Tony Bennett retiring, effective immediately.

[UKAlum84]

I wish we could reverse NIL and base a player and teams achievements as the ultimate reward for competing in college.

Coach Bennett, probably see's the writing on the wall and wants to enjoy rather than stress about the complexities now of being a college coach.

 

[darkshadesofblue]

Here's the end of regulation. Was just nuts. I think Purdue missed FTs before this that could have iced it too.

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The 0.9 seconds to beat Louisville was probably crazier than that

 

[yabbadabbadoo]

Maybe he wants to coach somewhere else

 

[Skyguyb27]

He’s got an asst on staff that he wants to get the job. That asst now has a year to audition.

Seems most likely the real reason.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

Good riddance. His style of play was disgusting and embarrassing to the sport and if you can't adapt, then it's time to die. So he decided to off himself and quit on his players prior to the season starting in a few weeks. That's some loser BS.

People can spray the perfume on the pile he's dropped all they want. He's a quitter who was afraid to adapt and embrace being uncomfortable. Every coach pushes their players to challenge themselves, find a new gym if they are the best player in it, work on their game, be comfortable not being the best, etc....and this guy didn't like that players were telling him to get bent rather than choose UVA due to how putrid the style of play he coaches and was surprised? Nate Ament was not going to play for him nor should he.

The sport got better today with him gone. People like him need to go if they afraid to adapt or work at their craft and can't handle players making $/having opportunities.

 

[bigbluedon]

Good riddance. His style of play was disgusting and embarrassing to the sport and if you can't adapt, then it's time to die. So he decided to off himself and quit on his players prior to the season starting in a few weeks. That's some loser BS.

People can spray the perfume on the pile he's dropped all they want. He's a quitter who was afraid to adapt and embrace being uncomfortable. Every coach pushes their players to challenge themselves, find a new gym if they are the best player in it, work on their game, be comfortable not being the best, etc....and this guy didn't like that players were telling him to get bent rather than choose UVA due to how putrid the style of play he coaches and was surprised? Nate Ament was not going to play for him nor should he.

The sport got better today with him gone. People like him need to go if they afraid to adapt or work at their craft and can't handle players making $/having opportunities.

What is your true opinion Ralph? lol

 

[Fox2monk]

Here's the end of regulation. Was just nuts. I think Purdue missed FTs before this that could have iced it too.

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That felt like the longest 5.9 seconds ever. The fact they got the ball back like 3/4 court and he made a perfect pass to the only guy with a legit shot is crazy and he made it.

 

[bbncal02]

I wish we could reverse NIL and base a player and teams achievements as the ultimate reward for competing in college.

Coach Bennett, probably see's the writing on the wall and wants to enjoy rather than stress about the complexities now of being a college coach.

Making 3.6M a year. At a school where he was basically untouchable.

No crying on the yacht. Pay me that kind of money and I’ll work like crazy NIL or not.

 

[Fox2monk]

Good riddance. His style of play was disgusting and embarrassing to the sport and if you can't adapt, then it's time to die. So he decided to off himself and quit on his players prior to the season starting in a few weeks. That's some loser BS.

People can spray the perfume on the pile he's dropped all they want. He's a quitter who was afraid to adapt and embrace being uncomfortable. Every coach pushes their players to challenge themselves, find a new gym if they are the best player in it, work on their game, be comfortable not being the best, etc....and this guy didn't like that players were telling him to get bent rather than choose UVA due to how putrid the style of play he coaches and was surprised? Nate Ament was not going to play for him nor should he.

The sport got better today with him gone. People like him need to go if they afraid to adapt or work at their craft and can't handle players making $/having opportunities.

Anybody on that roster worth calling to walk on? What about TJ Power, he have any upside?

 

[SkyPrince1]

Good riddance. His style of play was disgusting and embarrassing to the sport and if you can't adapt, then it's time to die. So he decided to off himself and quit on his players prior to the season starting in a few weeks. That's some loser BS.

People can spray the perfume on the pile he's dropped all they want. He's a quitter who was afraid to adapt and embrace being uncomfortable. Every coach pushes their players to challenge themselves, find a new gym if they are the best player in it, work on their game, be comfortable not being the best, etc....and this guy didn't like that players were telling him to get bent rather than choose UVA due to how putrid the style of play he coaches and was surprised? Nate Ament was not going to play for him nor should he.

The sport got better today with him gone. People like him need to go if they afraid to adapt or work at their

craft and can't handle players making $/having opportunities.

I still think he can coach the pro game if interested.
You don't have to be an up tempo coach to succeed in the NBA.
Of all your criticism of Bennett, you never said the man was stupid
Probably one of the highest IQ coaches in the game.

 

[Fancatstik]

Cal, Izzo, Self, Drew, Hurley, RP

Soon to be Pope.

 

[Zissou87]

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.

And Roy and it probably accelerated Coach K's retirement.

 

[BGCATFAN2012]

Congrats to Tony.. wish I could retire or quit my job and be free. Guess my ass will work til they scrape me off the floor.

 

[trueblujr2]

Pathetic he waited until October if that's the case. Just IMO.

Exactly. He knew this back in March when he could have hung it up right after their season was over and given them time to plan and hire a new coach.

 

[On-On-UK]

Timing?

