BREAKING: Tony Bennett to announce his immediate retirement in a press conference on Friday at 11 a.m. pic.twitter.com/jw9HYtyYaq— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) October 17, 2024
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That is wild...gotta be a health thing or something because to do it those close to the season is crazy
I think it's a terrible UVA AD thing... this has the same vibe as Mendenhall's retirement
1. I hope he's okay
2. Lol
3. I hope this royally screws uva
I thought you were lol'ing at #1 but then figured you weren't.
I have nothing but respect for Bennett. I genuinely wouldn't laugh at him for anything serious. You are correct that I'm laughing at the situation uva is in; searching for a new coach (and replacing a hall of famer) with 3 weeks to go.
I read an article by a UVA sports beat writer (Chris Graham) that said he thinks the timing is intentional. He has his preferred replacement (Sanchez) and was letting him do most of the coaching and recruiting. The writer said something to the effect that the AD might do a search to replace Bennett, so Bennett leaves with no time left to do a search, giving Sanchez a year at the reins with a good team to earn the head coaching spot.
Same thing Bob Stopps did with Lincoln Riley
I wonder if this is a Bronco 'retire' or a retire retire
Terrible timing for them but maybe they'll suck this year...that'd be cool for us
Nah, this isn't a Bronco thing. Bennet has been with UVA too long. And to say retiring is way different than stepping down or quitting. I gotta think health or something big happened with his family or something.
I dunno. Same AD is running the show. Two good (Mendenhall) / great (Bennett) coaches in seemingly decent/good situations - coaching UVA's teams in college's primary sports - just up and retire all of the sudden under her watch.. hmm.
Zima poisoning.
TIL that Virginia considers football a primary sport.
Ohhh, you said college's primary sports. I thought you'd said UVA's primary sports.
lawl
See my comment above about the article I read explaining the timing on this one.
I can't imagine it's for anything but a health issue, but I pray that it's not.
Great coach, class act. I Wish him the best, or come to tech if you need a job.
Hope it's not a health issue, but the timing indicates it has to be.
It has to be this. It might not be him, but in his close family for sure.
We all hate UVA with a passion, but Bennett is a quality guy. He would only do this if he had to.
Edit: Well, it doesn't seem health related. Hmmmm. We await the "why". Some of the comments below about forcing an internal successor, etc. and ACC tobacco road teams precedence may be good hints.
That's not what was revealed in his presser, but he did reference his aging parents.
Health or impending scandal. W/ Bennett, a scandal is unlikely.
Wow.
Not health related and to do it 3 weeks before the season? Truly shocking
Wow, if it isn't health somebody in the department above him must have royally torqued Tony off. I had never heard anything bad about him. To retire 3 weeks before season is spite.
Could be something happened with a family member, but that likely would fall under a "health" thing as well (I would think).
Probably to make it harder to hire someone outside, gotta give one of his guys a chance
He wants his assistants to have a chance without the roster falling apart. This is the only way to do that.
Kids have 30 days to transfer from the moment he makes official announcement. Might be screwing his assistant if that happens.
True, I just feel like they definitely transfer if he does this after the season or in May. Doing it now makes it a lot harder on the players, but I'm sure if they're wanted somehow the receiving teams would make it work.
WTF is this "changing landscape" they speak of? Oh, its fucking no rules, millions in salaries needed, no academic pretense, watered down NBA players, sit outs, unlimited transfers, 7 years to play 7, etc. Bennett is smart- he knows its a fucking joke right now.
Why do you spend so much energy on something you hate so much?
You mean the thing he didn't have a problem with when he signed an extension a few months ago while HE made 4 million a year in the NCAA basketball that has had one and dones for 18 years. This isn't something that popped up since July when he signed his extension.
"HE made 4 million a year in the NCAA basketball"- your fucking right he did. Why? he is an elite coach and much much less replaceable than "UVA player"... that comes and goes every year and won't be nearly as good on average now that they are not coached by a top 10 coach. If player and coach were the same skill set, Magic would have been a great NBA coach and the best NFL coach ever would have never made it past coaching D3.
