CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA OCTOBER 18: Friday, October 18, 2024 in Charlottesville, Va. UVA Basketball head coach Tony Bennett announcing his retirement after 15 seasons, effective immediately. Pictured with UVA Athletic Director Carla Williams. (Photo by Justin Ide / forThe Washington Post)
for The Washington Post
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the end, Tony Bennett stayed true to character. His decision to suddenly retire as Virginia men’s basketball coach came down to humility.
During an emotional news conference Friday morning at John Paul Jones Arena, in the same space where he was introduced as the Cavaliers’ coach 15 years ago, Bennett, 55, said he isn’t built for what managing a program entails in the era of name, image and likeness (NIL), the transfer portal and potential revenue sharing among student-athletes.
So fully at peace with stepping away from the program he rebuilt to national prominence, Bennett informed Athletic Director Carla Williams of his decision Wednesday before meeting with his staff and players Thursday afternoon, in part to alert them a public announcement would be forthcoming.
The abruptness of Bennett’s departure provided little time for those closest to him to process the stunning news, which came less than three weeks before Virginia opens the regular season Nov. 6. There were tears Friday during Bennett’s farewell in front of a room packed with family, players and administrators, including Craig Littlepage, Virginia’s former athletic director who hired Bennett in 2009.
“Probably the thing that’s choked me up the most and the hardest to say is when I looked at myself and realized I’m no longer the … ,” Bennett said, holding back tears and needing time to gather himself before continuing, “no longer the best coach to lead this program in this current environment, and if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be all-in. You have to give everything. If you do it half-hearted, then it’s not fair to the university and those young men.
“So, you know, I’m looking at it, and that’s what made me step down. There’s still a way in this environment. There’s a way to do it and hold to our values, but it’s complicated, and to admit I’m not equipped to do this is humbling.”
Both Bennett and Williams, who delivered remarks to open the news conference, revealed the discussion between them about Bennett’s retirement initially took root roughly three years ago when the landscape of college athletics was already shifting.
But it was during a trip with his wife, Laurel, to an inn along the Rappahannock River during the school’s fall break this week when Bennett came to the final realization he was no longer going to be a college basketball coach, ending a decorated career spanning four decades that began when he was an assistant to his father, Dick Bennett, at Wisconsin.
Even as recently as last week, Bennett’s enthusiasm for the sport he played collegiately at Wisconsin-Green Bay and then for three seasons with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets remained intact, at least on the surface, when he spoke at the ACC Tipoff media event in Charlotte. But he also conceded the demands of college coaching have become far different from when he first became a head coach in 2006 at Washington State.
“When people like Tony Bennett exit men’s basketball, exit our industry for something that has nothing to do with coaching or teaching or being a role model, then shame on all of us,” Williams said, adding she had been trying to change Bennett’s mind for the past few years.
A national search for Bennett’s permanent replacement will begin on a date to be determined, Williams said, but top assistant Ron Sanchez will take over the Cavaliers for this season on an interim basis. Sanchez has been with Bennett at Virginia for 11 seasons, taking a hiatus from 2018 through 2023 to serve as the coach at Charlotte.
Bennett had been adamant, he said, about ensuring the succession plan included one of his assistants receiving the opportunity to coach at least this season. His other top assistant, Jason Williford, is staying on the staff as well. Williford has been with Bennett during his entire run at Virginia.
Bennett ends his career with the most wins in school history, amassing a record of 364-136. He led Virginia to its only national championship in 2019 one season after he became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers finished first in the ACC’s regular season six times under Bennett and won a pair of conference tournament championships behind a suffocating defensive system known as the pack line. He directed Virginia to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and was selected as the Associated Press national coach of the year in 2018, an award he also won in 2007 while at Washington State.
But since they claimed the cathartic national championship by defeating Texas Tech in overtime in Minneapolis on April 8, 2019, the Cavaliers have dropped their first game in the NCAA tournament in each of their three subsequent appearances. Last season they fell resoundingly to Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four in Dayton, Ohio.
“Everyone was shocked,” said first-year assistant Kyle Guy, the most outstanding player in the 2019 Final Four who ended his playing career to come back to Charlottesville to work for Bennett. “Definitely didn’t see it coming, but like I was just saying earlier, I’m just so happy for him. I just made a similar decision in a situation where it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people outside looking in, because he’s young for a coach, has a lot to give, and I was young for a player, lot to give, but at the end of the day, the truth will set you free, like he said.”
