The Aussie college pipeline standing the test of time

The Saint Mary’s talent pipeline holds a special place in the realm of Australian basketball. If you read down the list of Aussie-born graduates from the program, it reads like a who’s who of local hoops stars of this past generation.

The success Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova have experienced in the NBA and on the international stage since graduating from the program in 2009 and 2013 respectively, justifiably sees them flying the flag for the top-level Australians can reach at the San Francisco school.

After all, Dellavedova and Mills are two of just three individuals to have their jersey numbers retired in the history of the Gaels. The only other player to receive the honour is 1963 NBA All-Star Tom Meschery.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This was epic <a href="https://twitter.com/saintmaryshoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@saintmaryshoops</a> ? <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewdelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@matthewdelly</a> <a href="https://t.co/f3LYz0o1dh">pic.twitter.com/f3LYz0o1dh</a></p>&mdash; CBS Sports College Basketball ? (@CBSSportsCBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCBB/status/1683172029372014593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The pipeline runs far deeper than Mills and Dellavedova though. Whether its emerging world stars like Jock Landale, NBL mainstays like Lucas Walker or Clint Steindl, or the next generation of talent like the recently graduated Kyle Bowen, Saint Mary’s has earned its place in the Parthenon of Australian basketball development. Its success sees it in the same realm as incredible programs like the Centre of Excellence and the Next Stars.

In fact, over 20 Australian players have walked through the doors at Saint Mary’s, since Adam Caporn in 2001. Following Caporn was Daniel Kickert, then the likes of Dellevedova and Mills, all the way to last season’s side featuring, Harry Wessels, Alex Ducas and Kyle Bowen.

Caporn’s arrival at the school boiled down to each participant taking a punt on each other. Head coach Randy Bennett – who still heads up the program – had never seen the guard play. Caporn, on the other hand, had never even been to the college campus.

Bennett still had a pair of scholarship offers burning a hole in his back pocket at the time though, and his team had won just eight games the season prior. Caporn made the journey over and one of basketball’s great transpacific relationships was born.

“Randy Bennett now, is a legend,” Saint Mary’s second all-time leading scorer Daniel Kickert told NBL Media. He’ll go down as one of the greatest coaches in the NCAA. I think his record stands for itself. He’s a legend of the area and a legend in college basketball, but before all that – before Capes and I got there – he was new to head coaching.

“He recruited Capes just off word of mouth. He took a risk on him and that opened the doorway to Australia. The way they go about recruiting and the way coach Bennett runs the program just ties itself well to Australians and our attitude, our approach to the game and what our expectations are.

“In the recruiting process you see all the glitz and the glamour and guys telling you how you’re going to be the next big thing. There’s a lot of that type of behaviour and I think a lot of Australians shy away from that – at least I did. The relationship with Saint Mary’s is they were really up front and honest with me.

“I think that went a long way as to why they had some early successes. They’re really straight up, they weren’t promising the world and then fortunately for Australians, we had some success there.

“Some of the recruiting trips I went on I’d go into the coach’s office and they’d want to pray with me for ten minutes, and that’s all well and good, but that doesn’t fit my personality. Getting picked up in limos and all that kind of stuff, that didn’t feel real to me. Then I went to Saint Mary’s, and it felt real.

“I felt a good relationship with the coach and the staff, it all felt up front and honest and I felt comfortable with those people.

“There was no bullsh*t.”

Kyle Bowen is the latest player to have stepped off the Saint Mary’s production line and into the NBL. The former Perth Wildcats development player signed with Melbourne United following, like Kickert, four full years at the west coast school.

He was one of three Australians in the program in his final season, however the record number of Aussies in one Saint Mary’s team currently stands at seven – when Tanner Krebs, Jordan Hunter, Emmett Naar, Jock Perry, Dane Pineau, Kyle Clark and Jock Landale all linked up in San Francisco.

Kickert now coaches fellow Saint Mary's alum Jordan Hunter at the Sydney Kings.

“I only went on two visits” Bowen said. “One to Saint Mary’s, and one to UC Irvine.

“As soon as I touched down at Saint Mary’s I really felt at home. They’ve got all sorts of promo stuff on the walls that shows the Australians that have gone through the program, like Patty and Delly, that have gone through the ranks. It was really just a no-brainer to go there, after growing up idolising those guys.

“Now that I am experiencing that alumni feel, the massive network Saint Mary’s has across the world, I keep preaching one word, and that’s 'family'. You feel like you’re part of a family at Saint Mary’s and it becomes something that’s much bigger than basketball.”

Kickert arrived at Saint Mary’s in 2002 as the second Australian at the program, and while he states Caporn was the player to open the door to Saint Mary’s, Kickert was the one to bang it down.

After playing a full four years at the program – following which he graduated with a communications degree – he departed as the all-time leading scorer in Gaels history and helped lead them back to the pinnacle of collegiate basketball.

His scoring record has since been toppled by Dellavedova, while American Jordan Ford has leap-frogged him into season.

Jock Landale is the other Australian in the top ten all-time scorers for the school, and currently sits seventh.

Emmett Naar is the all-time assists leader with Dellavedova in second, while Dane Pineau and Landale also occupy fifth and sixth positions in the side’s all-time blocks tally.

“Capes had two years there, I was fortunate enough to have a good four years there and leave as the leading scorer, Kickert reflected. “I think the year before I arrived they were a six or an eight win team and then we were able to turn that around, get to the NCAA tournament and start recruiting some big names.

