MONSTER ENERGY BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 20, 2026

Randy Bennett

Emmanuel Innocenti

Paulius Murauskas

Dillan Shaw

Arizona State Sun Devils

Media Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Arizona State.

Coach, I know you've been asked a million times over the past few months, now that you're here, officially in the chair as the head coach, why was Tempe and this job the right move for you?

RANDY BENNETT: There's several reasons. But the biggest reason was to coach at Arizona State. That was the deal. There were other factors that were on my mind, all positive, by the way, but I grew up in Mesa, which is 10 minutes away from Arizona State University where I lived. I grew up as a Sun Devil. That's who I rooted for. I knew which team in the state that I was rooting for the whole time.

So just how many guys get a chance to coach in their hometown at the big school? I've always thought it could be a great job. I still think it can be.

THE MODERATOR: Obviously new digs for you. New challenges. You bring in some notable new faces. What has been the biggest challenge for you handling this new age of college basketball along with your own transition to this new job?

RANDY BENNETT: There's some things in common. They've changed rules over the years. You've always had to just adapt and make good decisions. You can complain about it, whine about it for a little while, but it's not going to do any good. You just have to make it work.

That's how we've approached this. Kids are still great kids. These guys I have here are all great kids. Trying to reach the goals that they set out for themselves and the team.

All that stuff's the same. There's money involved. They should get money. I don't know what the right amount is or any of that. Neither does anybody else.

So it's not that different. The only thing that's different is these guys get a chance to make some money and hopefully put it away so that they have a nice nest egg to start when they're done playing.

THE MODERATOR: Paulius, you and Dillan follow your coach from Saint Mary's to Arizona State. Why did you feel that was the right move for you?

PAULIUS MURAUSKAS: I think it was right move for me because coach is really great coach. I really trust him. I think I really improved from my freshman to sophomore season, from sophomore to junior season. I just got better. I just really trust his coaching and all coaching staff.

THE MODERATOR: Dillan, what kind of identity are you trying to establish at Arizona State with so many new faces in new places?

DILLAN SHAW: I would say the identity part, like, we're trying to establish probably more of a defensive mindset, same thing we carry over from Saint Mary's, defense and rebounding. I would say we're looking to build off of that. See where we can go from there.

THE MODERATOR: Emmanuel, how did coach convince you that Arizona State was the place that you needed to be?

EMMANUEL INNOCENTI: I think coach is a winner. He had a lot of success at Saint Mary's. I like how his teams play, they're consistent for 40 minutes, play for each other, dominate the boards. It fit my game. That's why.

THE MODERATOR: Paulius, how would you explain the energy around Arizona State basketball right now?

PAULIUS MURAUSKAS: I think a lot of people are excited because new coach, new team. So I think energy is up. I can't wait to play in front of our fans.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, you just heard your players say defensive mindset, toughness. How does that translate to the Big 12? Commissioner Yormark said the second greatest basketball league in America next to the NBA?

RANDY BENNETT: I think it will translate to every week. Better teams at the end of the year are teams that defend, rebound, take care of the ball.

We want to be able to score at a high clip, as well. We're working on that.

We know who's at the top of this league. We know how they play. We saw it in the other league that we were in, the WCC. I mean, we had a ridiculously long rivalry with Gonzaga. You weren't getting past them if you didn't do those things.

These guys know. Yeah, one of our goals is trying to put points on the board and play at a higher pace. But you better do both, I know that much (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Dillan, what is the most exciting thing about playing in the Big 12?

DILLAN SHAW: Definitely just playing against some of the top talent around. Like everyone is trying to play at this highest level, everyone is wanting to go to the Big 12 and play. Playing against them is pretty exciting.

THE MODERATOR: Emmanuel, same question?

EMMANUEL INNOCENTI: As he said, talented players, it's a physical conference. It's a challenge every game. I think that's really good for us players.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Coach, what are your immediate pillars of culture you're implementing to survive the Big 12 gauntlet?

RANDY BENNETT: Yeah, these are our three captains this year. Obviously I have a lot of respect for all three of them. Some of their teammates, a team vote that kind of picked your captains.

I'm glad that Dillan and Paulius are part of that because I've coached them, we've coached them. They know our program. They know what we're trying to be.

As a coach, you can only do so much. Your players got to buy in. Your leaders have to double down on selling what you're trying to do as a program.

So a big part of it's being a tight team, doing things together. One of other deals this year, because in this day and age you have so many guys chasing their own deal, but you have to get away from that. You want to hit your individual goals, but your team goals have to be ahead of that.

Everybody can spit it out of their mouth. How many people can do it is going to be how good of leaders these three guys are.

Q. With the number of international players you have on this roster, how have you balanced having so many different basketball cultures coming together at once?

RANDY BENNETT: Same stuff. You're coaching a team. I really don't even pay attention to how many international players we have. I'm so used to having players from different parts of the country. Obviously some places we've had more players from lately. Lithuania. Previously Australia. From coaching those guys, we've learned more about other players from other countries, figured out how many good players are all throughout the world.

I don't even think twice about it. But I do know you're going to have to get 14 guys in our case all on the same page, putting the team ahead of themselves.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you.