Virginia Basketball: 3 takeaways following Tony Bennett's abrupt retirement

Virginia Basketball coach Tony Bennett -- who led the Cavaliers to a national title in 2019 -- stunned the college basketball industry on Thursday, abruptly announcing his retirement after 15 seasons as the head coach in Charlottesville.

It was a highly-decorated 18-year career for the 55-year-old, who started his coaching career at Washington State, taking the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances -- the only time that has been done in school history -- before embarking on a well-documented, transformative tenure at Virginia. The national-title-winning head coach leaves the Virginia program as the all-time leader in wins (364) and has made his mark on college basketball for years to come. 

Although there are more questions than answers right now, the University of Virginia announced Bennett will hold a press conference on Friday, Oct. 18 at 11:00 a.m. to announce his retirement. Surely, that will clear up many of the pressing questions, but for now, here’s what to keep an eye out for with Virginia Basketball slated to tip off in less than three weeks.

Where does Virginia go from here?

All signs point to associate head coach Ron Sanchez taking over the interim role for the upcoming season. While this hasn’t been confirmed yet as of late Thursday afternoon, CJ Moore, staff writer for the Athletic, and Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 have also pointed in this direction.

Sanchez has deep ties to the Bennett coaching tree. He joined Tony Bennett’s father, Dick Bennett, as an assistant coach at Washington State in 2003 and stayed on staff under Tony Bennett -- both at Washington State and Virginia -- until 2018when he accepted the HC job at Charlotte.

Spending five seasons leading the 49ers, Sanchez compiled a 72-78 (39-51) overall record, leading Charlotte to a 22-win season in 2022-23 en route to a CBI Championship before stepping down to re-join Bennett as the associate head coach for the Cavaliers. 

Another name to keep tabs on is Jason Williford, who has spent 15 years on staff under Bennett.

A changing landscape may be the culprit?

It’s no secret that Virginia Basketball has struggled to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of NIL and the transfer portal. After winning the national title in 2019, Virginia Basketball has yet to win a game in the NCAA Tournament and has twice been a culprit of the 4-seed/13-seed upset in 2021 and 2023.

After the Cavaliers fell flat in the First Four last season, losing 67-42 to Colorado State, it became evident that a schematic change on offense was needed to stay ahead of the curve. Even Bennett attested to that, quoting “We've got to look at things, certainly, from a system standpoint, absolutely” in his post-game press conference.

While we don’t know the exact reason for Bennett’s abrupt retirement (his health is not an issue), the changing landscape may be the culprit. Take a look at quotes from Jeff Goodman and HOF coach Jim Boeheim.

Keep an eye on the transfer portal…for now

It’s worth noting that after every head coaching change, players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal. While the timing of this is less than ideal (the season starts in 20 days), this rule still applies even if the players are in mid-semester academically.

Because of the abrupt nature of Bennett’s retirement so close to the season, there may not be anywhere to go for current players on the roster to transfer. After all, all rosters are set, but few may have open scholarships, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for.

Virginia welcomed Florida State transfer Jalen Warley, K-State transfer Dai Dai Ames and Duke transfer TJ Power -- a former four-star recruit -- to revamp its offense. They are now left without their head coach. With the NCAA basketball season right around the corner, it’s safe to say that Virginia’s interim coach will have a busy couple of weeks ahead.