The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have now won 17 gold medals in the 20 tournaments they have participated in during the past 88 years, while the women have won 10 gold medals in the 12 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 48 years. While we have to wait 4 years until the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will fill the void by interviewing as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible. We continue our coverage by chatting with St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett about his former player Matthew Dellavedova being an NBA champion and winning a bronze medal.
Matthew was born/raised in Australia: how did you get him to St. Mary’s? Matt was at what was at that time the Australian Institute of Sport (now COE) and was part of a good age group. I saw him play PG in some tourney early on and really liked him. David Patrick was on my staff and helped recruit him. The only other visit he took was to Pacific and when he came to our place he committed. We knew that he was good and then after playing U-19 ball everyone else realized that he was good.
He started all 34 games as a freshman, averaged 12.1 PPG, and helped you reach the Sweet 16 with some crucial late FTs in a 7-PT upset of Villanova: how was he able to come in and contribute right from the start? I did not really know until we had him, but as soon as we saw him play at open gym/practice you just realized that he played a significant amount harder than anyone else. He could guard and was already strong so he was like a college player. He is probably the smartest person who ever played here with as good an attitude as anyone, as good a leader as anybody we have had here and as tough as anybody we have had here. There are some others up there with him in some categories but across the board I have never seen anyone quite like him. He was ready to play, ready to win, and was 1 of our 3 best players as a freshman.
In 2012 as a junior he was named conference POY: what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? We won the league during his sophomore year and Mickey McConnell was named conference POY. Mickey left and people wondered who our PG would be! We knew Delly was our PG and he won POY so we went back-to-back. He was always all about winning: he was not trying to be POY but received it because he was the best at making his team win. His junior year we won both the league and the conference tourney for the 1st time: we had a very good team with him and Rob Jones.
In January of 2013 he scored 18 PTS including a game-winning 40-footer at the buzzer in a 1-PT win over BYU (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p-Tb29zAzQ): what are your memories of the “Dellavedagger”? Incredible! It was a HECK of a game: it was 1 of the 1st times we went up to play BYU. Their guy Tyler Haws hit a big shot and the place was going nuts with 4 seconds left. Beau Levesque inbounded the ball and threw it deep to Delly and he was just playing/competing and it happened to go in. It went to crickets real fast: we were kind of stunned because the game was over. We were going to lose and then we were all celebrating: it just happened that quickly. The emotions in that game were unbelievable, as was our players’ composure to get a good shot with 4 seconds left. Delly is smart and did not panic and got us the best shot we could get and it happened to go in.
He graduated as the school’s all-time leader in PTS/AST/FT%/3PM and the following year the school retired his #4 jersey: where does he rank among the greatest players in school history? He is at the top: I do not even have to think about that. He played 4 years. Leader: top. Toughness: top. Work ethic: top. Intelligence/basketball IQ: top. His care factor: top. There are not many guys who can check the box on all of those. He is kind of the standard for our program. When we recruited him he was not the best talent but in terms of best player nobody who helps your program win there is nobody above him.
In 2013 he was named an Academic All-American: how did he balance his work on the court with his work in the classroom? He is just a smart guy who takes pride in his work whether it is basketball/academics/whatever. I think he won it twice: at that point we had never had anybody win it here so we never talked about it before. We have had a couple of guys do it since (Beau/Joe Rahon) so it is cool: he ever led in that department! When he is done playing I wish he would come work for us. He is heck of a guy who comes around, plays with our guys, and trains here during the offseason. He helps us out and gives money and does all the things you should do when you are 1 of those guys. He is just a 1st-class guy.
He went undrafted in 2013 but later played for Cleveland/Milwaukee/Sacramento: why did no team choose to select him, and how was he able to stick around for almost a decade? They passed on him because he is not the athlete they are looking for in a PG: they are looking for someone quicker/more athletic, maybe a better shooter (although he was a pretty good shooter in college). He was a 4-year guy and every time he stepped onto the floor he was the best PG. There were a couple of teams who knew he was under the radar. The reason he was successful is that he could really guard in the NBA: if he could not have done that then he would not have made it. Toughness/IQ/work ethic/leadership: all of those kicked in. He will help you win games whether he sets foot on that floor: all it takes is 1 coach/franchise to see that and believe in him, and the Cavaliers did and they ended up winning a championship. When he joined the Kings they made the playoffs for the 1st time in 17 years. He was not the reason they did it…but he was part of the reason based on his intangibles both on/off the court: he just breathes winning.
As a player for the Cavaliers he lost the Finals to Golden State in 6 games in 2015 but beat the Warriors in 7 games in 2016: what did it mean to you to see him win an NBA title? It meant a lot: I was happy/excited for him. It is so hard to get into that league, and play in that league, and stick in that league, and play for a championship team. He played minutes in the playoffs and had to guard Steph Curry a lot. It was funny: we are so proud of this guy but the whole Bay Area had to root against him because he was going against the Warriors! His style of play will get under your skin because he is so tough and coming at you. I was so proud for him and what he has overcome and his stick-with-it-ness: it was great to see him get to the top. Seeing him play in those games: there was a lot of pride to see a guy who had come through our program. It makes you feel that what you are doing is working in terms of player development and getting right between the ears. This program put him in a position to continue developing in those area: those were great times.
He played for Team Australia at the 2020 Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent the Boomers, and what did it mean to him to win a bronze medal? It was probably his greatest moment. If there is anyone who cares more about playing for his country then I do not know who it would be. To do that with his fellow countrymen and medal for the 1st time ever was tremendous pride for those guys. We had 2 other guys on that team and an assistant coach. It was special for our whole program at St. Mary’s but for Delly I think it is probably his biggest moment. Obviously, winning an NBA championship is way up there too.
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I would say his leadership…but right behind it is his winning/toughness. He was a Gael through and through: whatever Matt does, he is in 110%. As a coach you learn from your players if you have 1 around like that: he has helped me to see where the bar sits for those categories because he kind of set the bar.