Virginia head coach Tony Bennett retired on his personal phrases and celebrated the fantastic thing about the sport by standing on the pillars he used to construct a nationwide title contender.
Bennett, in jest jabbing at his most popular well-critiqued methodical fashion of play, mentioned he gained’t miss answering questions on tempo of play however smiled via feelings in sharing he felt he was now not one of the best coach to guide the Cavaliers’ program.
“I’m so grateful,” the 55-year-old Bennett mentioned at a press convention Friday. “I take into consideration these pillars. Humility and fervour. Humility means know who you’re and have sober judgment. Ardour means don’t be lukewarm. Be wholehearted in all you do. I believe these are those that induced me at the moment to look and have sober judgment about the place we’re at. That’s in all probability the factor that choked me up essentially the most. After I checked out myself and realized I’m now not one of the best coach to guide this system on this present setting. When you’re going to do it, you’ve bought to be all-in. And in the event you aren’t it’s not truthful to the college. To those younger males.”
Bennett met with gamers and coaches to share his resolution on Thursday.
He mentioned he got here near retiring when the season ended. All through the offseason and dealing each day with the toll of the comparatively new and exploding enterprise facet of faculty athletics, from open switch home windows and NIL calls for, Bennett got here to phrases with stepping apart. He mentioned he was nonetheless outfitted to do the job “the outdated manner” and clarified he has no drawback with student-athletes receiving income.
“Please don’t mistake me. However the recreation and school athletics is just not in a wholesome spot. It’s not, and there must be change,” Bennett mentioned. “… It’s going to be nearer to knowledgeable mannequin. There must be collective bargaining. There must be a restriction on the wage pool that groups can spend. There must be switch regulation restrictions. There must be some limits on agent involvement with younger guys.
“And I fear so much in regards to the psychological well being of student-athletes as all these things comes down.”
Nationwide championship-winning school coaches Jay Wright of Villanova and Nick Saban, a seven-time title winner in school soccer at Alabama, cited the load of comparable off-field components in their very own retirements.
Bennett signed a long-term contract extension in June after bringing in what he mentioned was an thrilling class of transfers and recruits.
He mentioned he got here to the ultimate resolution throughout fall break on a visit together with his spouse, Laurel, to mirror and analyze the previous, current and future. He determined he wanted to stroll away now to provide coaches and gamers time collectively in scrimmages and apply earlier than the common season begins the primary week of November.
He plans to remain related to Virginia and can “be round” if the college would really like him to be there.
“I don’t have a selected factor I’m strolling into,” Bennett mentioned. “My religion within the Lord is every thing. It’s the hope that I’ve. It’s the peace that offers me perspective.”
Bennett spent three seasons because the coach at Washington State (2006-09) earlier than taking the Virginia job. He mentioned he was motivated again then by competing with “bluebloods” and training in opposition to Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams. His lone purpose was “to construct a program that lasts”.
In 18 seasons as a head coach, Bennett has amassed a 433-169 file (.719 profitable proportion) and brought 12 groups to the NCAA match, together with 10 in his 15 years at Virginia. He acquired nationwide school coach of the yr recognition in 2007, 2015 and 2018.
The Cavaliers reached the Candy 16 in 2014 and the Elite Eight in 2016. They have been the No 1 total seed within the 2018 NCAA match and have become the first No 1 seed to lose to a No 16, UMBC, the yr earlier than returning to the dance and profitable this system’s first nationwide championship in 2019.
“What occurred – I hoped and didn’t know – was past my wildest expectations. To win six regular-season ACC championships, two match championships, to be in Candy 16s and Elite Eight, win the nationwide championship,” Bennett mentioned. “The arduous losses. The arduous losses within the match. It’s all a part of it. I wouldn’t commerce it for something. We did it, we did it in a novel manner.“
“I can bear in mind 15 and a half years in the past sitting right here and the way particular that second was. It’s been an emotional couple days. In eager about this, what I’d share, a quote from a missionary Jim Elliot involves thoughts: ‘He’s no idiot who offers what he can not maintain to achieve what he can not lose.’ I’ve been right here for 15 years as a head coach and I believed it could be a bit of longer to be sincere. But it surely’s not mine to maintain. To provide it again to achieve what I can not lose. To be a greater husband. To be a greater dad. My mother and father are each 81 years outdated. I don’t need to stay with any regrets. Simply to be round them. To be a greater pal. To be a greater brother, I do know my sister if she’s watching can be saying that to me. It’s mine to provide again. I’ve given every thing I can.”
