In a shocking decision afternoon on Thursday, October 17, Virginia Athletics announced that Tony Bennett, head coach of the University of Virginia’s men’s basketball program since 2009, would be announcing his immediate retirement in a press conference the following day. Surely enough, Virginia fans’ worst nightmare came true at 11:00 AM the following morning. The news came as an apparent blindside to many fans, who were under the impression that Bennett was in it for the long haul—back in June, he signed a contract extension continuing through 2030. A look back at Bennett’s fifteen years at UVA can best be described as nothing short of an incredible, wild ride.
Playing Career & Coaching Beginnings
Bennett’s history on the hardwood dates back to long before he assumed his first coaching position. At Preble High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bennett earned several accolades, including conference and state player of the year in his senior season before graduating in 1988. He was also a McDonald’s All-American, an honor reserved for the top echelon of high school basketball players. Electing to stay close to home for school, he became a Division I athlete at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where his father, Dick Bennett, served as head coach. He averaged 19.4 points and 5.1 assists per game throughout his four-year career and led the team to one NCAA tournament appearance and two NIT berths. Bennett still retains the NCAA record for career three-point field goal percentage, shooting 290-for-584 (49.7%) across his time at Green Bay. Selected 35th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft and spent three seasons playing for the Charlotte Hornets, where he served as a role player, averaging 12 minutes played per game. He suffered a foot injury that ended his NBA run, but he continued to play overseas, with a brief stint in Australia before settling with the North Harbour Vikings of the New Zealand National Basketball League. He earned all-star recognition in both of his seasons there and was elevated to a player-coach role in his second season.
Bennett’s coaching career intensified after segueing to a full-time head coaching role for North Harbour following his retirement from playing basketball in 1998. After one more year there, he once again joined his father, who was now at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, as an assistant on his coaching staff. He continued in this role and followed his father to Washington State in 2003. Upon Dick Bennett’s retirement in 2006, Tony was chosen as his successor and promoted to head coach. In his first season at the helm for the Cougars, he tied the school record for wins, going 26–8 and earning a three-seed in the NCAA tournament. After winning 26 games the following season and taking his team to the Sweet Sixteen, Bennett was offered the reins for the Indiana Hoosiers, but elected to decline and remained at Washington State instead. The 2008–09 season was less successful, and after budget decisions caused the WSU athletic department to withhold funds for flights for recruiting, Bennett accepted the role as head coach at the University of Virginia. He brought Ritchie McKay from Liberty University and Ron Sanchez, his assistant from Washington State, alongside him as members of his staff.
Beginnings as a Cavalier
Bennett’s first season at the helm in Charlottesville, taking over in the wake of Dave Leitao’s resignation after posting a 10–18 record, was characterized by a rebuilding mindset, with hopes of restoring the Cavaliers’ program to its former glory of the 1980s and 90s. Led by future NBA talent Mike Scott and standout guard Sylven Landesberg, the Cavaliers improved considerably from the previous season, starting 14–6 and picking up three wins against ranked opponents before a nine-game skid to end the regular season. Bennett’s sophomore campaign included the addition of Joe Harris, a freshman guard who would also develop into a standout NBA talent. The team developed only slightly, finishing 16–15 with a statement win on the road against #15 Minnesota in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge. The in-conference woes continued, however, only picking up seven wins within the ACC.
The 2011–12 season was a huge leap for Bennett’s career and the program as a whole. Senior Scott and sophomore Harris led the team in scoring, with 18 and 11 PPG throughout the year, respectively. This was the first season under which Bennett’s “pack-line defense,” designed to limit opponents’ ability to score in the paint, came to full fruition. The Cavaliers were able to control the pace of play effectively, only giving up 54.2 points per game, good for second across all Division I schools. Appearing in the AP poll for the first time under Bennett’s tenure, where they peaked at #15, the team picked up statement victories over Michigan and NC State and lost by only three points each to Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State. Earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they earned a 10 seed, the Cavaliers were eliminated in the first round, but the upward trajectory of the program was evident. Virginia had a similarly competitive season the following year, with a relatively young squad following the loss of Mike Scott to the NBA draft. Juniors Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell led the team, but several freshmen—including Justin Anderson and Mike Tobey—were important contributors as well. Bennett picked up the first wins of his career against blue bloods North Carolina and Duke, but just barely failed to secure a tournament bid, instead earning a trip to compete in the National Invitational Tournament, where they would fall in the quarterfinals.
Building a Winning Culture
The 2013–14 campaign featured a roster loaded with young, but future professional talent of the likes of Malcolm Brogdon, Anthony Gill, and new recruit London Perrantes, alongside returners Harris, Anderson, Tobey, and Mitchell. The team began with high expectations, but early-season losses to VCU, Wisconsin, Green Bay, and an abysmal 35-point beatdown loss to Tennessee drew rumors surrounding Bennett’s future with the program. An incredible turnaround, however, which featured a 13-game win streak in ACC play, skyrocketed the team to 6th nationally. Winning both the ACC regular season and tournament titles, the Cavaliers had all the momentum heading into March Madness, where the program was ranked as a one-seed for the first time since 1983. The miraculous run was cut short, however, after losing in a heartbreaking two-point loss in the Sweet Sixteen to Michigan State and legendary coach Tom Izzo.
