Randy Bennett

Randy Bennett of St. Mary’s College (Calif.) on March 2, 2011, was named as an assistant coach for the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Championship Team.

Bennett will assist USA Men’s U19 and George Mason head coach Paul Hewitt at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship June 30 – July 10 in Liepaja and Riga, Latvia.

“It is a privilege to work with an organization as respected as USA Basketball,” Bennett said. “I'm looking forward to representing the USA in competition this summer. I want to contribute to the coaching staff in any way I can. It's an honor to be selected, and I'm looking forward to working with the coaches, players and everyone involved.”

This is not Bennett's first USA Basketball experience. He was a court coach during the 2010 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team Training Camp.

After 10 seasons as the head coach at Saint Mary’s (2001-02 to present), Bennett lists as the Gaels’ all-time wins leader with 208 victories. Bennett has guided the Gaels to a 208-112 (.650 winning percentage) overall record while compiling an 89-51 (.636 winning percentage) mark in West Coast Conference (WCC) action.

Named the 2011 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, Bennett led his 2010-11 team to a 25-9 mark, and to the NIT.

With the team's 25 wins in 2010-11, Bennett has now guided the Gaels to four-straight 25-win or better seasons and is the only coach in school history to lead teams to back-to-back 20-win campaigns.

Over the last four years, Saint Mary's has a 106-29 overall record for an .785 winning percentage.

Also the 2008 Co-WCC Coach of the Year and the 2010 Sporting News WCC Coach of the Year, Bennett has led his teams to the post season five times, with three NCAA Tournament appearances (2005, 2008, and 2010) and the school's first two NIT appearances (2009 and 2011). No other SMC coach has guided his squad to more than one post-season appearance.

Additionally, Bennett has led Saint Mary’s to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament in each of his 10 seasons, advancing to the WCC Tournament finals in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011, earning the tournament championship in 2010.

With a 28-6 record in 2009-10, Bennett became the only coach in school history to lead teams to back-to-back 20-win campaigns. The Gaels reached the Sweet Sixteen of 2010 NCAA Tournament with wins over Richmond and Villanova, marking the first NCAA Tournament wins in 51 years. SMC also captured the WCC Tournament title for the first time since 1997, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In addition to his nine years at Saint Mary’s, Bennett served as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego (1985-86, 1988-89 through 1995-96), University of Idaho (1986-87 through 1987-88), Pepperdine (1996-97 through 1998-99) and Saint Louis (1999-2000 through 2000-01). All told, in 16 seasons as an assistant, he helped lead teams to a 243-219 (.526 winning percentage) win-loss record.

He 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, Ariz., where he played basketball for his father from 1980-82. At Mesa, Bennett helped his team to a 31-4 record and the 1981 Arizona Junior College Championship, as well as a No. 10 national ranking. In 1981-82, Bennett helped the team to a 25-6 record and a second Arizona Junior College Championship as the team’s captain.

Randy married Darlene (Darby) in the summer of 1998, and lives in Moraga , Calif., with their two sons Chase and Cade.