The college basketball world was rocked on Thursday afternoon by the sudden and somewhat mind-boggling news of Tony Bennett’s immediate retirement from his position of head coach of the Virginia men’s basketball program, a post he held for 15 years. Bennett leaves UVA having won 364 games, most in program history, six ACC regular season titles, two ACC Tournament titles, and the 2019 NCAA National Championship.
And yet, it still seemed there was plenty left in the tank for the 55-year-old coach, who signed a contract extension in June of this year to remain Virginia’s head coach through 2030. While no one expected Bennett to coach into his 70s and an early retirement was always on the board, the sudden nature of this decision and the timing of it, less than three weeks before the 2024-2025 season is set to tip off, has seemingly caught everyone off guard, including fans, coaches, players, and the media.
Let’s see how the college basketball world reacted to the news of Tony Bennett’s surprising immediate retirement:
We’ll start with a current (and the newest) member of the Virginia basketball staff, who also happens to be one of the best players to come through UVA during Bennett’s tenure, Kyle Guy:
Best decision I ever made was to come play for him. 🐐
My oldest son is named after him for a reason https://t.co/dZWlwFTn3E
— Kyle J Guy (@kylejguy) October 18, 2024
Another former Wahoo and current forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, Trey Murphy III, said as much in fewer words, actually no words:
— TMIII (@treymurphy) October 17, 2024
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Former UVA basketball star and current head coach of the Indiana Pacers, Rick Carlisle, opened his pregame press conference on Thursday by commenting on the news of Bennett’s retirement. Here’s what Carlisle had to say, per Tony East of Indiana Pacers on SI:
“I first just want to mention, there’s news out that Tony Bennett is going to be retiring as University of Virginia Men’s basketball coach. If that’s true, what an amazing career he’s had. He’s become a great friend of mine. He’s a great friend of the game. What he accomplished at Virginia is unprecedented with the basketball program. He’s just an amazing person and an amazing coach… He’s widely respected throughout the world of basketball. I don’t know what he has planned going forward from here, but certainly wish him the best. He’ll be missed there, for sure.
We’ve talked a lot about style, and they’ve been the best defensive team in the country for over a decade. It’ll be interesting to see how their style is going to look this year, especially now with him not leading the team… A lot of mixed feelings about an announcement like this. I know we wish him the best, amazing person.”
Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, who is the longest-tenured active head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, commented on Bennett’s retirement:
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton on #UVA basketball coach Tony Bennett’s retirement … https://t.co/ya4fQ8HEOp pic.twitter.com/9K6u5pV04a
— Mike Barber (@StillMikeBarber) October 17, 2024
Then there’s St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who endured a 1-5 record against Tony Bennett in his final years at Louisville, chiming in with some serious respect:
If the news is true, college basketball just lost a man with incredible class, humility, and dignity. Tony Bennett is an awesome teacher of our game. You will be deeply missed!
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) October 17, 2024
Dick Vitale alluded to the rumors that the issues surrounding NIL and the transfer portal in college basketball today were a critical factor in Bennett’s early retirement:
I firmly believe college hoops lost another super leader of young ppl in Tony Bennett due the chaos caused by the transfer portal & the NIL . Just my opinion ! via @ESPN App https://t.co/9sE0YbRe59
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) October 17, 2024
In Vitale’s Tweet, he linked the ESPN story from Jeff Borzello reporting Bennett’s retirement. In that story, Borzello mentioned that Bennett had, just a week ago at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte, been asked about the prospect of following the footsteps of a coach like Jay Wright into an early retirement while still in the “prime” of his coaching career. Here was Bennett’s answer:
“I got to call Jay Wright and see what he says, right? I always have said, when you’re doing this, you’re in this profession, whether you agree how it’s going or not, you have to be true to yourself and really look at it and say, who am I? Can I operate how I want, and can it be successful enough? And you get to choose if you want to be a part of it or not.
“And when you feel it’s time, like Jay did, like Coach K, maybe Saban, it’s their choice. And you can sit here and complain and gripe. Or you have a decision to make. Either you try to do it in your way or you get to make that decision. So I think Jay Wright probably foresaw where this is going. … It’ll be better whenever there’s regulations. Is that three to five years away? Who knows? But if it’s not — those are decisions that every man has to make when it’s his time.”
Speaking of Jay Wright, here’s what the former Villanova head coach had to say about Bennett:
Tony is one of the most talented and toughest coaches we ever competed against . We always respected him and his teams at the highest level . A class guy –
Inspirational – spiritual and an incredible competitor !! @UVAMensHoops https://t.co/aSgZxGFfAD— Jay Wright (@CoachJayWright) October 17, 2024
On the ACC Network on Thursday evening, Mark Packer and Seth Greenberg provided some perspective on the legacy Bennett is leaving at Virginia:
“When you think about Tony Bennett and what he represents and the University of Virginia and what that institution represents, it was a perfect fit.”@MarkPacker says Tony Bennett is leaving a legacy on and off the court at UVA ⚔️ @UVAMensHoops pic.twitter.com/PbcB29n5Yu
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) October 17, 2024
.@SethOnHoops says Tony Bennett’s legacy goes far beyond the game of basketball. pic.twitter.com/wtPrym9ZsU
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) October 17, 2024
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips released the following statement on Bennett’s retirement:
— ACC Men’s Basketball (@accmbb) October 17, 2024
Dipping back into the UVA community, former Virginia football star Chris Long kept it brief, but said what every Cavalier basketball fan would want to say to Tony Bennett:
Thank you Tony
— chris long (@JOEL9ONE) October 17, 2024
UVA President Jim Ryan echoed those sentiments:
It’s impossible to capture in this space all you’ve accomplished as a coach, mentor, friend, colleague, & @UVA legend. So for now, I will simply say thank you, Tony Bennett, for 15 incredible seasons and 15 years of memories. We have been blessed by your presence. @UVAMensHoops pic.twitter.com/sqiAV3tg4N
— Jim Ryan (@presjimryan) October 18, 2024
We’re sure there will be more tributes and expressions of gratitude coming following Tony Bennett’s official retirement press conference on Friday. He certainly deserves them.
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