CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WTKR) — Sitting in the same room where he was introduced as Virginia's men's basketball coach in 2009, Tony Bennett let his emotions flow as he said goodbye to the program.
The 15 year head coach of the Cavaliers explained his abrupt decision to retire on Friday morning, just three weeks before his team tips off the 2024-25 season.
"I looked at myself and I realized, I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program,” Bennett said. “If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be all in. You’ve got to have everything. And if you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men. That’s what made me step down."
Seated next to UVA athletic director Carla Williams, Bennett went into detail about the timeline of his decision. After the Cavaliers fell to Ohio in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament in March, he considered a change. The offseason, however, started immediately with the transfer portal and his team received commitments from a group of four players that encouraged him.
He then signed a contract extension in June and said he felt energized to keep moving forward. Bennett began fall practices with the team and made the trip to Charlotte for ACC media day last week.
It was a fall break trip with his wife, Laurel, that finally gave the coach a chance to reflect on his feelings and where he felt the future was heading.
"That’s where I kind of came to the realization that I can’t do this,” Bennett said as he choked back his emotions. “It’s not fair to these guys, and to this institution that I love so much, to continue on when you know you’re not the right guy for the job."
During his opening statement, Bennett explained that the current landscape of college athletics with name, image and likeness money along with the transfer portal era played a roll in his decision.
"I think it's right for players, student-athletes to receive revenue. Please don't mistake that," he said. "The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot. And there needs to be change."
"I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am and that’s how it was. My staff has buoyed me along to get to this point, but there needs to be change."
Bennett is the winningest coach in UVA men's basketball history, amassing a 364-136 record in Charlottesville. He led the Cavaliers to a pair of ACC tournament championships, six conference regular season crowns, and ten appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
He became the first coach of a one-seed to lose to a 16-seed when UMBC beat Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The year after, he led the Cavaliers to a storybook comeback with a national championship victory over Texas Tech.
"What happened was probably beyond my wildest expectations," Bennett said. "I wouldn't trade it for anything and there's no chance it would've happened without the young men and how we did it."
Prior to coming to Virginia, Bennett spent three years as the head coach of Washington State after his father Dick led the program for three seasons. He took the reigns from his dad and led the Cougars to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and won the first of his three National Coach of the Year awards.
Williams said Bennett informed her of his decision to retire on Wednesday, though it had come up in prior conversations.
"I believe he is equipped to do the job, but as he said to all of you, he has to have his whole heart in it,” Williams said. “He is the embodiment of humility, because he could keep doing this and not have his heart in it, but it takes more courage to say, ‘I’m not the person for it.'"
Bennett's longtime assistant Ron Sanchez will take over as the interim head coach. Sanchez spent the first nine seasons with Bennett at UVA before taking the head coaching job at Charlotte in 2018. After tallying a 72-78 record with the 49ers in five seasons, including a 22-win campaign in 22-23, Sanchez returned to the Cavaliers as associate head coach prior to last year.
Williams indicated a national search will take place to find the permanent replacement.
The Cavaliers will tip off on November 6 with a home game against Campbell. Bennett said he hopes to encourage the team whenever he can but will not force his way in the program.
"This position has been on loan and it's time for me to give it back," he said. "It's mine to give back and I've given everything I can for 15 years."
