How Aussie pipeline pioneers reunited after 16 years

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Rewind two decades and it was David Patrick and Randy Bennett who kickstarted the Aussie pipeline to college basketball at St Mary's in Moraga, California.

Following on from the likes of Adam Caporn and Daniel Kickert starring for the Gaels on the big stage of NCAA Division 1, when Patrick joined the legendary Bennett as an assistant coach, the school took the trend of recruiting from Down Under to new heights.

Heights which would see the likes of NBA champions Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova as well as NBA veteran big man Jock Landale lead a long list of Aussies, who would go on to become part of Gaels basketball history.

While Aussies continued to dominate Bennett's St Mary's teams for another 16 years, Patrick also continued to build the Aussie pipeline at whichever school he was coaching, most recently being at Louisiana State University - which featured Max Mackinnon and Marcus Vaughns.

Now the dream team of Patrick (associate head coach) and Bennett (head coach) have reunited at Arizona State University and have no plans on reducing the green and gold influence as they try to build the program at the Sun Devils.

"Look when I was with Randy at St Mary's, shoot around 20 years ago now, we always knew that Arizona State was his dream job because that's where he's from," Patrick said on the latest episode of Cut to the Jase with NBL legend Jason Cadee.

"Obviously he had so much success at St Mary's, you thought he was never going to leave, 25 years and all the championships he's won and his comfortability there I didn't think he'd leave.

"Then he called me in February and started picking my brain about, he didn't tell me about Arizona State, but he started picking my brain about the Big 12 and what it takes in this landscape as far as now you're paying players through NIL, so you could tell his brain was ticking but he's done that before and never made the move.

"When the Arizona State job opened towards the end of the year, we kind of knew he was going to take it and I just think it's the perfect marriage for him returning to where he grew up and taking on the challenge of the Big 12."

Having been a head coach at the NCAA Division 1 level previously in his career before returning to LSU as an assistant coach, the current Australian Boomers assistant coach said there were several factors which made a Randy Bennett reunion the right fit for him and his coaching career.

"I think the older you get, when you make moves for money and what not, it's the alignment. I know what Randy values, obviously being on the West Coast, it's a great area for us to recruit internationally, especially Australia, which we will continue to do," he said on the basketball.com.au podcast.

"But then the league, the Big 12, you talk about the University of Houston, Baylor, BYU, Kansas etc but being with someone you trust and someone that's got your best interests at heart, i just thought it was a great move all round for me and my family."

Patrick and Bennett have already made moves to bring an Australian feel to the Sun Devils, bringing in Vaughns from LSU and having young Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence graduate Ajak Nyuon commit to join Arizona State.

"You got to have the best players from wherever they may be, and you talk about the young guys coming through, who I can't name in particular, but we've got a couple coming through that have got a chance to play in the NBA," he said.

"Those type guys, you need to win in this league, and then when you talk about Marcus and Ajak and their development at the Centre of Excellence and at NBA Global Academy while I was there, you need those kind of athletes to win in this league.

"I think because we've had success with Australians before, I think it's a great, great spot, great, great area, the weather's phenomenal for Aussie kids to come and also play in the best league in the country."