How is Randy Bennett shaping his 1st ASU men’s basketball squad in summer practices?

TEMPE — Randy Bennett has more than a little familiarity with this stage in the college basketball offseason after 25 seasons of leading Saint Mary’s with a .721 win percentage.

But this summer is the most different of any this century for Bennett, now leading Arizona State and back in his home of the Phoenix metro area. Because everything — and everyone — is so new, Bennett said the process has gone “a little slower” than it normally would, but things are starting to come together.

Tuesday was the first time reporters saw the new-look group up close, as the Sun Devils began their fourth week of summer practices.

The sheer size up and down the roster was the first thing to catch the eye. Five players were listed at 6-foot-10 or taller at their previous stops, and all three centers on the roster clear the 7-foot mark.

That’s without factoring in 6-foot-8 combo forward Paulius Murauskas, likely a focal part of the offense as a top-10 transfer addition who was First Team All-WCC the past two seasons under Bennett at Saint Mary’s.

Bennett said “you have to” have that depth of size on a roster to compete in the Big 12, as he saw firsthand going up against Arizona in a preseason exhibition ahead of the Wildcats’ program-record 36 wins in 2025-26.

“If you don’t have that, you’re going to get crushed on the boards and get crushed inside,” Bennett said. “That was one of our strategic pieces we recruited.”

Much of the open portion focused on pushing the pace after made baskets, with the staff directing players to hit certain checkpoints on the floor as they make their way up so spacing comes together as intended. Coaches emphasized relocating after the ball doesn’t come in a first action to ensure the space stays open.

 

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Bennett’s offenses have largely played on the more deliberate end with fast-break possessions the rarity, so many have questioned whether his ASU offense would have the pace to keep up in the Big 12.

Returning wing Vijay Wallace, who did not play last season due to a lower-leg injury suffered in an exhibition, said the pace has been quick so far.

“I think we’re going to get out and run, get up a lot of shots. It’s going to be fun,” Wallace said.

Bennett noted that because of the unfamiliarity within the group, ASU isn’t quite onto full installs of the offensive and defensive scheme.

“The biggest stuff (right now) is not anything to do with the drills,” the coach said. “The biggest stuff is laying a foundation for your program. That would cover toughness, that’d cover team, that’d cover togetherness, that’d cover work ethic. Those are the things that we’re working on.

“Just little discipline things, toughness stuff and as a team, they need to buy into that. … We’ll get good enough players and I think we’ll do a good job of coaching them, but we have to lay that foundation and that’s not just for this year, that’s for years ahead too.”

ASU will have four more weeks of summer practice before getting three weeks off. Then comes the ramp-up to the nonconference opener — on a to-be-announced date early in November.

Other ASU men’s basketball takeaways from summer practice

— Now a couple of months removed from his hospital stay, Bennett said he’s feeling “good” and “normal” when it comes to his stamina.

— Returning local guard Bryce Ford practiced in a limited capacity as he recovers from hip surgery that took place shortly after the Big 12 Tournament. He expects to be fully cleared around October.

Ford said everything being “on the line, on the dot” under this staff is one of the biggest differences he’s seen from last year to this year: “You can just tell in practice how organized stuff is, like if something’s going to start at 3, it’s going to start at 3 on the dot.”

— One of the 6-foot-10 players, Australian forward Ajak Nyuon, is not yet with the team. The only other player yet to arrive is 6-foot-6 Lithuanian guard Jokubas Rudaitis, who is working with his junior national team ahead of the U20 European Championships.

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