Virginia player Tony Bennett retires before the basketball season

Virginia player Tony Bennett retires before the basketball season

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer Oct 17, 2024 at 4:47pm ET

Close Basketball Recruiting Insider. He joined ESPN in 2014. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.

Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett will announce his immediate retirement on Friday, the school announced.

Bennett, 55, was scheduled to begin his 16th season with the Cavaliers in less than three weeks, with his first game in the program coming against Campbell on Nov. 6.

Sources told ESPN that Bennett’s decision to retire was not health-related.

As of Thursday evening, the school had not announced a temporary replacement. The most likely choice is assistant coach Ron Sanchez, who spent five seasons as head coach in Charlottesville before returning to Charlottesville before last season. Assistant coach Jason Williford was also by Bennett’s side during his tenure at Virginia.

Bennett is a two-time national coach of the year and led Virginia to the national championship in 2019. He has won six Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles and two ACC tournament titles.

Totals D-1 RankPPG57.41stFTA PG14.61stRPG30.82ndFG pct40.2%8thSince 2009-10– ESPN Research

The Cavaliers have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances under Bennett but have not won a tournament game since winning the national title in 2019. They were picked No. 5 in the preseason ACC poll released Wednesday.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips called Bennett “a tremendous person” and “one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of ACC basketball.”

β€œHe is a fierce competitor, but he always leads with integrity and strong values,” Phillips said in a statement. “He made an indelible impact on countless student-athletes and developed them not only in basketball, but also as young men. He is a legend who will be sorely missed on the sidelines as well as his daily impact in the league, sports and college athletics.”

Bennett signed a two-year contract extension in June until the end of the 2029-30 season.

Despite leading the program to unprecedented success during his time in Charlottesville, Bennett also lamented the direction of college athletics.

During an interview with ESPN at ACC Media Day last week, he was asked why there was a perception that he could be the next Jay Wright and suddenly retire while he was still in his prime.

β€œI should call Jay Wright and see what he has to say, right?” Bennett said. “I’ve always said, when you’re doing this, you’re in this profession, whether you agree with how things are or not, you have to be honest with yourself and really look at it and say, ‘Who am I? Can I? Work the way I want, and can I?’ Be successful enough, and you can choose whether you want to be a part of it or not?

Editor’s Picks

2 related

“And when you feel like it’s time, like Jay did, like Coach K, maybe Saban, that’s their choice. And you can sit here and complain and complain. Or you have to make a decision. You either try to do it your way. Or you have to make that decision. So I think “Jay Wright probably foresaw what was going to happen… It would be better when there were regulations in three to five years’ time that are the decisions every man has to make when his time comes.”

Before taking the Virginia job in 2009, Bennett led Washington State to two NCAA Tournament appearances during his three seasons as head coach there. The Cougars posted a 26-game winning streak in 2007 and 2008, finishing as high as 16th in 2008.

He had spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Washington State after four seasons at Wisconsin where he coached under his father, Dick Bennett, and Bo Ryan.

Bennett played for his father in Green Bay, and finished his career as the Mid-Continent Conference’s leading scorer and the NCAA’s leading three-point scorer. He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1992 NBA draft and spent three seasons with the franchise.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *