Championship-Winning College Basketball Coach Abruptly Retires

Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett announced that he will be retiring effective immediately, a completely unexpected departure on the eve of the season opener.

The program announced Thursday that Bennett, 55, will formally announce his retirement at a news conference on Friday at 11 A.M. Eastern Time. No reasons were given for the decision, which comes just months after the veteran coach signed an extension that would have kept him with the Cavaliers through 2030.

Bennett — whose teams are primarily known for lockdown defense — has long been recognized as one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. He led Virginia to a national championship in 2019 and secured multiple top seeds in the vaunted NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. Over 15 seasons, Bennett guided his team to 10 tournament appearances.

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Virginia is currently slated to open their season against Campbell on November 6.

Bennett compiled a record of 364-136 at Virginia, a run that included two ACC Tournament titles and six regular-season conference championships. He has also been voted Coach of the Year three times.

His tenure began in the 2009-10 season, when Bennett left Washington State and took over a struggling Virginia program that had made just one NCAA tournament in eight seasons. He was able to get the Cavaliers back to March Madness by his third season, thanks in-part to Bennett’s defensive-orientated, slow tempo style of play.

Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett is retiring.

– National champion
– 2x Coach of the Year
– Eight total ACC titles
– 433–169 career coaching record
– 364–136 record at Virginia
– Proud father, husband and son.

An absolute legend. pic.twitter.com/LDDnQaEBn8

— OutKick (@Outkick) October 17, 2024

Virginia secured six straight tournament bids, four of them coming as a number one seed, from 2014-19. The run also included a notable low period, however, as in 2018, Bennett’s squad became the first number one seed to lose to a 16 seed in an NCAA tournament game. Bennett was still named Coach of the Year just weeks later thanks to the team’s regular season success.

Just a year later, Bennett’s squad was back with a vengeance. They went on to make the Final Four and ultimately secured an overtime victory over Texas Tech to secure the program’s lone NCAA Championship.

Bennett’s retirement comes as a complete shock, as the coach was discussing plans for the upcoming season at a press conference in Charlotte just last week. Additional details are expected to be revealed during Friday’s news conference.