July 20, 2007
The king of the hill resides in Moraga
Continuing to forsee the future in looking at non-PAC-10 men’s basketball coaches in the Bay Area, Randy Bennett deservedly ranks as the dean, both in longetivity and success but faces some intriguing concerns.
Randy Bennett
In the cases of phenoms Larry Gurganious, Antonio Kellogg, DeMarcus Nelson, Tim Pierce and Quentin Thomas, they have yet to. The reasons are multiple.
Continuing to forsee the future in looking at non-PAC-10 men’s basketball coaches in the Bay Area, Randy Bennett deservedly ranks as the dean, both in longetivity and success but faces some intriguing concerns.
In six season in Moraga beginning in 2001-2002, Bennett has compiled a 102-93 overall record, 46-38 in West Coast Conference (WCC) play.
Even better, Bennett’s Gaels have gone 36-20 against the likes of Gonzaga, Santa Clara and the rest of the WCC in the past four seasons.
Like raising a basketball Lazarus from the dead, Bennett has quickly and efficiently managed his turnaround of the previous sad sack St. Mary’s program. Taking over for Dave Bollwinkel and a 2-27 record, Bennett went 9-20 in his initial season as a head coach. Then it was 15-15, followed by winning seasons ever since.
Diamon Simpson leads the local recruits who return to St. Mary’s in 2007-08
Just how did Bennett manage his resuscitation of the previously moribund Gaels program?
Think Australia, think the Bay Area and think Arizona. Or, as Bennett might put it, thanks to Australia, thanks to the Bay Area and thanks to Arizona.
As for Australia, it’s specifically Daniel Kickert. The 6-10 240 Aussie native became a three-time WCC All-Conference Team member after arriving in Moraga for the 2002-2003 season. Now playing in Europe, Kickert literally carried the team during his upperclassmen seasons. Without him, the Gaels would at best have been stumbling along at the .500 level.
Regarding the Bay Area, Paul Marigney, a backcourt recruit of Bollwinkel’s, also provided the ballast Bennett needed in righting the ship. As a sophomore in 2001-2002, Marigney scored 11.3 ppg. giving Bennett some shooting guard firepower. Out of Castlemont High School in Oakland, Marigney missed the next season due to injury but returned to average 16.0 ppg. as a junior in 2003-2004, followed by 16.8 ppg. as a senior. He was a First Team All-West Coast Conference selection his junior and senior seasons and instrumental in St. Mary’s success.
Also, E.J. Rowland played for St. Mary’s from 2002 to 2004, averaging double figures both seasons with 13.3 and 11.1 ppg. respectively. He was the point guard of the 2005 Saint Mary’s NCAA Tournament team. From just south of the Bay Area, Rowland came to Moraga after his sophomore season at Hartnell Junior College in Salinas.
These three were true linchpins for Bennett and St. Mary’s, players that both benefitted and blossomed playing under Bennett’s tutelage.
The connection with Arizona however would kick in a bit later.
Looking at this past season, a geographical breakdown of the St. Mary’s roster is quite telling:
Brett Collins, Todd Golden and DuBois Williams call Arizona home. Bennett played community college basketball for his father in the Mesa area from 1980 to 1982. Tom Bennett has coached in both the prep and junior college ranks for years in the Grand Canyon state so the Bennetts have that territory well scouted.
Both Carlin Hughes and Lucas Walker, who redshirted in 2006-2007, hail from Australia, Perth specifically. Kickert obviously greased the pathway.
Omar Sanham, Diamon Simpson, Wayne Hunter, Ian O’Leary, Blake Sholberg, John Winston and Yusef Smith all came from various cities and towns located around the Bay Area and northern California. These are localities well aware of the dramatic turnaround in the basketball fortunes of St. Mary’s since Bennett’s hire.
Tron Smith was the sole southern California native, albeit after a stop at yes, Arizona State, and then a junior college.
So give Bennett two conjoining states and one faraway country and he has his recruiting needs handled.
As for recruiting this past season, Bennett signed two players: point guard Mickey McConnell out of yes, Arizona and heralded Patrick Mills, another backcourter from yes, Canberra, Australia.
He also signed guard Kareem Nitoto, out of San Leandro High School, but Nitoto eventually wound up at Hawaii instead, in the Western Athletic Conference. It’s unclear if Nitoto left St. Mary’s of his own volition, seeing the pileup of backcourt recruits, or was ‘encouraged’ to look elsewhere.
The questions currently facing Bennett are interesting, ones he alone faces among non PAC-10 coaches in the Bay Area. The metrics are much different than those say facing San Jose State Coach George Nessman because of Bennett’s early on success. Answers will be sought for:
Granted, programs such as San Jose State and even USF would be quite satisfied with such a win-loss total for 2007-08 but success breeds many things, one of them the expectations of Gael fans and Moraga athletics management for 20-win seasons being the norm, not the exception. 17-15 is actually mediocrity in Moraga and back-to-back .500 or so records won’t cut it for long. There’s pressure on Bennett return the Gaels to 20+ wins and, fair or not, to also get back to the Big Dance. His achievements have raised the bar ... on himself.
Bennett may or may not be very happy in Gael Land but into every coach’s mind creeps the question of ‘what could I accomplish with access to greater talent, better facilities, a larger recruitng budget...?’ Plus, such an equation doesn’t even include the lure of twice or three times the current salary and benefits. Former Gael mentors Lynn Nance and Ernie Kent bolted after 20-win seasons so a history is there. Directly addressing the query posed, the pitching of Bennett’s name, even if it is by anticipatory sportwriters, cannot be beneficial for the St. Mary’s mens basketball program. When he walks into the living rooms of recruiting prospects, Bennett will face questions regarding his remaining in Moraga, queries prompted by the whisperings of other coaches, in and out of the WCC.
The on campus McKeon Pavilion seats 3,500 but certainly isn’t considered a crown jewel for recruiting purposes. On the plus side, the Gael fans can and do get the building rocking and rolling, especially during league play. Call this one a push as empty it provides no great attraction during a recruitng visit but, come gametime, recruits should revel in the atmosphere.
Diamon Simpson has been Bennett’s best local catch and, while a very successful collegian to date, Simpson wasn’t considered an elite level prospect. Omar Samhan demonstrated excellent offensive prowess as a frosh but was nowhere near a ‘must-have’ type of recruit. Bennett hasn’t been able to nab a Dior Lawhorn-type either outright or as a bounceback and that has inhibited St. Mary’s from demonstrating the stability top programs generally display. But in reality, other than Gonzaga, WCC members simply don’t register with the Top 100 or 150 of the nation’s basketball talents. It’s just a fact of life regardless of wins or winning percentages. Bennett can remain successful by continuing to display his penchant for nabbing second-tier talent.
In summary, another season at the .500 mark will cool the rumors for Bennett to land elsewhere. That’s a postive for St. Mary’s retaining his services. But fairly or unfairly, the downside is the moving-on rumors will be replaced with queries along the lines of ‘can Bennett maintain a program or is his talent that of a quick-fixer who needs to program hop to remain successful?’
With Bay Area-ites Samhan and Simpson returning and joined by the freshman Mills, Bennett has very solid talent to work with at the center, forward and guard positions, raw material that other coaches envy. He typically plays a difficult non-conference schedule but should get the Gaels back to the 20 win total in 2007-2008.
Until someone is able to knock him from his top perch, Randy Bennett remains the example for other Bay Area coaches to emulate. He has already achieved turnaround and is now working on maintainence.