Cavaliers men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett told only a few people that he is resigning, effective immediately. Bennett had run the program since 2009, and in doing so, he takes with him a body of work that’s full of some incredible achievements-a national championship with Virginia in 2019 as well as a reputation for running one of the most consistent college basketball programs in the country.
How Bennett, by most reckonings one of the very best at the game, walked out on it remains a tremendous shocker within the basketball world. For his composed composure and strategic brilliance and for an essentially defensive play that was always strict on restraint, Bennett had readjusted Virginia into a national power within the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Bennett thanked Virginia for the experience and indeed the larger part of it quoted that he was leaving on personal grounds, available through the school. Soon after becoming the Cavaliers head coach in 2009, he took the program to the next level overnight. His duration there involved Virginia winning five ACC regular season titles and two ACC tournament championships. His crowning glory is that the Cavaliers won the NCAA national championship in 2019 when they defeated Texas Tech in an overtime thriller that gave the school its first-ever title in men’s basketball.
Getting the national championship was a little ironic as it was only a year after Virginia took one of its most storied losses in history when it lost to UMBC, the first time a No. 1 seeded team was ever to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bennett took his team from that low to college basketball’s highest peak.
Soon, current and former teammates as well as fellow players weighed in on the retirement of Bennett, saluting him not only as a success on court but off court-a man of character and leadership.
With the retirement news of Bennett, speculations on who will take the vacant position are already emerging. In the meantime, the Cavaliers have a huge task at hand by scouting for an ideal head coach that can complement the excellent work that Bennett has laid down more than a decade in the basketball program.
While he is away, Bennett has been of great worth in ending an era for Virginia; his influence on the program and game of college basketball itself is well-made apparent. His years have always belonged to defense-first, in the image of now-described “pack-line” defense; his teams have usually ended their seasons at or close to the top of the country in terms of not allowing opponents easy points. His style of coaching will forever leave indels in the game, compelling others to coach in a similar style.
The transition will undoubtedly feel poignant at times, as I retire from the game because Tony Bennett will be leaving the court after having made so many memories on it over the years. His legacy as one of the all-time great coaches in basketball is solid and shall be remembered for excellence and humility in whatever professional pursuits or personal endeavors he may be engaged in.
They were the people at the University of Virginia and its followers, behind whose legacy will lie the continuation of shaping the program for long years, to which he would always be in debt.