UVA " spent" on their entire basketball roster 175,000 the last season, a local McDonald's franchise being the biggest deal. So again he was fine making 4.5 million off the kids play, TV contracts but can't stick around to make the system work fairly long term? No one thinks the current system works it's why everyone is pushing for a federal bill to address it, but Bennet just ran away.
Bennett went 15-5 and won the ACC regular season last year. We will see if its the 175K roster or the coach that wins 80% of his ACC games- point being Bennetts salary is irrelevant to compare - he's not a very replaceable player and you will see that soon.
UVA did none of those things last season. 13-7, third in ACC regular season, then got an at large bid and lost by 25 in the first four in Dayton. They won 23 games last season costing in salary to Bennett more than 175,000 per win.
DC was looking at '22-23
Yes, thank you.
Sorry- 2 years ago, which makes my point totally irrelevant of course. Either way- you will see very soon why he is worth every penny and the kids that cycle in every 3-4 years aren't worth 175K a win.
Glad to hear no health issues. However, I do hope that their hoops program will now serve as a stepping stone for us, that CMY can step on their face to catapult the Hokies to being an upper echelon ACC program again
I'm poking at my sources.
Well, when you're done with that why don't you try to get some info... /s/s
All I've gotten is that it's not a health issue and they all think he's an awesome dude.
The one time I think my loluva connections will be useful, they're been nothing but disappointing.
Never get your hopes up when it comes to loluva connections. Recipe for disappointment. Always.
holy shit, that's crazy
Crazy as he was at media day and did all the interviews there.
Really can't wait for the details to come out.
Curious if his players can now all transfer and catch on at other schools for the season now. They should have 30 days to leave.
He just signed an extension this summer too.
Any players transferring couldn't possibly play this semester, right? I mean, you still have to be enrolled at a school to play I assume?
And for a new school to make a spot even for January, they'd have to boot a current scholarship player, wouldn't they?
Paging DC, paging DC...
Exactly- we are still pretending there are eligibility rules is mind blowing.
Alot of schools on quarter systems, worst case, they are forced to sit until mid December. Once semester is over, they could be eligible with how these lawsuits have been going.
Alot of schools that don't have full rosters.
Alright, I'll say it.
Are there anyWhich of those players do wemightwant?Athletic wings... Mike Young's recruiting/retention kryptonite. Desperately need another Justin Mutts
he signed an extension in the off season, 6 years through 2030.
yyeeaahh... something definitely up
He hit his number for retirement this week. Must have got the call from his accountant.
Crazy sauce. Bronco showed him the way.
getting out before the scandal drops?
Early articles are reading like he's sick of what college sports has become with NIL and doesn't want to wait around for regulations to eventually come along.
But why now? He could go through the season and not deal with it and then retire
Agreed. Unless his starting lineup came into his office at once and asked for a raise or they'll all redshirt, it doesn't make sense outside of a health/family issue
I imagine it was something like that. He might have had a new player or transfer say they wanted more money. Or worse announced to their fellow players what they were getting and others were jealous. Either way it had to be a shit show for him to step out and shaft UVA like this.
If it's one player you give then the ole Shane Beamer. If it's the whole team, then maybe, but, it just seems odd in the manner he builds his teams i doubt they will do as well most other places.
Now that I'm more awake, if its the whole team you just hire pinkertons for some good old-fashioned union busting
Because he wants his assistant to get the job. Same thing Bob Stoops did with Lincoln Riley.
Then why sign an extension? Seems like something else likely happened.
That didn't change this summer. Well, other than continuing the trend.
I saw it on twitter as soon as it was first reported and immediately called a couple uva fans and told them. I wanted to be the one to ruin their day with this hilariously poorly timed news. Obviously I was holding off on truly rubbing it in until it was assured it wasn't health related.
