Dick Vitale weighs in on Tony Bennett retirement, what sparked it

Virginia head basketball coach Tony Bennett shocked the college basketball world on Thursday evening, when the school confirmed that he’ll be holding a press conference on Friday morning, announcing his retirement from the game. The fact that Bennett is stepping away from the game is not surprising, but the timing certainly is perplexing, with the new season just a few short weeks away.

Many different people across the college basketball landscape chimed in on Bennett stepping down and the reasons he decided to leave the game. On Thursday evening, college basketball analyst Dick Vitale shared his thoughts on the Cavaliers’ head man stepping away.

“I firmly believe college hoops lost another super leader of young ppl in Tony Bennett due the chaos caused by the transfer portal & the NIL..Just my opinion!” Vitale tweeted out on his account Thursday evening.

I firmly believe college hoops lost another super leader of young ppl in Tony Bennett due the chaos caused by the transfer portal & the NIL . Just my opinion ! via @ESPN App https://t.co/9sE0YbRe59

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) October 17, 2024

More on Tony Bennett and his legendary career with Virginia

Bennett, 55, has been the head coach at UVA since 2009 and has a 364-136 record in Charlottesville. During that time, the Cavaliers won six ACC regular-season titles and won the 2019 national championship – one year after becoming the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Bennett arrived at Virginia from Washington State, where he was the head coach from 2006-09 after three seasons as an assistant. He was also an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 1999-2003. All told, during his time as a head coach at Wazzu and UVA, he amassed a 433-169 record.

Over the course of his career, Bennett received multiple notable honors. He is a two-time Naismith College Coach of the Year, a four-time ACC Coach of the Year and the 2007 Pac-10 Coach of the Year. In addition, he won three Henry Iba Awards as the best college basketball coach in the nation by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Tony Bennett also built a reputation for player development over the course of his time at Virginia, and the transfer portal has impacted continuity across the country. At ACC Tipoff, he spoke about the changing landscape and his approach to roster-building – particularly when it comes to experience.

“When you have a team that has continuity and are juniors and seniors, I think that’s a way,” Bennett said. “Obviously you have to get it right with, in this climate, the character of your players, but put it together.

“I think all those things will be how you build a program. But, everyone, that’s the beauty of college sports, college basketball. You get to choose how you build your program, the style you play, the system you run, all those kinds of things. I think it starts for us in that regard.”

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.