By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — With an announcement that stunned the college basketball world, Tony Bennett abruptly walked away from coaching on the eve of the 2024-25 season.
Some 15 months later, the man who led the University of Virginia men’s program to unprecedented heights has no regrets about his decision to retire.
“Not one,” Bennett, 56, said this week. “I'd say this: I'm so grateful I coached in the era that I did. It was right for me, and I know that. I loved the time I got to spend with the players.”
In today’s game, however, “I felt like I would have been a square peg in a round hole,” Bennett said. “This is a new way. This is a new time in college sports, how they go about things, and it just wasn't for me. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I do think there are major issues in college sports that they still need to fix, and I think it looks like the only way is going to be with collective bargaining.
“I said that at my going-away press conference. But I was very grateful for the era in which I coached pretty much the majority of my career. Maybe the last year or two years it was the start of NIL and the transfer portal and agents’ involvement, and all that. I was made for the time I coached. That’s one thing I know.”
In his 15 seasons at UVA, Bennett became, with a 364-136 record, the program’s all-time winningest coach, and he did so in a way that earned the admiration of his peers in the sport.
“Coach Bennett built a culture rooted in integrity, discipline and excellence—one that elevated Virginia men’s basketball into a national power,” athletics director Carla Williams said in a statement.
In recognition of his many contributions to the program, the University and the Charlottesville community, the court at John Paul Jones Arena will be dedicated to Bennett on Saturday before the 2 p.m. game between No. 14 Virginia and No. 22 North Carolina.
The ceremony honoring Bennett is scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m. Joining him at JPJ will be his wife, Laurel, and their son, Eli. (Their daughter, Anna, won’t be able to attend the ceremony.) The game is sold out.
“That’s going to be a special day,” Ryan Odom, who’s in his first season as UVA’s head coach, said Monday on a Zoom call with media members.
“We're all excited for him and all of his staff that worked so hard to put Virginia basketball in an unbelievable position, a national championship position, and all of his former players, for them to see this," Odom said. "I know how much our fans and players, people that love this school, appreciate what Coach Bennett has done for this program, but not only this program, what he's done for this university.”
The Bennetts, who still live in Charlottesville, have had a profound impact “on the people that they coached and the staff members that were here, the students and the University and then the greater community,” Odom said. “They continue to impact this community in a really positive way, and this is just a small token of our appreciation for [Bennett] and for his family.”
Under Bennett, the Cavaliers’ trademarks became their deliberate offense and the rugged Pack Line defense created by his father, Dick, and the combination helped them build a phenomenally successful program. The Wahoos won the ACC tournament twice, captured six regular-season conference titles, and advanced to the NCAA tournament 10 times.
Most memorably, UVA was crowned NCAA champion in 2019.
“We did it in a unique way,” Bennett said in October 2024 at the press conference that followed his retirement announcement. “That was my vision, our vision as a staff: Can we build this program that maybe is a little different than the way [others] do it? That’s the beauty of this sport: You get to choose how you do it, with who you do it, in the style you do it.”
The University celebrated Tony Bennett Day at JPJ last February. At the end of an emotional halftime ceremony that included comments from Bennett, a banner commemorating his illustrious tenure at UVA was raised to the arena’s rafters, where it hangs next to one honoring the late Terry Holland, another coaching legend.
“That was amazing,” Bennett said of the event that his wife and their children, his parents, and many of his former players attended.
The court dedication, like the ceremony at JPJ last winter, will be “a celebration of every single person that was a part of our program during my time here,” Bennett said, from players to assistant coaches to support staffers to managers. “It’s just a nod back to a team that really no longer exists but was perfect for me.”