Breaking down the results of Tony Bennett’s retirement from college

Myron Medcalf Close Myron Medcalf ESPN Staff Author Covers college basketball Signed up with ESPN.com in 2011 Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato Jeff

University of Delaware.Oct 18, 2024, 02:04 PM ET In an

• psychological news conference announcing his
• retirement on Friday, former Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett didn’t mince words on his reasons for retiring from college basketball, just 3 weeks before the season was set to tip.”I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program in this existing environment,”Bennett, 55, said.In a vacuum, his announcement Thursday wasn’t completely a surprise. Rumors had swirled for several years that he may step down previously than his age and level of success would show. The timing, nevertheless, was a shock.And he’ll leave a space at Virginia and in the college basketball universe. This is, after all, the coach who led the Cavaliers to their first and only nationwide title in 2019, a year after losing to 16-seed UMBC in the best upset in college basketball history. He had not won an NCAA competition game since that national title, yet he was considered among the leading coaches in the sport.Just recently, he spoke at ACC media day about the upcoming season and the benefits of adding Kyle Guy, a starter on the 2019 nationwide title team, to the personnel. He ‘d also discussed his uncertainty with the brand-new truths of the sport, realities he did not

seem to delight in.”I constantly have said, when you’re doing this … you have to be real to yourself and truly take a look at it and state, who am I? Can I run how I desire and can it achieve success enough? And you get to choose if you want to be a part of it or not,”he told ESPN.

“And when you feel it’s time, like Jay did, like Coach K, possibly Saban, it’s their choice. And you can sit here and complain and gripe. Or you have a decision to make. Either you attempt to do it in your method or you get to make that choice.” Editor’s Picks 2 Associated A week later on, Bennett stated he had actually decided he might no longer serve the Virginia program in the method he wanted.”I believe it’s right for student-athletes to receive revenue. Please don’t mistake me, “Bennett stated Friday.”

The game and college athletics is not

in a healthy spot. It’s not. And there needs to be modification and it’s not gon na return. I think I was geared up to do the task here the old way. That’s who I am.”As the game rapidly shifted, it ended up being clear groups like Bennett’s Virginia– constructed on the development of young skill who would remain on school for 3 or 4 years and give the program a continuous set of veteran anchors– would need to shift their frame of minds to win huge. In the era of NIL payment and increased transfer portal motion, winning regularly is harder now than it was when three returning players (Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy and De’Andre Hunter) sustained a go to the 2019 nationwide championship.Bennett said he didn’t feel the desire to discover to coach a various method. He likewise stated Friday that he wanted to leave the program to someone he trusted: Ron Sanchez, who became part of Bennett’s staffs at Washington State and Virginia, with a successful stint as head coach at Charlotte from 2018 to 2023.

.”They’ve brought me through this transition– the method they believe, how they relate, the method their minds remain in this landscape, is what’s required,”Bennett said of Sanchez and fellow associate coach Jason Williford.”Therefore I’m so grateful. And I just want it to go so well for these guys. “As a new period starts for the Cavaliers, ESPN’s Myron Medcalf and Jeff Borzello break down what’s next for the school, its players and the sport. What tradition does Bennett leave behind?Medcalf: He won Virginia’s lone national title, and that’s considerable for any coach. That nationwide title run not just provided Virginia a fresh slate on the basketball court, it altered the perception of the whole university. The Cavs ended up being more

than the 1-seed that lost to 16-seed UMBC in

2018. There are numerous coaches in this game with long careers who won a single national title(Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, John Calipari)that elevated their traditions. Bennett will likewise go down as a legend, and it’s not a wild idea to envision Virginia memorializing his contributions with a statue or another gesture.

