After spending 25 years building Saint Mary’s into a West Coast college basketball power, Randy Bennett pulled off a shocker when he departed to take the vacant Arizona State job this spring.
Bennett coaches his first regular season game from the Sun Devils’ sideline Monday when they host East Tennessee State in Tempe, Ariz.
Arizona State was picked 12th in the Big 12 preseason poll but the material is there to outperform expectations. Bennett brought in a solid transfer class, plucking players not just from his old roster but from throughout the West Coast Conference.
From Saint Mary’s, Bennett took Paulius Murauskas, the Big 12 preseason Newcomer of the Year after averaging 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds last season for the Gaels, and 6-8 swingman Dillan Shaw, who made 41.6% of his 3-pointers last season.
Also new to the roster are Gonzaga transfer Emmanuel Innocenti, who profiles as a classic 3-and-D small forward. Point guard Joel Foxwell averaged 15.6 points and 6.5 assists as a freshman last season, becoming Portland’s first All-WCC pick in a decade.
“We’re going to fire a good shot,” Bennett said of his team. “I think this is a great basketball job. We’re expected to hit it running.”
East Tennessee State has been picked for a second-place finish in the Southern Conference’s preseason poll. The Buccaneers won the regular season title in 2025-26 but lost the conference championship game to Furman.
A key player for coach Brooks Savage is point guard B.J. Ward, a transfer from Southeast Missouri State who averaged 10.9 points and 3.7 assists last season. He’s one of 10 new players on the roster.
If the Buccaneers are to have a chance, they will have to shore things up inside. They were outrebounded 46-25 in an exhibition loss against defending Big South champion High Point.
“Rebounding is a group effort and we’ve got to have more of them,” Savage said. “We have to do a better job of understanding that as our team grows and matures.”
