Tony Bennett retirement: Update emerges on role of health in Virginia coach's decision

More details are starting to emerge on Tony Bennett’s decision to retire as Virginia head coach. The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman – who initially reported the news – said Bennett’s health was not a factor.

Goodman said other factors likely played a role in Bennett’s decision to step away. Specifically, he cited the amount of changes to the college basketball landscape between NIL and the transfer portal, which “cannot be underestimated,” he said.

Bennett is set to hold a press conference Friday at 11 a.m. ET to discuss his retirement, effective immediately, the university announced. UVA is currently making its final preparations for the 2024-25 season, which tips off in 20 days.

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.

Tributes poured in almost immediately after news broke of Bennett’s decision to retire. That includes St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, who coached against Bennett during his time at Louisville.

“If the news is true, college basketball just lost a man with incredible class, humility, and dignity,” Pitino wrote on X. “Tony Bennett is an awesome teacher of our game. You will be deeply missed!”

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.”