This guy Hokies.
I had asked a few of my UVA acquaintances (don't judge me - they're ok) after the tourney if there was any pressure on him given the lack of postseason success since their natty. Funny enough, they all said there wasn't enough frustration that they thought he was on the hot seat, but they wouldn't be surprised if he pulled a Jay Wright and just walked away.
Still to do it weeks before the season and after signing an extension seems odd. So I'll wait and see what else comes out
From what it sounds like, he wanted UVa to name his successor now to eventually begin officially mentoring him with assurances he got to hand pick who took over the program after him.
The UVa AD either didn't agree to it, or Bennett didn't trust him to see it through, so he quit to basically force them to hand it to his successor now.
Which, if true, holy shit just how toxic is that UVa Athletic Department right now
This is basically what an article I just read says. This puts his lead assistant on the job early, gets boost from what everybody thinks will be a decent team, and that maybe it will override the AD's desire for 'national search'.
His Dad did this, Dean Smith did it, etc.
https://augustafreepress.com/news/tony-bennett-steps-down-as-uva-basketb...
I always love a good Augusta Press Article.
That's the article I read as well. Basically make sure his guy gets a shot to coach a year and prove he deserves the job, so Bennett leaves at a time to make sure his chosen successor gets to coach the season.
Edit - Coach K did it transitioning to Jon Scheyer.
K made two points on Scheyer- 1. He felt the school interviewing someone not on his staff would upset the staff that were Duke Alums. 2. Scheyer recruited all of Dukes top players the past 5 years- not K. K admitted this. So the logic is that the talent wouldn't drop under Scheyer, and K was correct.
In the article I read, it said Sanchez had recruited the most recent class, not Bennett.
It would be a shame the AD wouldn't take Bennett's input for his successor, but the article basically said the AD has a horrible track record of selections and said the AD had said something to the effect that a candidate search would be made (basically ignoring Bennett's recommendation), which is why we're seeing this timing of him retiring.
Bennett was UVA's Frank Beamer- but better. They are going to miss him big time. He is a hell of a coach and perfect fit for them. My guess is they cycle through a couple guys before they find someone decent.
At least we got lucky frank hung it up when he no longer quite had it. Imagine if he had retired at 55...
Sounds like the AD has other plans. Named the assistant the interim but that may be short lived.
Hearing they may offer the job to Anthony Grant, the Dayton head coach. Bennett may have cost his whole staff their jobs at this rate.
I though Ritchie McKay would get a look. He's done very well in his second stint at Liberty and was associate head coach under Bennett for 6 seasons.
My God if their AD burns down the Bennett legacy, that would be absolutely glorious.
I mean I don't overly enjoy dancing on someone's grave, but I can make an exception for Hooville basketball
Not sure you can say Bennett cost his staff their jobs. No matter when he left, they would all have likely lost their jobs anyway. Trying to keep Sanchez in the job is the closest thing he could have done to ensure they would keep their jobs.
This is what my UVA friend has told me too.
I definitely got the vibe that this was NIL/portal related due to his comments about the "current environment." Probably something happened and it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I don't really blame him -- it must be exhausting to re-recruit your entire team every year in addition to other duties. And this isn't unprecedented either. IIRC Roy Williams basically said the same thing when he left UNC.
OR the 'current environment' is just an easy excuse to leave your current job without damaging your reputation and/or throwing your fans/bosses under the bus
throwing them under the bus, but with plausible deniability.
NIL and "current environment" make some sense they way TB coaches. He never plays freshman, develops players, takes few high-percentage shots, and plays hard D and Slow basketball. Hard to recruit in the NIL era when the prospect is, "you might not have many scoring opportunities in a couple of years if you work extremely hard on D, kid." It's not much fun when you're a top prospect and can get paid to run and gun in year 1.