He’s that crucial to the program’s history.Borzello: Besides the championship game, Bennett will be most remembered for his design of play– and his unflinching loyalty to that style of play. Throughout Bennett’s period, Virginia played some of the slowest, most intentional basketball in the nation, never ranking greater than No. 316 nationally in pace (which was available in his first season in Charlottesville)

. In the previous 4 seasons, they were Nos. 357, 357, 360 and 362, respectively.They were really elite defensively, too. From 2012-2020, Virginia ranked outside the top-10 in adjusted defensive effectiveness at KenPom simply once– when they completed 25th. Bennett recruited to that design, he found players he believed might fit what he wanted to do on the court, and after that he established them. After a couple of early NCAA tournament exits, and the UMBC loss, there was prevalent criticism that Virginia couldn’t win huge in March with that design of play. Did Bennett alter? Nope. He doubled down and won the championship game. Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire by means of Getty Images What will be the very first order of business for Sanchez?Borzello: Keep the roster together. NCAA rules state players have 30 days following a training modification to go into the transfer website. Virginia’s players likely would need a waiver to be qualified at their next school(or at the very least wait until the semester ends), but they could likewise leave and redshirt this season at a different school, regardless of the waiver process. Virginia was chosen 5th in the ACC preseason survey launched

on Wednesday; a lot of high-major schools would have

interest in the Cavaliers’players, were they to enter the portal.Medcalf: Thinking about the season starts in 3 weeks, there is no time for Sanchez to go off-script– and it won’t be necessary. Sanchez invested lengthy stretches on Bennett’s staffs at Washington State and Virginia, so there will be connection and familiarity … as long as the players choose to stay. That is no assurance, however the bonds on Bennett’s personnel ought to assist the program avoid the turmoil most teams would withstand if their long time head coach had decided to retire less than 3 weeks before the start of the season.I believe Sanchez’s first interview will be impactful. He’s understood within the Virginia neighborhood, however not always to the bigger college basketball community, in spite of a five-year head training stint at Charlotte that ended with a CBI championship in 2023. Sanchez is close to Bennett and I make certain feels a specific loyalty to him because of the effect he has had on Sanchez’s career. But I also believe it’s important for Sanchez to convey that the program remains in good hands.He’s going to have to balance his respect for Bennett and the acknowledgement of a brand-new age– one that needs to consist of Virginia accepting the needs of NIL and transfer portal mayhem. There is no other method to compete in this current landscape. Sanchez has to make that clear when he’s formally introduced as the interim head coach.What is the greatest challenge for Virginia without Bennett at the helm?Borzello: Although the Cavaliers haven’t been a Last Four or title contender over the past few seasons, these are still relatively sizable shoes to fill. Bennett led them to a national championship and 6 ACC regular-season titles– including in two of those recent”down “seasons. These are the standards Bennett set.Top stories of the week from Get unique access to thousands of premium posts a year from top authors. – Coaches, execs argument ESPN’s NBA Rank”- Best, worst

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ESPN+material”Stylistically, Sanchez is most likely to continue Bennett’s slower, more defensive design. During his time at Charlotte, the 49ers were consistently towards the bottom of the league in possessions per game, ranking next-to-last nationally in tempo in his last season– slower than even Virginia. The roster was developed with that design in mind, so it should not be a concern for this

season.Coaches around the ACC have likewise said Bennett was among the better head-coach employers in the league; once he ended up being involved in a recruitment, he was difficult to beat. Will Sanchez have the same influence on the recruiting trail? And if the school chooses to employ somebody else

as the long-term head coach in the spring, there likely requirements to be a roster overhaul.Why are more coaches leaving the sport in the middle of the enormous modifications that have changed the game?Medcalf: Not long ago, I spoke to a coach who told me that he’s no longer a head coach, simply a basic manager. The responsibilities on the shoulders of college basketball coaches have actually increased in recent years. It’s not almost athletes ‘brand-new freedom

of motion or advantages readily available to them, either. Those changes have actually likewise increased the energy it takes to both hire and maintain a group. Coaches have always contributed to fundraising, but those efforts are nonstop now. The continuous turnover by means of the portal is an extraordinary obstacle, too.Coaching in 2024 is a strenuous, tough experience in methods it wasn’t just five years earlier. It simply seems like less coaches– particularly those who’ve made seven figures for a very long time– will remain past 65 or 70 thinking about the grind

this task now demands.