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Tony Bennett retiring, effective immediately.

Feels like he could have made this decision much earlier.

Let's not rule out a dark horse candidate: getting caught with a cheerleader in the press box. Abrupt retires do often come with a scandal attached.


I was about to say - either a health issue or sexual harassment lol. Would be a dick move to the UVA administration to just up and quit with a month before season starts for no reason.
 
Just saw goodmans tweet, so Bennett essentially retired because of the changing landscape in college basketball. A.KA he didn’t like NIL and having to play an offensive style of basketball.
That’s what I figured honestly. The old school guys are dropping like flies and who can blame them. You have kids making money like them now, I assume it’s hard to run a program now.
 
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I think it’s the “changing landscape” thing. Bennett and his old school system are bad fits for this new NIL money/transfer portal CBB world. He knew it too and decided to get out while the getting’s still good.

I think Jay Wright quit for much the same reasons.
Of course nothing will be done about what we're all witnessing until the fans get sick of, too, and start leaving. The players won't care, they're "getting theirs".
 
I was about to say - either a health issue or sexual harassment lol. Would be a dick move to the UVA administration to just up and quit with a month before season starts for no reason.
Goodman keeps saying because of the new landscape. I almost wonder if UVA promised nil $ that wasn’t there, or some guy asked for more than agreed upon and Bennett said screw this.
 
Goodman keeps saying because of the new landscape. I almost wonder if UVA promised nil $ that wasn’t there, or some guy asked for more than agreed upon and Bennett said screw this.
Probably a lot of it, I’m sure many top flight players weren’t excited playing 40-30 games and not having the resources to make money would be the nail in the coffin for talent now.
 
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Wonder if he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar?

If it is actually the NIL thing then I can't say I blame him. The churn has to be exhausting. I expect to see many of the old timers follow him out the door in the next two or three years.
 
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Life is too short to mess around if your heart's not in something. The "right timing" of this in the eyes of the general public is irrelevant. What matters is what Bennett wants and what his family wants and needs.

We'll forget about this as a story by next week, but Tony's life is his and he needs to do what is best for him.

Getting out now if he knows his heart isn't it is a good move. Also helps ensure one of his assistants gets the job. Calhoun retired about 2 months before the season and essentially did the same thing.
I get that for sure but man the season starts in like three weeks. You go from March to mid October and then say, “Nah. Eff it?” Seems odd. But it’s his life.
 
I get it’s Bennett’s decision but man that is a huge middle finger to UVA and especially to those guys that have started school and are getting ready to play!

This is why I’ll never back the critics who say players shouldn’t be able to transfer randomly. Coaches can do this and basically screw your plans immediately.

I get it’s Bennetts decision and his life but man that seems extremely selfish. He just made a ton of enemies at UVA.
 
I was about to say - either a health issue or sexual harassment lol. Would be a dick move to the UVA administration to just up and quit with a month before season starts for no reason.
If it’s solely due to NIL and the changing landscape of college bball, I get it but man thats a dick move.
 
I get what you’re saying from an outsiders opinion- but would you feel the same if Cal stuck around this summer, then retired weeks before the season and we had Brusier as an interim coach lol
Honestly, I would have just been so thrilled that we got rid of Cal ….I wouldn’t mind if we lost every game . It would have been worth it for me.
 
And I agree with him, if that's what it was. The only way it will ever be fixed is for a complete reset.
Just because you don’t agree with certain things about it, doesn’t mean that it is broken and needs fixing. Times change, things evolve.
 
Bennett can cry all he wants about the “changing landscape “ but his style of play was more damaging than the nil or transfer portal.
 
A player with a sufficient income is going to take coaching differently than a kid on scholarship and a promise. A bunch of mercs is going to be different socially than a team of school kids. I could see the culture change as not being worth the effort. 8 months of dreading work when your 401k is fat and sassy?
 
I think we're going to see more of this.

Cats retiring "early" or "all of a sudden"...

For all sorts of reasons. Clearly and most obvious, all the changes in college sports. A lot of coaches just aren't into it, and I don't blame them. There really is no off-season in college sports. Now throw general manager duties on to the list that was already pretty lengthy.

Secondly, the money is what it is. Not only are coaches making multi-millions plus all the off-court deals, but we're living in an era when 5-10 years prior to them becoming HC, they're making hundreds of thousands per as assistants.

We're getting into a generation of coaches that has been making great money for 15-20 years. Not to mention most of them probably have decent retirement plans on top of all that money they've made.
 
Guess they are stuck with an interim coach for the season. Not going to get anyone legit to leave and come in this late unless they are retired or doing TV. Still would be tough for anyone to want to come in with a team completely recruited by someone else and have no practice time hardly at all before the season. Has to be something bad that happened to get him to abandon the job this late.
Tom Crean is available, lol
 
I was about to say - either a health issue or sexual harassment lol. Would be a dick move to the UVA administration to just up and quit with a month before season starts for no reason.
Sexual harassment, give me a break. Why would you assume that? You don’t know this man or anything about him. That is a ridiculous assumption to make. Lordy, lordy.
 
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