Randy Bennett secures first commit with Arizona State, and it's a big one

The ink isn't even dry on Randy Bennett's contract as the next head coach for the Sun Devils, but he's already bringing in new players. Less than 24 hours after being announced as Arizona State's next men's basketball coach, Bennett flipped 4-star JRob Croy from his old school to his new school.

The California native is ranked as the 16th best combo guard in this year's class and the 12th best prospect in the state. He's also the seventh highest ranked recruit to ever commit to St. Mary's, at least until he flipped on Tuesday to follow Bennett to Tempe.

At 6'6" and just a hair under 200 pounds, Croy has the ability to be a primary facilitator or an off-ball scorer. He led his high school team to the regional semifinals as a junior and won the 2025 AAU 17U league title. At the time that Croy committed to the Gaels, Bennett had this to say about him:

"We're excited to have JRob joining us here at Saint Mary's. We feel he has great potential to be a very good point guard in the future of our program. He has great size and is a tremendous shooter. With all of that, his best quality is his leadership abilities, which is what we're looking for as a point guard at the level we are at."

Bennett's offensive systems require multiple players that are adept at handling the ball, and three-point shooting is mandatory in guards. Croy fits that profile to a tee.

The leadership abilities are also notable, as Croy is a coach's son. His father is Rick Croy, the head coach at Cal Baptist who just led the Lancers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since moving up to Division I. The elder Croy was Bennett's top assistant at St. Mary's before taking the Cal Baptist job.

Croy may be just the first domino to fall, too, as Bennett is expected to try and bring multiple Gaels to Arizona State. Paulius Murauskas, who led the team in scoring this past year, said on Tuesday that he plans to enter the transfer portal. Several other key players from St. Mary's also have remaining eligibility.

Regardless, Croy sounds fired up to be a Sun Devil, speaking positively about his new home shortly after announcing his commitment.

"I think it’s a school that’s really committed to athletics, and I think we’ve seen that with football, and then obviously with women’s basketball this past year. I know that with hiring Coach Bennett, it shows that they’re committed to wanting to win in basketball, and that excites me, because who doesn’t want to be at an institution where they’re all into winning and committed to excellence?"