins in a three-year span in the 98 years of the program. The 61 wins is just one victory shy of equaling the most wins in a three-year span in school history.

He's led SMC to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament in each of his five seasons, which include WCC Tournament final appearances in 2004 and 2005. Under Bennett's tutiledge, the Gaels posted back-to-back second place finishes in the WCC in 2004 and 2005.

In what many considered a rebuilding year for the Gaels in 2005-06, Bennett guided the Gaels to a 17-12 record, marking the third straight winning season. After a 1-5 start to WCC play, the Gaels rallied to post a 9-2 record over the finall 11 games and post their third straight second place finish in the West Coast Conference. Saint Mary's averaged 70.7 points per game and the team's scoreing leader Daniel Kickert (16.7 ppg) was named to the First Team All-WCC squad for the third straight season. Damon Simpson, who led the Gaels in rebounds (6.7 pg) and blocks (1.4 pg), was named to the conference's all-freshman team.

The 2004-05 season was one to remember, as Bennett guided SMC to a school record 25 victories, matching the 1988-89 mark. In addition, the Gaels posted a 13-4 non-conference mark and a 15-1 record in McKeon Pavilion. The 13 non-conference wins established a new school record, while the 15-1 home record marked the most wins and best winning percentage in the 28-year history of McKeon Pavilion.

At the conclusion of the 2004-05 season, the Gaels had an RPI of 30 out of the nation's 330 Division I men's basketball programs. The season-ending RPI marked the highest in school history and fourth best ever in the WCC. The Gaels reached an RPI of 27 midway through the season, marking the best in school history. When Bennett took over the program in 2001, the Gaels were coming off a 2-27 campaign in 2000-01 and were ranked 315 out of 319 teams in the RPI. Since that time, SMC has seen the nation's biggest jump in RPI over the past four years, improving 285 positions since Bennett took over the program.

Bennett guided SMC to 25 wins in 2004-05, marking just the sixth time in school history that the men's basketball team eclisped the 20-win mark. The last time the Gaels topped the monumental 20-win plateau was the 1988-89 season when SMC posted a 25-5 record. En route to 25 victories, the Gaels posted an 11-3 mark in WCC action, marking the best record in conference play since the 1988-89 campaign. With 11 WCC victories SMC posted the second most conference wins in one season, marking just the fourth time SMC has posted 11 wins during conference play since joining the WCC as a charter member in 1951.

Following the 2004-05 campaign, Daniel Kickert and Paul Marigney were named to the First Team-All WCC team for the second straight season. Additionally, Kickert was named the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Player of the Year.

In his third year, Bennett guided the Gaels to a 19-12 overall, a second place finished in the West Coast Conference in 2003-04 with a 9-5 record, and a finals appearance in the 2004 WCC Tournament. Bennett also coached sophomore Daniel Kickert and junior Paul Marigney to First Team All-WCC honors, marking the first time SMC landed two players on the all-conference team since the 1996-97 season.

In his first year he guided the team to a 9-20 record, which was seven wins better than the previous year. In year two, the 15-15 overall record was six wins better than 2001-02 season, and 13 wins more than when he took over as the head coach. Following his third season, the Gaels were 18-11 heading in to the conference tournament and advanced to the semifinals of tournament for the third straight year.

In Bennett's first recruiting class he brought in junior college transfers Samuel Saint-Jean and Anthony Woodards. In their second years, Saint-Jean garnered First Team All-WCC accolades and Woodards was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year. The selection of Saint-Jean to the all-conference team was the first Saint Mary's selection since 1999 and Woodards' defensive honor marked the first Gael to earn that honor, and the first SMC player since 1999 WCC Player of the Year Eric Schraeder to earn a conference individual award.

With Woodards spearheading the defense, Bennett's squad has led the conference in scoring defense the past two seasons, allowing 64.1 points per game in each campaign. In addition to the best overall scoring defense in the conference in 2002-03 Saint Mary's was second in rebounding defense (32.9 pg) and steals per game (7.24), and third in 3-point field goal percentage defense (33.9 percent).

Combined with his four years as the head coach at SMC, Bennett has nearly 20 years of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level. After serving as an assistant coach for 16 years at San Diego (1985-96), Pepperdine (1996-99) and Saint Louis (1999-01), Bennett was hired as the 27th head coach at Saint Mary's in April 10, 2001. His tremendous wealth of knowledge and coaching expertise helped SMC to its first NCAA tournament berth in nine years and he was rewarded with a six-year contract in April of 2005, locking him in at SMC through the 2009-10 campaign.

Prior to accepting the position in Moraga, Bennett was the top assistant at Saint Louis University for two years under Lorenzo Romar. Taking over after a season in which the Billikens were sub .500, Romar and Bennett coached Saint Louis to an NCAA Tournament berth after winning the Conference USA Tournament with four consecutive wins in four consecutive days, holding all opponents under 60 points. Saint Louis was the first team in NCAA history to accomplish this feat. Included was an upset of then #1 nationally ranked Cincinnati. Bennett's on-court duties at Saint Louis included coordinating the conference's best field goal defense, working daily with individual players, and teaching team concepts. Off the court, Bennett was the recruiting coordinator, organized practice schedules, and scouting.

Before working with Romar at Saint Louis, Bennett was also his top assistant at Pepperdine University from 1996-99, where he helped rebuild the Waves' program. The 11-win turnaround following the 1996-97 season was the second biggest improvement in the nation from the year prior. Two years after taking over a program that finished last in the WCC, the Waves finished second in 1998 and 1999 and advanced to the NIT following a 19-12 finish to the 1998-99 regular season. As the recruiting coordinator at Pepperdine, Bennett helped bring in a 1997 Top-20 nationally ranked class, which included talented players such as 2001 All-WCC honorees Kelvin Gibbs and California transfer Jelani Gardner and Arizona State University transfer Tommie Prince. In 1998, 2001 All-WCC honoree Brandon Armstrong was also recruited by Bennett out of Vallejo High School. Armstrong went on to be the first West Coast Conference player to be drafted in the first round since Steve Nash and the first player since Dennis Johnson to leave school early to go to the NBA. He was also responsible for coordinating the defense, which was ranked #1 in the WCC in 1997 and 1998. Bennett worked with individual players on a daily basis, teaching team concepts and coordinating and evaluating practices.

Bennett began his coaching career with a one-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego. He then moved to the University of Idaho for two-years, before returning to San Diego for another eight seasons as the Toreros top assistant. Bennett started at San Diego under former head coach Hank Egan, now the top assistant for the San Antonio Spurs, and current Toreros head coach Brad Holland. During his time at San Diego, the Toreros amassed a 122-102 overall record (.598). Bennett was the recruiting coordinator for the Toreros, and also worked daily with individual players, taught team concepts, coordinated and executed practice, as well as assisted with the coordination of a preseason conditioning program.

In his two-year stint at the University of Idaho, Bennett worked under former Chicago Bulls head coach Tim Floyd from 1987-88. The Vandals finished the 1988 season 19-11 and placed second in the Big Sky Conference.

Bennett earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from the University of California at San Diego in 1986, where he played basketball from 1983-85 and was the team captain. Prior to UCSD, he attended Mesa Community College in Mesa, AZ, where he played basketball for his father from 1980-82. At Mesa, Bennett helped his team to a 31-4 record and an Arizona Junior College Championship in the 1980-81 season, as well as a #10 national ranking. In the 1981-82 season Bennett was the team captain, helping the team to a 25-6 record and a second Arizona Junior College Championship. Randy has been married to Darlene for five years. Randy and his wife Darlene live in Moraga and have two children named Chase (3) and Cade (2).
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