Kenny Payne shares message he gave Tony Bennett after retirement

Shocking ACC news came out of Charlottesville last Thursday, with Virginia head coach Tony Bennett retiring. Widely considered one of the best in college basketball, Bennett stepped away from the game right before the 2024-2025 season began. Some coaches in the conference might actually be letting out a sigh of relief.

Kenny Payne was somebody who has gone up against Bennett in recent seasons, previously leading the Louisville program. He was asked about his colleague’s retirement on Thursday, with Payne sharing there was some recent communication between the two. And to no surprise, there appears to be nothing but respect.

“I talked to Coach Bennett,” Payne said. “We’ve text back and forth a few times over the last week. I left him with this statement — ‘To thy self, be true. Know what you want to do and who you are.’ He’s a man of high character, a man of faith.

“He felt like he couldn’t do his job the way he wanted to do it on his terms. So, he stepped away and hats off to him. We’re going to deserve him in this college game, he is needed in this college game. But he deserves to be happy and I wish him nothing but success.”

Bennett and Payne faced each other head-to-head four times, with the Cavaliers coming out on top in all of them. Last season wound up both being their last at Virginia and Louisville, respectively. As mentioned, Bennett retired while Payne was let go after struggling to find wins.

Maybe at some point, Bennett will come to see Payne at his new spot, Arkansas. Payne is once again an assistant under John Calipari but with a different SEC program. A weird feeling for everyone on the outside, Payne is hoping to build something with Calipari in Fayetteville.

Competing for a national championship is obviously the goal and Bennett would have been right there with him if not for his retirement. Instead, he gets to enjoy college basketball like the rest of us.