When Randy Bennett was hired as head coach of the Saint Mary’s men’s basketball program in 2001, he inherited a 2-27 squad. The average college basketball fan didn’t have a clue what Saint Mary’s College even was.
In the 24 years since, Bennett has made a tiny Catholic school nestled in the East Bay hills of Northern California into a household name.
Saint Mary’s is on the verge of its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament and 11th overall in Bennett’s tenure. On Saturday in Spokane, the Gaels will look for their sixth victory in 10 games over archrival Gonzaga. It’s business as usual for Bennett, who very quietly has established himself as one of the premier coaches in the game. “He has had a lot of opportunities to leave for a lot more money,” Mike Matoso, Saint Mary’s Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, told Hoops HQ. “When it’s all said and done, people are going to look back at what he’s done here, and it’s going to go down as one of the best coaching careers in college basketball history.”
A school with over 2,000 students, Saint Mary’s is frequently one of the smallest colleges to play in the NCAA Tournament. Yet, it is one of only four programs to reach 17 consecutive postseasons.
Building the program from nothing when he arrived, Bennett had to be creative. An early turning point came when he got a recommendation from an Arizona State assistant coach about an Australian player, a region nearly untouched back then. “That summer [of 2001], we were in August, and we still had two scholarships open,” Bennett told Hoops HQ. “We ended up with Adam Caporn. He got here two days late for school. I’d never met him, I’d never seen him, but he started for us that year as a freshman.”
Caporn is now an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards. His arrival started the Australian pipeline to Moraga. There has been at least one Australian on every Saint Mary’s team Bennett has coached. Some of the most decorated players in program history are from Down Under, including 16-year NBA veteran Patty Mills and former WCC Player of the Year Matthew Dellavedova. Former All-American Jock Landale is currently with the Houston Rockets.
Without the capacity to attract five-star talents, Bennett’s work to recruit Australians has been instrumental to the program’s success. “They recognized our style of play and they were familiar with it,” Bennett said. “We weren’t going to get the McDonald’s All-Americans and we still can’t. You may not have the most athletic 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9 wings, but you can get 6-foot-10, 6-foot-11 bigs that can shoot, pass and play good positional defense.”
Playing a style that is familiar to international players has made Saint Mary’s an attractive landing spot for imports. The Gaels are always one of the slowest-paced teams in the country. They limit opportunities with suffocating defense and methodical offense. Bennett’s philosophy has helped shield the program from some of the challenges presented by the NIL era. In 2023, Saint Mary’s had zero players enter the transfer portal. “Every kid now, NIL is on their mind,” Matoso said. “But I don’t think it’s as much a priority for [international players] as domestic kids. I think they’re appreciative of the opportunity to come over here and play.”
That doesn’t mean the Gaels are immune to NIL challenges. Last offseason, top scorer Aidan Mahaney departed for UConn and starter Joshua Jefferson transferred to Iowa State. That should have led to a down season, but instead the Gaels are 24-4 (14-1 WCC) and in a very strong position for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament should they falter in the WCC Tournament.
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Another recent point of emphasis for the Gaels has been bolstering their non-conference schedule. This decision has helped elevate St Mary’s from a bubble team to a No. 5 seed in three consecutive tournaments. Its improvements in resume-building are reflected in NET rankings: 19th in 2022-23, 18th in 2023-24, and currently 21st. It has also helped Saint Mary’s close the gap in the conference with Gonzaga, which built itself into a national powerhouse with a highly aggressive non-conference schedule.
Augustas Marciulionis, the reigning WCC Player of the Year, helped Bennett establish roots in another under-explored area — Lithuania — when he arrived in 2021. He also helped Bennett sign his countryman Paulius Murauskas, who transferred from Arizona, to help replace the departed players. When Bennett found out Marciulionis overlapped with Murauskas growing up, he sprang into action. “Augustus called him,” Bennett said. “We brought him over on the visit and that was that. He didn’t visit anywhere else. It has been great for both of us.”
Murauskas has provided a vital secondary scoring option, averaging 13 points per game and also leading the team with 8.3 boards per game. He set a career-high with 30 points against Washington St last Saturday.
For nearly 25 years, the measuring stick in the WCC has been the Zags. “For us to keep up with them and to win some championships in this league, to become the program we are, we had to chase them,” Bennett said. “Every once in a while, we’ve gotten to their level, and then they raise their level again, and they’re playing in Final Fours.” This rivalry doesn’t have that same underdog feel anymore. Saint Mary’s has won three of the last four matchups, including a conference championship win last season. “I think a lot of schools (in the WCC) make the mistake of trying to be Gonzaga,” Matoso said. “Our mentality is to be the best Saint Mary’s we can be. I think we’ve done a good job of closing that gap.”
After the 2025-26 season, Gonzaga will depart the WCC for the Pac-12, putting the rivalry in jeopardy. Bennett and Matoso are hoping to keep the annual game alive. Gonzaga’s departure will leave Saint Mary’s as the clear dominant program in the conference. For years, Bennett has been asked why he remains loyal to the Gaels, turning down power conference programs. “It was the place that gave me a chance,” he said. “I had no idea how great a place it was. I haven’t left because I’ve been so happy here. I’ve tried to leave it in a better place than when I took the job.”
He chuckled. “I think I’ve got that one checked.”
