Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett is retiring effective immediately, the school announced on Thursday. Bennett’s abrupt retirement is a stunning turn of events after he was an active participant during the ACC Basketball Tipoff last week. Bennett, 55, was expected to revamp Virginia’s offense after a frustrating 67-42 loss to Colorado State in last year’s First Four in the NCAA Tournament. Changes were expected on the horizon, but this move is certainly of the unexpected kind.
Even after the disappointing early NCAA Tournament exit, Virginia handed Bennett an extension in June that stretched through 2030.
Bennett led Virginia from the nadir to the pinnacle of the sport in 2019, knocking off Texas Tech in overtime to win the 2019 national championship — less than 13 months after Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed (to UMBC).
Bennett accumulated 364 career wins during a 15-year run at Virginia, winning the ACC championship six times, making 10 NCAA tournaments, three Sweet 16 appearances and three trips to the Elite 8. He’ll go down as one of the best coaches to ever prowl the ACC sidelines and certainly the best coach in Virginia’s history. Bennett passed Terry Holland as Virginia’s all-time winningest coach in 2023.
Since winning the national championship in 2019, Virginia had not won an NCAA Tournament game, losing in the first round in 2021 to 13-seed Ohio, the first round of 2023 to 13-seed Furman and to Colorado State in the First Four.
Bennett was one of the pillars of a piece of ACC history that is rapidly disappearing. North Carolina’s Roy Williams retired in 2021. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski followed suit in 2022. Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim was not far behind.
Suddenly, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, Clemson’s Brad Brownell and Miami’s Jim Larranaga are the only ACC coaches who were manning their respective clubs a decade ago.
Virginia players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, but the season-opener against Campbell looms in less than three weeks.
Bennett took the Virginia job in 2009 after making two NCAA Tournament appearances in three seasons at Washington State.
