Beating Arizona atop ASU head coach Randy Bennett’s priorities
Arizona State's Randy Bennett has yet to coach a game for the Sun Devils but already has a good idea of the Wildcat-sized task at hand.
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Arizona State’s Randy Bennett has yet to coach a game for the Sun Devils but already has a good idea of the Wildcat-sized task at hand.
On top of getting used to his new surroundings and the Big 12 after a 25-year career at Saint Mary’s, Bennett understands there’s a basketball giant down the road in Tucson.
“They’re at the top. I know. We scrimmaged them last year. I know what they’re about,” Bennett told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein on Tuesday when talking about Arizona. “They’re good. Real good, big.
“I think it’ll be an awesome environment in both places. If we want to do anything, we’re going to have to beat them.”
Bennett is all too familiar with having to go toe-to-toe with a conference juggernaut. Much like Arizona is to the Big 12, Gonzaga is to the West Coast Conference.
It wasn’t easy starting out, with Saint Mary’s losing 11 straight meetings in Bennett’s first four years on the job. Home, away or at a neutral site, it didn’t matter.
Then came 2005, when the Gaels secured that first win under Bennett. He was able to notch 17 more victories throughout the rest of his Saint Mary’s tenure, making up nearly half of the Gaels’ all-time wins against the Bulldogs.
“It’s the same thing we had to do at Gonzaga. Took us four years to do it,” Bennett said. “Hopefully it doesn’t take that long here. Those are the ones you got to eventually beat if you want to try and win a championship.
“One step at a time. I know they’ll be good, but I think we’ll be good, too.”
ASU has lost seven straight games against Arizona going back to 2023. The last time the Sun Devils beat the Wildcats was Feb. 25, 2023. ASU got the win behind a halfcourt buzzer-beater from Desmond Cambridge Jr.
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Comments
4 Comments
It's actually "easy" to understand . . . U of A basketball has had 30+ years of success, and is the ONLY thing in town (Tucson), that has (basically) the same weather and women. It's a quintessential "college town", like Tuscaloosa and Tallahassee, where as Tempe (as you said) sits in the 5th largest city in the Country, with pro sports, and tons of people from other schools, who don't care about the Devils. Add in a bunch of commuter students, who just want to get their degree, and don't care about sports, and this is what you get. There are almost twice as many undergrads than at U of A. Different environment, vibe, and college experience than in Tempe. Add in the opportunity to win conference championships, go to the tournament, potentially get to the NBA, while being the "only game in town"/sold out games, and that's why Lute, Sean, and Tommy get the blue chip recruits.
That is a pretty myopic and shallow objective at this point since you haven’t coached game one yet. So stop with the Media fodder and focus on long-term recruitment and building a comprehensive program that can compete with Arizona and other top-notch schools ASAP. Then beating Arizona will just happen over time. I never understood how a school in Tucson Arizona can compete with a school in Tempe, Arizona adjacent to Phoenix, the fifth largest city in the nation. Great weather, great women, great everything and yet we Can’t recruit blue chip recruit blue basketball players to play here. Focus on that Bennett!!!!! I’m already not impressed. You have a long, long way to go.!!!!!!
Don't hold your breath. Randy will soon find ouot what having the 9th best team in the B12 means, and it ain't beating UA. Try to beat UCF or KSU or TCU first, then play the blue bloods.