When the 2026-27 season begins, the St. Mary’s Gaels will have a new face at the helm as head coach, sort of. With longtime coach Randy Bennett departing the program for Arizona State, St. Mary’s has zeroed in on Mickey McConnell, one of Bennett’s assistants, as the team’s new head coach, as per Jeff Borzello of ESPN.
Mickey McConnell is a very familiar face for St. Mary’s not only because he’s been on Randy Bennett’s staff as an assistant coach the past seven seasons, but he’s also a former Gael having played under Bennett from 2007-2011.
St. Mary’s came into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed this season, and they were eliminated in the opening round by Kentucky amid a sensational buzzer-beating shot from Otega Oweh that sent the game into overtime.
In a WCC where Gonzaga often reigned supreme, St. Mary’s built a strong program under Bennett, a program that sometimes went toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs in the during conference play. McConnell played all four seasons of his college basketball career at St. Mary’s, with his best season coming during his senior year in 2010-11.
That year, he appeared in 34 games, including 33 starts, at a little over 36 minutes per game. He averaged a career-best 16.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 50.4 percent shooting from the field, 45.6 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 88.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
McConnell now takes over a Gaels program that has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the past five seasons. Under Bennett, Saint Mary’s has had 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in 25 seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance during the 2009-10 season.
