CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On the night of the 2013 NBA Draft, Randy Bennett kept shaking his head as names were called -- especially in the second round.

The basketball coach at St. Mary's believed Matthew Dellavedova would be picked -- by someone.

"I'm telling you, he was a better player than some of those guys drafted ahead of him," said Bennett in a phone interview Monday.

The 6-foot-4 Dellavedova was the all-time leader in points and assists at the Moraga, California school.

In his four seasons, St. Mary's went to the NCAA tournament three times and once the Gaels made it to the Sweet 16. The other years, they reached the second round.

But Bennett wasn't surprised that Dellavedova was ignored by the NBA.

"Only two teams expressed a real interest in him," he said. "The Cavs and Mark Warkentein with the Knicks. And the Cavs really loved him."

GRANT LIKED DELLAVEDOVA

Former Cavs General Manager Chris Grant first heard about Matthew Dellavedova when Delly was a freshman guard at St. Mary's. Cavs scout Chico Averbuck was a Delly fan. Averbuck's official title is "Director of International Scouting," and a big part of his job is to identify and track players overseas.

He first spotted Delly when the guard was on the Australian National Team, 19-and-under. Later, Delly moved to the senior national team at the age of 19, the youngest player on that squad.

St. Mary's is a prime destination for the top Australian players, especially those from the Australian Institute of Sport. Delly began to play there when he was 16. He was the 10th Australian to play for Bennett.

Another connection was Grant and Bennett. When the 6-foot-10 Grant was a center at the University of San Diego, Bennett was an assistant coach.

Bennett kept telling Grant, "You'll love Delly. He's so smart, so tough. He is a great leader. Here is a guy with a high basketball I.Q. He makes everyone better."

NOT HIGHLY RECRUITED

Bennett admits that Dellavedova doesn't make an eye-popping first impression on the court.

"The first time I saw him, I liked him," said the coach. "But he shot the ball from the side. He's not a smoothie, not a flashy player."

According to Bennett, the only other school that wanted Dellavedova was Pacific.

Bennett admitted the real reason that he pursued Dellavedova was Marty Clarke, a friend and now a St. Mary's assistant. Clark is Australian and knew all of the country's top young players.

When Bennett took over at St. Mary's in 2001, the Gaels were 2-27. He was looking for players ... anywhere. He had a scholarship available, and heard about an Australian named Adam Caporn, who was supposed be a Division I player but was not being recruited.

Bennett took Caporn, who opened up the pipeline to Australia. The next year, he signed 6-foot-10 Australian Daniel Kickert, who was the school's leading scorer until Dellavedova.

Later Caporn became an assistant coach. Bennett has spent a lot of time in Australia, scouting and making contacts.

Soon, St. Mary's became the magnet for the country's top players -- much as the prime prep players in the USA go to Kentucky, Duke or some of the other elite schools.

Dellavedova was the 10th Australian to play for Bennett. He had three on his roster last season, and it will be six this year.

"A lot of our games are on TV in Australia," Bennett said.

Really?

"I'm not kidding, because of kids like Delly -- they know our players and our program over there," he said. "These kids want to play for us."

JUST NEEDED A CHANCE

In 2009, Australian Patty Mills was picked in the second round by Portland. He later was cut, but surfaced with San Antonio and has been a key role player for Gregg Popovich.

Bennett was convinced Dellavedova could be another Mills, a real asset to a contending team. Grant agreed. He scouted Dellavedova several times in person.

He was not a great shooter -- .415 from the field, .378 on 3-pointers. He was not especially quick, nor did he seem very athletic.

But over and over again, he did things that helped his team win.

In his four years with the Gaels, they were 108-28 ... and 50-10 in the West Coast Athletic Conference.

Grant would have drafted Dellavedova, but he believed no one else was really interested in the guard. He could be added as a free agent. Right after the draft, Grant signed Dellavedova to a two-year, $1.3 million deal.

The deal closer was that Grant guaranteed $100,000 for Dellavedova as part of the deal -- a lot of money for an undrafted player. He will be a restricted free agent after the season.

Former Cavs coach Mike Brown had Dellavedova as a rookie in 2013-14. Brown was familiar with the guard, because he watched Dellavedova play a few times at St. Mary's. Elijah (son of Mike) Brown was being recruited by St. Mary's. He even played some pick-up game with Dellavedova, so Brown was willing to give Dellavedova a chance to to prove himself with the Cavs.

THE DELLY PARTIES

The fact that Dellavedova has found a place in the NBA is no surprise to Bennett.

In his two years with the Cavs, Dellavedova has averaged 4.7 points, shooting 38 percent from the field and from 3-point range. His real value is on defense and making sure the ball moves on offense as he likes to pass.

Bennett said that Cavs playoff games have become "like parties" around the school as St. Mary coaches, players and fans gather at local sports bars to cheer for their favorite basketball son.

Dellavedova had some productive games early in the Bulls series -- 9 points and 9 assists in one game, 10 points and 4 assists in another.

The leading scorer in that game? Dellavedova with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

"Now that was unbelievable," said Bennett. "We were going crazy, watching that. We're all so happy for Delly!"