Bennett was 28-12 the past 2 years in the ACC. Finishing first and 3rd respectively. Mr. NIL, Jim Larranaga - was 21-19. He could win in the NIL era- because it eventually comes down to X and O's. I think he was sick of the bullshit- having to recruit your players every semester, etc.
Let's be honest a bit of both. Bennett was taking freshmen, turning them into great defensive players and good shooters when they got their chances. But now in the advent of NIL, as soon as he has trained them to the point where he can rely on them they are going to jump ship to another team that is happy to have a player with good defense and shooting.
Sorry, UVA hoops under Bennett is not a stepping stone program. They were a top 3 ACC program and won a Natty. This isn't a G5 here. UVA would have ponied up for the guys Bennett wanted to keep too. Bennett recruited to his system. Gary Williams and John Thompson did also and got sick of recruiting and retired. perhaps like Bennett is.
Or the current environment is the administration and their lack of support for Sanchez as the next coach whenever that was originally to occur.
I don't buy it.
He signed a 6 year contract extension on June 13th, 2024 and we're supposed to believe the "current environment" changed so much in the span of 4 months and 4 days that his conscious was so jaded it forced him to retire? NIL was well known and we knew full well the damage it had done to the landscape when he signed that extension, so I have a hard time believing he suddenly had an epiphany that led to him stepping away with his head held high, especially when he himself was benefitting from the portal just as recently as this year....
Why does it have to have changed after he signed the extension? Would you turn down money if offered to you? I don't blame him for signing it. If he refuses, there's a stink about, and that's reason to let him go with the assumption he's not all-in on the team and school. He got his, as anyone should expect to get. They offered, he took. No, the "current environment" as you apply it didn't change. But things on the inside at loluva could have declined, there could have been some off-season booster BS, kids turning their nose up at loluva since they refuse to dump money into the NIL....that's the "current environment." Everyone else is playing (or attempting) the NIL game tossing big figures around, and uva has taken a stand that they won't run with the big dogs. Is he a great coach? Absolutely. But how many kids are going to leave cash on the table to play for him...and lose in the first round. It sucks standing on the playground with no jacket on and everyone else is snug and warm in their fresh jackets. That's the current environment of loluva basketball.
And he stepped away to give his guy the reigns to the program. Yeah Tony has been working towards being a coach for 40 years. Yes, the landscape and environment has changed. But his direct fishbowl hasn't. Ensure turning it over to one of his guys that he feels deserves it is proper.
They offered him an extension. He might have thought last year, he could put up with another year of the NIL crap. Over the summer he changed his mind?
I had to offer my sister in law a box of tissues. She's been in love with him since he showed up. I'll be happy to never have to hear about the "gorgeous" Tony boy again.
No matter how many times I've seen this or how many years go by, I always chuckle at this like a 5th grader
"Feel like I'm wearing nothing at all."
This is one of my favorite Simpsons bits and it's been stuck in my head for 25 years now.
I may be in the minority here, but losing Bennett is a loss for every team on the ACC. His participation raised the whole conference to some degree and he was a character guy. I like beating UVA when they're good and this will likely mute the bliss of victory over time against them as they struggle to reach the heights they have had over his span.
Dating a UVA fan, I've been able to see that my view towards him runs a lot of overlap to how the UVA crowd saw Beamer. It's a loss.
Not possible because he made waaay too much money compared to his players /s.
Absolutely agree. As a VT/Red Sox fan I think of Tony Bennett the same way I think if he Derek Jeter. Great for the game, just hate that they coach/play for the bad guys.
This seems like an appropriate place to leave this...
I agree on all but one count, I dont care how good or bad UVA is when we beat them. But Bennett is a great coach, and the ACC has lost some legendary coaches in the past 5 years. Him gone weakens the conference.
Amen. No way you can lose hall of famers: Roy, K, Boeheim, Bennett and other top quality coaches like Brey, Buzz etc and be the same quality conference. ANY conference takes a hit in that scenario.