Longtime Virginia males’s basketball head coach and 2019 nationwide champion Tony Bennett is retiring before the start of the season, the school announced Thursday.
Bennett, who has coached the Cavaliers since 2009, will retire efficient instantly. He and Virginia will host a information convention Friday morning to debate the sudden transfer. The varsity didn’t instantly announce an interim coach or a succession plan.
Per a number of media reviews, Bennett is just not retiring due to health-related causes.
Bennett is liable for the most effective runs in NCAA event historical past only a 12 months after struggling one of many greatest upsets ever. In 2018, Virginia entered the NCAA event as a No. 1 seed and have become the primary prime seed to lose within the first spherical to a No. 16 seed when the Cavaliers misplaced 74-54 to the College of Maryland Baltimore County. Since Virginia’s loss, just one different No. 1 seed (Purdue in 2023) has been eradicated within the first spherical.
Virginia introduced again many key gamers from that staff forward of the 2018-19 season like Kyle Man, De’Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome. The Cavaliers went on to win the ACC regular-season title once more, and this time, went 6-0 within the NCAA event en path to a championship.
The Cavaliers beat Oregon by 4 within the Candy 16 after which Purdue by 5 within the Elite Eight. Virginia then knocked off Auburn 63-62 within the Closing 4 when Man made three free throws with 0.6 seconds to go after he was fouled on a possible game-winning 3-pointer.
Two days later, Virginia took down Texas Tech 85-77 within the nationwide title recreation.
Bennett got here to Virginia forward of the 2009-2010 season after three years at Washington State. After one journey to the NCAA event in his first 4 seasons in Charlottesville, Virginia turned a staple atop the ACC in 2014. The Cavaliers received 4 regular-season ACC titles in six years earlier than profitable the regular-season titles in 2021 and in 2023.
In a post on X, former Villanova coach Jay Wright — who surprisingly retired in 2022 — mentioned that Bennett was “one of the crucial gifted and hardest coaches we ever competed in opposition to.”
Virginia’s enjoying type below Bennett was efficient, particularly within the common season. And it was very distinguishable. The Cavaliers have constantly performed at one of many slowest tempos within the nation below his watch and have performed stingy protection. Virginia was 210th within the nation in factors per recreation the season it received the nationwide title and gave up the fewest factors per recreation of any staff in faculty basketball at 56.1.
Whereas Virginia had constant regular-season success in Bennett’s tenure, NCAA event success was a lot more durable to return by. The 2019 event is the one time Virginia made the Closing 4 in his tenure. Since that title, Virginia is 0-3 in its event appearances and did not make it previous the primary weekend of the event in all however three of its 10 appearances below Bennett. Final season, Virginia misplaced within the First 4 by 25 to Colorado State.
By rule, gamers on Virginia’s roster can have 30 days to enter the switch portal following Bennett’s retirement. Nonetheless, they probably haven’t got many choices. Most groups’ rosters are set with the season so rapidly approaching. Virginia’s first recreation of the 2024-25 season is in opposition to Campbell on Nov. 6.