 

[NC Weasel]

Only bad word ever spoken about the guy is his offense is straight out of the Woody Hayes playboo...... whoops, wrong sport. But they average about the same number of points per game.

I agree with a lot of the sentiment here. While it's his choice, we're still trying to balance on that "these are kids" fence. As they're coach, he talks regularly about things like sticking together, TEAM, not quiting, etc. At least that's our perception. In truth, big time college basketball is, and has been, more like a professional league since at least the 80s. And with NIL, it has rightfully removed the mask.

We could speculate dozens of reasons. I'll throw out 2 good ones and a wild 1 since health is apparently off the table.

1. Bennett "Dean Smithed" VA - Ensured a beloved assistant got a free trial year
2. VA and donors got together and yanked his NIL money. This killed recruiting and told him this season was all or nothing. Bennett said fine, here's the keys. Figure out '24-25 on your own.

My wild card- since it's like a pro team, players run the show, right. They want more freedom to showcase their talents. Internal discussions, whether ugly or not, lead to Bennett handing the reigns over.

 

[56gregory]

Wow

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Is it just me, or, do some of you think dealing with NIL/Collectives is becoming a headache that some just don't want to deal with??

 

[Chuckinden]

Is it just me, or, do some of you think dealing with NIL/Collectives is becoming a headache that some just don't want to deal with??

NIL has made me less of a fan.

 

[Smashcat]

 

[bbncal02]

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Continuing to cite changing CBB landscape after signing an extension less than four months ago. It hasn’t changed that much Tony.

There’s no sugarcoating this. It’s a dick move. Only way it’s defensible is if he is trying to give his asst the job. And even that’s kind of crappy nepotism.

Guess it’s true you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. UVA folks cant be happy with this.

 

[Cat Ballou]

Can you imagine a guy like Bobby Knight coaching in the NIL era?

 

[bnewt]

Anybody on that roster worth calling to walk on? What about TJ Power, he have any upside?

I had hoped UK would get involved with Power after heleft Duke.
Supposed to be an excellent shooter @ 6'9"

 

[catfan220]

Cal, Izzo, Self, Drew, Hurley, RP

And among those 6, I would say two of them are unlikely to be in contention to win again (Izzo and RP), I have my doubts about Cal, and if Drew stays at Baylor the rest of his career maybe he gets another but I wouldn't count on it. Pretty wide open CBB landscape right now, especially considering all the other changes.

 

[catfan220]

Anybody on that roster worth calling to walk on? What about TJ Power, he have any upside?

We never filled out 13th scholarship either

 

[bbncal02]

Can you imagine a guy like Bobby Knight coaching in the NIL era?

Not to speak ill of the dead, but he was becoming unhinged long before this and it would have made him go even further off the rails.

 

[catfan220]

Continuing to cite changing CBB landscape after signing an extension less than four months ago. It hasn’t changed that much Tony.

There’s no sugarcoating this. It’s a dick move. Only way it’s defensible is if he is trying to give his asst the job. And even that’s kind of crappy nepotism.

Guess it’s true you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. UVA folks cant be happy with this.

Yeah I have a feeling you won't see many people call Bennett out for this bc he's so well liked, but if it were almost any other coach at a middling P4 school I believe this would be criticized.

 

[jwphelps]

Wow

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Kind of a crappy move, just dumped all over those kids who came to play for him, plus screwed the University. What will his appointed replacement do if all those kids pack their bags and leave right before the season.

 

[HeismaNole]

If your heart isn’t into it then he shouldn’t do it. Running a program for the next five months would go terribly if you’re burnt out.

 

[SemperFiCat]

He just made a ton of enemies at UVA.

I lived in Charlottesville for a decade. He's about as well loved by his people than just about any person in sports. I've met him a couple times. Dude is an absolute first class human. I never heard even the slightest negative thing about him. He wouldn't do this without a good reason.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

If your heart isn’t into it then he shouldn’t do it. Running a program for the next five months would go terribly if you’re burnt out.

Agree with you 100%. That being said. Why did he sign the extension? Why did he not just quit after his latest flameout due to being offensively challenged as a coach and failing to adapt? He shouldn't have had his staff go out and get transfers or recruits either. He admitted this morning that he was lying since he knew he was thinking of this last year. So he's a liar on top of being selfish? Cool. Glad we got to see the real version come out.

This isn't mandatory. If you don't like how the landscape is, don't have to be a coach. It's funny how many of these guys are more than happy to coach when they have all the control, make millions off the athletes but the second the players get a cut, they don't like the "direction". Yet many of the same people always use other schools/NBA level as a threat to their employers to get more $ out of them. It's business and always has been. Nothing has changed except it's harder for control freak coaches who struggle with adapting to succeed.

Bennett is a perfect reflection of how a package/message delivery style protects him. He's bland and calm when he speaks but that doesn't change what he actually is doing here. If this was a Calipari like coach, imagine the heat that would come from the media (rightfully so too) for the timing and excuses being thrown out.

 

[SemperFiCat]

I know a couple of folks who know him personally and he is an absolute gentleman and a total class act.

This was my personal experience, as well as every person I knew that met him.

 

[bbncal02]

All I can say is imagine if Pope or Cal did this to us. We’d be pissed. And rightfully so.