NCAA Basketball: Ranking best head coaching hires from the year 2001

6. Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s)

Over the years there’s a definite ebb and flow in college basketball. Some programs are outstanding for a few years or decades and then fall out of relevance; while the opposite is also quite true. After finishing the season at 2-27, Saint Mary’s was far from relevance in 2001, especially with Gonzaga coming on strong at the same time. For a Gaels program with just three Tourney bids in their history, the next hire was key and they really nailed it.

In nailing it, they hired Randy Bennett, who had spent a number of years as an assistant coach on the west coast but had yet to get a chance to run his own program. He had spent nearly a decade at San Diego and worked for five years under Lorenzo Romar, spending time at both Pepperdine and Saint Louis. He’d moved back to California to resurrect the Gaels program and has done a tremendous job in the process.

Still at Saint Mary’s, Bennett has made great strides in his two decades in Moraga, leading the Gaels to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet Sixteen in 2010. Though second fiddle to Gonzaga, this team has remained one of the most prolific mid-major programs. In fact, the Gaels have had thirteen straight seasons end in a trip to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT. Clearly, Bennett has instilled profound progress with this program, more than tripling their total number of NCAA Tournament appearances.