Saint Mary's College Australian pipeline continues to expand

Randy Bennett has been the head coach of Saint Mary's College basketball since 2001. When he first took the job, he said recruiting players was a struggle. So, an assistant coach from Arizona State suggested he take a look at a player in Australia.

"It was like one phone call. I said 'Hey would you want to come here?' [Adam Caporn] paused for like three seconds and said 'Yeah!' and he came…we took him because he was based on a recommendation. Then he thought we should recruit his buddy, who was Daniel Kickert…he ended up being the all-time leading scorer in Saint Mary's history," said Bennett.

From that point on, the Gaels program has become the Australian pipeline since they had an Aussie on their roster every season under Bennett.

Four have made the NBA; most recently, Alex Docas and Jock Landale.

But Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova set a standard since they both became NBA champions in their professional careers.

"Patty and Delly; they both have been my family's favorite players all throughout when the Spurs won their championship and the Cavs won their championship. I have photos with both of them when I was really young," said Saint Mary's point guard Joshua Dent.

Dent is a true freshman and the 25th Australian player to suit up for Saint Mary's.

He's mindful of the rich tradition he has to uphold to be a point guard in this system.

"Just consistency, taking care of the ball. If I want to be a point guard here, it's a pretty tough place to write your name in the history books along with the other greats, so definitely consistently look after the ball and win. Make sure we get some winning teams," said Dent.

Harry Wessels could be the next big thing outside of Saint Mary's.  The 7 foot 1 inch center surpassed Jock Landale for the best career field goal percentage in program history at 62.7%.

Wessels was a late bloomer when it comes to hoops, but one thing is for sure: Becoming a Gael means a little more in Australia.

"I was kind of late to basketball...I think here it's like you think of college basketball like Duke and Kentucky and all of those blue bloods, but in Australia, Saint Mary's is in that conversation of those top schools when you think of college basketball," said Wessels.

The Australian players on the roster say there are similarities between the town of Moraga and their hometowns, so the transition has been smooth.

However, Rory Hawke has been battling injuries since he joined the program back in 2022. He remains optimistic that he will achieve his goal of becoming a professional basketball player.

"This place has a great track record of pros, whether that's NBA or NBL. The coaches get you right mentally, they get you right on the court. Being out I learned a lot of x's and o's...So once I get right physically, the rest will come It's just a matter of time" said Hawke, point guard.

Saint Mary's will celebrate Australian Heritage Night on Jan. 23 against the University of San Francisco.

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