“We got a lot of good freshmen from the area and then we were able to recruit some good Aussies. After me, Lucas Walker and Carlin Hughes had some success, Patty Mills obviously had a lot of success, there was Clint Steindl and Delly, Ben Allen, a big barrage of Aussies came through.

“It was a lot of the success that the program offered, and we were becoming a powerhouse, in our conference - and that offers a lot of perks.

“Most years it comes down to Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga and that’s a cool battle with a lot of history. Now it’s a program that’s proven. It’s a breeding ground and a development ground that has proven to get Australians ready to come out and play.

“I went because it gave me the opportunity to play. I was going to go in there and play as a freshman and not feel like I was wasting a year.

“At that point I felt like I could have played in the NBL, but I wanted to challenge myself overseas and Saint Mary’s offered me that opportunity, whereas some of the other programs may have taken me a couple of years until the court time was available to me.”

While Kickert forewent potential NBL opportunities for his place at Saint Mary’s, Bowen had already experienced a taste of the elite-level competition. Not only had he played for the Wildcats prior to his arrival at the school, but he had won a title with his hometown side.

Kyle Bowen (L) and Rhys Vague celebrate Perth's 2019 NBL title.

“I still remember how tough a decision it was,” Bowen said of his departure from Perth. “We look at how strong the NBL is now, it was equally as strong when I was making that decision.

“It came down to the fact the NBL is always going to be there, and college isn’t a forever opportunity. I had some good mentors in my ear and had a hard look at the calibre of players coming out of Saint Mary’s. I took the risk and ended up spending all four years there, it paid off and I have absolutely no regrets.”

While those over 20 Australian players have come and gone from the Gaels’ side, one constant has remained at the school, all the way from Caporn to Bowen – the presence of head coach Bennett.

The now 61-year-old took over coaching duties ahead of Caporn’s first season at the school. That 2001-02 season saw Saint Mary’s finish the season with a 9-20 record (3-11 in their conference). The program has now evolved into a genuine powerhouse of the West Coast Conference.

Bowen’s final season coincided with Bennett’s equal-best post-season finish with the side. The side registered an overall 27-8 record and made it all the way to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Div I post-season tournament.

He now has a career coaching record of 507-208 during his time at Saint Mary’s and is currently contracted to the program until 2026-27.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;The NCAA Tournament is a different deal. You have to be able to block everything else out and focus in on the game.&quot;<br><br>—<a href="https://twitter.com/saintmaryshoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@saintmaryshoops</a> head coach Randy Bennett <a href="https://t.co/gC2otFw6vy">pic.twitter.com/gC2otFw6vy</a></p>&mdash; March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MM_MBB_TV/status/1637212736806432769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“The more I reflect on it, the more I think it helps we all had the same coach in Randy Bennett,” Bowen reflected. “He’s been there for 20-odd years doing the same thing, so we can all laugh about similar memories we share.

“Whether it’s playing at BYU or The Kennel in Gonzaga, or about the early morning conditioning sessions Randy’s been running for 20 years ... it’s things like that you can bond over and relate back to the program.

“The communal sacrifice we all made, the sacrifices we made for that program and Randy Bennett is something we all share and can bond over.

“We’re all here with a common goal, but we all started in the same place which is really comforting.”

While it’s coach Bennett’s prerogative to sign who he wants to sign, his continued support of Australian basketball – and Australian basketball’s continued support of Saint Mary’s – is a relationship that has only grown in his over two decades at the helm.

“We’ve had an Australian on our team every year since I’ve been here,” Bennett said in an interview with CNN earlier this year.

“We kind of stumbled into it in my first year when I came here. It was hard for us to get a player in, so we took a flier on a kid named Adam Caporn.

“I think they like the intimate school they are instantly part of a family.

“They get it. It’s a good place to go and develop, and that’s the whole gig for them. They want to come over here, get better and have a chance to play pro.”

From an external view though, the immediate future of NCAA basketball is murkier than it has been in recent memory.

The rise of player development opportunities around the world has seen the college basketball pathway shift from being the main – if not only – option for most players, to one of a potentially large number of pathways.

Bobi Klintman, AJ Johnson and Alex Toohey all decommitted from college basketball to join the NBL Next Stars program, and only one of the top five players selected in the most recent NBA Draft attended college – number two selection Brandon Miller.

Kickert’s playing career took him from Saint Mary’s, around Europe and then back to the NBL.

Those experiences over almost 20 years on-court, coupled with his two title-winning seasons as an assistant coach at the Kings gives him a unique perspective on the standing of player development.

“Opportunity to play is a big thing at the moment for young guys,” Kickert said.

“I think there’s definitely an option there for guys to stay around and be development players which has been proven to be a great example, just look at the Sydney Kings here – Jaylin Galloway is a great example for us.

“He’s a guy that came to us from the AIS, came through the CoE and Global Academy and all that kind of stuff, and he’s developed over the last three years with us and is an integral part of our rotation. Luke Travers is another example in the NBL.

“There are plenty of guys who skipped the college route and have had a lot of success, but I think the vast number of players we send over to college every year, there are still going to be a lot of storylines of players who have success there, develop over a longer period of time and coming out ready to be contributing professionals.

“With the development programs and Next Star programs in the NBL, there’s so much opportunity for guys and it’s great for basketball here in Australia.

“But I’m sure there will still be Aussies as far into the future as I can see going to Saint Mary’s.”