By Ben Tredinnick
Photo: (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)
Last week, it was announced that Tony Bennett, the Virginia Cavaliers’ long-time coach, would retire from coaching.
Bennett had been in charge of the Cavalier since 2009, taking over the program from Dave Leitao.
Leitao had led the team to one of the worst seasons in its history, going 10-18 overall and 4-12 in the ACC.
A change was needed for Virginia, and Bennett was able to bring it.
During the 15 seasons he was with the program, Bennett led the team to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, with two additional appearances in the NIT.
But Bennett will be mostly known for what happened to the Cavaliers during the 2018 and 2019 editions of the tournament.
The Cavaliers came into the 2018 season with low expectations, with the AP not ranking the program before the season began.
But, Bennett’s team was able to defy expectations and slowly rise up the rankings, losing only two games in the regular season to end the season as the number one ranked team in the country.
Additionally, they were able to easily with the ACC tournament, making them one of the favorites to win the NCAA tournament, as well as the overall number one seed.
However, things soon turned sour for the Cavaliers.
A few days before their round of 64 game against 16-seed UMBC, star forward De’Andre Hunter was ruled out of the tournament with a season-ending wrist injury.
This did have an effect on the Cavalier championship hopes, but they were still heavily predicted to defeat UMBC.
What followed was something that went down as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA tournament.
The number 16 ranked UMBC Retrievers defeated the Cavaliers 74-54, with the Retrievers scoring 53 points in the second half.
This was the first time that a number 16 team had defeated a number one ranked team, a feat that has happened since, when the 2023 Purdue Boilermakers were defeated by Fairleigh Dickinson.
After the game, Bennett told the media
“This is life. It can’t define you. You enjoyed the good times and you gotta be able to take the bad times. When you step into the arena… the consequences can be historic losses, tough losses, great wins, and you have to deal with it. And that’s the job.”
Bennett’s reaction to the shocking defeat was praised by the media as a good example of strong leadership and emotional intelligence, two qualities that a coach should have.
But, as well as being a historic moment, this defeat was the opening part of one of the biggest redemption stories in sports.
The following season was very similar to the 2018 season for the Cavaliers. They again became the number one ranked team in the nation and won the ACC championship.
But this time, a first round defeat did not happen.
In fact, Bennett was able to lead this team, which had six players that are now NBA stars in it, to their first ever national championship, defeating Texas Tech in the championship game.
This title and the story that surrounds it is Bennett’s legacy.
He was able to turn around a humbling defeat the year before into a championship win, something that will never be forgotten.
Bennett’s retirement signifies a changing of the guard in the Virginia program that appeared to be a long time coming, as he had already given more control to assistant coach,(now head coach) Ron Sanchez.
But maybe the absence of someone like Tony Bennett on the sidelines signifies a bigger change in College Basketball. Bennett joins Duke’s Coach K, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, as legendary ACC coaches who have recently entered retirement.
These have made way for a new generation of coaches, ready to lead their respective programs into the new world of College Sports.
Ben Tredinnick is a contributor for The MMM Journal. He can be reached on social media at:
X: @BMTredinnick
Instagram: b.m.tredinnick