An even more impressive season followed suit in 2015, when the Cavaliers opened the season with nineteen consecutive wins. The team peaked at #2 nationally, where they spent 7 weeks—the only team they trailed was a juggernaut Kentucky squad that went undefeated throughout the entire regular season behind a roster loaded with talent such as future stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker. There was one staggering difference between the two teams, however: whereas Kentucky had ten former top-fifty high school prospects on their roster according to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, Virginia had zero. This statistic is a demonstration of Tony Bennett’s uncanny ability to develop players, fit together players in a complementary fashion, and implement an effective coaching scheme. He managed to engineer victories without the “raw” recruiting talent characteristic of many blue bloods. The Cavaliers would finish 28–2 in regular season play, winning the ACC for the second straight season, but were again haunted by Izzo’s Spartans, losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Bennett’s deepest playoff run yet came in 2016, taking the team all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to a red-hot Syracuse team. Brogdon and Gill, both seniors, were major keys to the team’s tournament run. The regular season consisted of two impressive top-ten wins and a victory against the future champions, the Villanova Wildcats. The loss of their two top scorers led to a regression in the following season; however, the team would still earn a spot in the NCAA tournament, losing to Florida in the second round in lopsided fashion to close out the rebuilding season.
Cementing His Legacy
One of the most dominant seasons in program history came in the 2017–18 campaign. The Cavaliers were nearly unstoppable throughout the regular season, losing only two games—a visit to #18 West Virginia and an overtime home loss to familiar foes in Virginia Tech—in the regular season. The Cavaliers finished the regular season ranked #1 in the nation, having allowed only 54 points per game in the process, the lowest in the nation. They won the ACC regular season and tournament titles and earned the overall one-seed in the tournament. History was made on the evening of March 16, 2018, when 16-seed UMBC became the first 16-seed to ever pull off such an upset (they had previously been 0–135 against 1-seeds). However, Bennett maintained his poise through the heartbreaking loss and began to prepare his team for what would unmistakably become the most iconic season of his entire career.
The 2019 season secured Bennett’s reputation as an all-time great at UVA. The team retained several weapons from the previous year, such as Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome, De’Andre Hunter, and Mamadi Diakite. This squad opened the year ranked 5th nationally and would never fall below it. Picking up eight ranked wins throughout the year, the Cavaliers once again only fell twice in the regular season, both losses courtesy of Duke and the star-studded lineup of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Tre Jones. Sharing the ACC regular season crown with the Blue Devils, Virginia earned a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. Their March Madness run began with wins over Gardner-Webb, Oklahoma, and Oregon before encountering a dangerous Purdue team in the Elite Eight. Despite a 42-point performance from sharpshooter Carsen Edwards, the Cavaliers were able to match the Boilermakers in scoring for most of the game. A stunning Kihei Clark pass to Diakite led to a game-tying buzzer-beater, and Virginia would go on to win the game by five in overtime. Facing Auburn in the Final Four, Kyle Guy buried a go-ahead free throw following a foul on a three-point attempt late in the game to hand the Cavaliers a one-point victory and a trip to their first national championship game in program history, where they would face Texas Tech. The Jarrett Culver-led Red Raiders fell behind by double digits but mounted a comeback and forced overtime, but it was not quite enough, and the Cavaliers cut down the nets in Minneapolis for their first-ever basketball national championship. Bennett’s quote in the wake of the victory still resonates with many fans today: “If you use adversity right, it will buy you a ticket to a place you couldn’t have gone any other way.”
While poised for another successful run the following year, ranked 17th nationally entering conference tournament play, the lockdown courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic brought those ambitions to a screeching halt. The 2020–21 season was also limited by the pandemic, which forced the team to withdraw from the ACC tournament. They were upset in the first round of the tournament by the 13-seed Ohio Bobcats. The Cavaliers would miss out on the Big Dance entirely in 2022, and after winning the conference yet again in 2023, the team fell in another first-round upset with Furman hitting a three as time expired to send the Hoos home. Another disappointing season in 2023–24, where the team struggled their way into the tournament as a bubble team before losing to Colorado State in a play-in game, would end up being Bennett’s final run as a Cavalier, as he announced his retirement prior to the start of this year’s season.
While the basketball program carries on without him, Tony Bennett’s name is one that will forever be synonymous with passion, resilience, and ultimately, greatness: he was twice named National Coach of the Year and four times ACC Coach of the Year while in Charlottesville. He represented the epitome of what the University of Virginia stands for in his attitude, conduct, and excellence on the hardwood. His humility in victory and graciousness in defeat won the hearts of fans across college basketball, and the ultimate story of redemption in the 2019 season is still talked about today. It’s hard to find a coach in college sports more beloved by the students, always entering John Paul Jones Arena to an eruption of welcoming cheers while making his way to the sideline. His career leaves fond memories in the hearts of the Cavalier faithful, his legacy forever immortalized by the banners draped from the rafters—none more prolific than the national championship fabric hung front and center above the student section, a feat accomplished by no other coach in the history of the basketball program. Indeed, Coach Tony Bennett will forever be upheld as an icon here at UVA.
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