TEMPE – During coach Randy Bennett’s 25 years with the St. Mary’s Gaels, his teams were consistently tournament-ready in the West Coast Conference. Bennett described the teams he coached as top 25-ish.
But when the Mesa native announced his decision to return home and become Arizona State’s (3-0) new head coach, there were questions to be had about whether Bennett can keep his consistent play with the Gaels inside the far more stacked Big 12.
Only three games have been played for the new-look Sun Devils in the 2026-2027 season against mid-majors. And things didn’t start so great, opening the season in an almost nail-biter with East Tennessee State. But in its past two games, ASU has shown improvement throughout the team.
It continued in an 85-63 win on Tuesday against the Hofstra Pride (1-2) at Desert Financial Arena. The first half was a little bit too close for comfort, but once the Sun Devils got their perimeter shooting going in the following half, it was curtains for their opponent.
That’s something important later in the season once the Sun Devils start playing tougher competition. Especially in conference play when they’ll match up versus NCAA tournament teams almost every game.
For now, before that wave of teams arrive closer than it appears in the rearview mirror once the new year approaches, the main thing ASU has on its to-do list is to find out what kind of team it is, and what its ceiling could be.
“It’s showing on the court,” sophomore guard Joel Foxwell said. “We’ve won our last two games by 20+ points, and Hofstra were a tournament team last year. And Northern Colorado was also (a) 20+ win team as well. So we’re beating good teams by a good margin, and that’s just given us more and more confidence going into each game.”
One player that is also finding his stride game-by-game is freshman guard JRob Croy. He followed his dad, associate coach Rick Croy, and Bennett, flipping his commitment from the Gaels to the Sun Devils.
“I don’t want to say I knew everything when I came in because I definitely didn’t, because there were a couple of wake-up calls for me,” Croy said on his arrival to ASU. “But I did have an idea of what I was coming into and what to expect, especially from the culture standpoint; I knew that I was going to have to come in and work really hard and be a great teammate.”
The Sun Devils hope that confidence holds up as tougher competition arrives on their schedule. On Thanksgiving week, the Sun Devils play in the Acrisure Tournament in Palm Springs, Calif., facing off against two SEC squads – LSU and South Carolina.
But that’s only an appetizer of the monster Sparky faces once Big 12 play begins. It’s something Bennett himself isn’t used to playing consistently. It’s why these early-season buy games are tune-ups, not just for racking up wins, but to build team chemistry throughout the first two months.
“We have these 14 games. We chipped away at three of them,” Bennett said. “This is how I think every day and have been thinking. We got to keep getting a little better, a little better, a little better. Because I know in January, it’s come. And we have to be ready for it.”
The main question is: Are the Sun Devils truly on, or close to, the level that the elite of the Big 12 brings? Time will tell as the season progresses.
“I think this can be a good team in the Big 12,” Bennett stated. “It’s not fair for me to guess this because I haven’t been through the Big 12. I know it’s gonna be tough; you’re going to Lubbock, you’re going to Houston, you’re going to Tucson, you’re going to Lawrence. We don’t have to go to BYU, thank goodness. But that’s what we’re trying to get ready for.”
As daunting as it may be, it’s not something the Sun Devils need to worry about yet. For now, it’s about jelling together and slowly improving into what they can be.
“We’re trying to keep getting better every game,” Bennett said. “We want to win as many games as we can in non-conference, but it’s all to prepare us for the big brawl.”
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