In a massive development just 18 days before the 2024-25 college basketball season gets underway, one of the sport’s biggest coaching names is retiring.
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is hanging it up after spending the past 15 years as the Cavaliers‘ head coach, according to The Field of 68 and confirmed by FOX Sports. Virginia’s men’s basketball program confirmed the report on social media, saying Bennett would announce his official retirement in a press conference at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.
The 55-year-old Bennett, who is most known for completing the ultimate redemption story when his program fell to 16th-seeded UMBC in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and then climbed the mountaintop and won the national championship the following year, won 433 games in his career and two Naismith Coach of the Year awards. With six ACC regular-season titles, two ACC Tournament crowns and four conference coach of the year honors, Bennett built a consistent national power in Charlottesville, Virginia, competing with Duke and North Carolina as the steady trio atop the ACC.
Bennett arrived at Virginia back in 2009, and it didn’t take long for him to make his mark, leading the Cavaliers to the 2012 NCAA Tournament after the program had made just two appearances in the Big Dance in the previous 12 seasons. He has led the program to the NCAA Tournament in nine of the past 10 years, with the lone exception coming in 2022.
As for where Virginia turns from here, look for one of the two associate head coaches, Ron Sanchez or Jason Williford, to get elevated to the head coaching role this season before the program can run a full search.
Bennett has complained in recent years that college basketball’s NIL and the stressors of the job have been a lot more than when he originally got into the profession. Much like we have seen with Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and others, Bennett is stepping aside in the midst of the NIL era. It is impossible to ignore the sheer number of departures and the way the sport’s climate change has impacted whether certain coaches stay in it longer or not.
Regardless, this is a mammoth news development just over two weeks out from the start of the season and for a Virginia program that fully expects to make the NCAA Tournament this year.
It is also worth noting that Bennett’s retirement opens a 30-day transfer portal window for players on the current roster. The Cavaliers are set to tip-off the season on Nov. 6 against Campbell.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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This article was originally published at www.foxsports.com
