Tony Bennett followed father in coaching, but there’s no mirror image
By Jeff White
Published: April 1, 2009

Dick Bennett went to bed Sunday night thinking his son was likely to remain at Washington State.

The elder Bennett, a revered ex-coach, learned otherwise Monday afternoon. He'd gone golfing with some buddies in central Wisconsin, and they were sitting in the clubhouse when they saw on TV that Tony Bennett was headed to the University of Virginia.

"It cost me a round for everybody there," Dick Bennett said yesterday with a laugh.

Tony Bennett, 39, will be introduced as U.Va.'s coach this afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena, nearly four years after a similar news conference heralded the start of Dave Leitao's tenure in Charlottesville.

Leitao resigned under pressure March 16. Two weeks later, U.Va. hired Bennett, who spent the past three seasons at Washington State. The Cougars went 69-33, including a 3-2 record in the NCAA tournament, under Bennett.

Given his father's success as a high school and college coach, it's no shock that Tony Bennett ended up in this line of work. But even after Bennett's NBA career ended, his dad didn't peg his son as a future coach. Not until Tony went to New Zealand, where his role morphed from player to player-coach to head coach, did his perspective on hoops start to change.

"And I noticed," Dick Bennett said, "because of all of a sudden our conversations turned a little more analytical regarding the game."

In 1999-2000, Tony joined his father's staff at Wisconsin and helped the Badgers reach the Final Four. He was hooked.

Tony played for his dad at Wisconsin-Green Bay and coached under him at Wisconsin and Washington State. He's not, however, a mirror image of his famously intense father on the bench.

"I think he's considerably more poised than I was," Dick Bennett said. "I had a tendency to become a bit too emotional. I was a little harder on kids during games, whereas Tony, he's more supportive of players. He tends to give them more freedom, and I notice he doesn't show his emotions nearly as much as I did. But philosophically we're close, particularly on defense."

Tony Bennett's first team ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense. His second improved to third. WSU led the nation in scoring defense this season.

With the ball, the fundamentally sound Cougars were never confused for greyhounds. Bennett favors a deliberate offense that doesn't produce a lot of points. WSU ranked 208th in scoring offense in 2006-07, 221st in 2007-08 and 314th this season.

"Offensively, he tends to do things the way I wanted to," Dick Bennett said, "but I was always sort of at the beginning of a rebuilding project -- whether it was at UW-Stevens Point or at UW-Green Bay or Wisconsin or Washington State -- and we were generally so undermanned that I had to really be conscious of tempo and trying to control the number of possessions. But with more talent I wanted to do more things, and Tony tends to do more. I think he's more creative offensively than I ever was."

Other than the three years he spent with the Charlotte Hornets, Tony Bennett never has lived in this part of the country. The elder Bennett, however, grew up in Pittsburgh and has a brother in D.C., he said, "so the East isn't foreign to me."

Dick Bennett called U.Va. "one of the truly great universities in America" and said he considers the ACC to be the nation's top basketball conference.

"And I've have felt that way for a long time, even though I was privileged to coach in two great conferences, the Big Ten and the Pac-10," he said. "It just offers everything that one who loves the college game has to offer."

And now, as Tony tries to restore U.Va. to prominence in that league, his father will watch proudly.

"We think he's a fine coach, but we think he's a good, decent human being, and that makes his mom and I feel even better," Dick Bennett said.

Floyd a fan of Virginia's new hire
The Southern Cal coach says Tony Bennett is not only a good at his job, but is a solid human being as well.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Southern Cal basketball coach Tim Floyd was in the wilds of Southwest Virginia, of all places, when he got the word about Pac-10 Conference colleague Tony Bennett.

Days earlier, Floyd had spoken with Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage and voiced his admiration for Bennett, who will be introduced today as the Cavaliers' new head basketball coach.

"I just think the world of the guy," said Floyd, who was on a recruiting trip to Oak Hill Academy. "He's [a rival], but he's one of the great people in our business and one of the great coaches in our business."

Bennett, who turns 40 in June, put up a 69-33 record in three seasons as the head coach at Washington State.

"From a coaching standpoint, I think he's [been] in the most difficult job in the United States, as far as acquiring talent relative to the talent you have to play against," said Floyd, speaking of Washington State.

The Cougars won 26 games in each of Bennett's first two seasons, receiving NCAA bids both times, but dropped to 17-16 this season.

"It's called attrition," Floyd said. "It's called losing two first-team all-conference players and finishing seventh behind an SC team that finished sixth and won the conference tournament.

"It wasn't like [the Cougars] weren't a very good team. They're miserable to play in terms of allowing you to score. They don't control tempo offensively. They control tempo defensively. They're just so hard to score against. They don't beat themselves. They rarely turn it over and take great, great shots every possession.

"Talk about a guy who's been doing it with less! You can just see his players develop. Dick Bennett [Tony's father] had those kids as freshmen and I thought, 'Oh, boy, poor Dick. He's going to have to try and beat teams in this league with those guys.' They just kept getting better and better and better."

If Bennett was still "doing it with less" after six years at Washington State, three as an assistant to his father, what's going to happen when he moves to a part of the country that he has never recruited.

"If you can recruit to Pullman, Wash., you can recruit to Charlottesville, Va.," Floyd said. "You know how far he's got to go to find players where he is now? His personality will sell itself. Coaches are going to be fascinated with him in that area.

"High-school coaches are going to want to know him because they're going to be interested in how he plays and how to win games."

Floyd was tickled to hear that Bennett's name never surfaced in the media until it was reported that he had been hired.

"Isn't that beautiful?" Floyd said. "I love it. I just freakin' love it. I think that's the way it ought to be. So many times, coaches end up not taking jobs because of media speculation and getting pinned down.

"The media asks, 'Would you have any interest in this job?' A guy can't answer that honestly. It really puts them in a position where they end up not taking a job so they won't end up looking like liars."

Obviously, Floyd thinks Virginia pulled off a coup by landing Bennett.

"He'd be in a group of the most honest people in our business" Floyd said. "He's a teacher and a coach and has great presence, great court demeanor. I wish I could be more like him."




Change costly to Cavs
Tony Bennett's five-year deal at UVa totals about $8.5 mil.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Virginia's selection of Tony Bennett as its new men's basketball coach has put an end to speculation that the Cavaliers might be willing to shell out $3 million per year for Minnesota coach Tubby Smith.

That doesn't mean that UVa's coaching change hasn't come at a significant cost.

In the 14th paragraph of a 15-paragraph news release, Virginia announced Tuesday that Bennett has agreed to a five-year contract that will pay him $1.7 million per year.

In addition, Bennett will receive a $500,000 signing bonus, as well as a $500,000 incentive bonus that would be collectible after five years.

Also, Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk said in a conference call that Virginia has agreed to pay the $400,000 buyout on Bennett's contract with the Cougars.

Add all of that to the $2.1 million that ousted Virginia coach Dave Leitao has coming as part of his buyout, and Virginia is looking at a possible $12 million expenditure over the next five seasons.

According to a study by The Wall Street Journal, Bennett will be the fourth-highest paid coach in the ACC, trailing national championship winners Mike Krzyzewski at Duke ($2.2 million), Roy Williams at North Carolina ($2 million) and Gary Williams at Maryland ($1.8 million).

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg will make $939,908 next season.

Bennett was making $1 million per year after three seasons at Washington State. In a teleconference Tuesday night, Sterk said that UVa inquired about Bennett on Thursday, after which Bennett flew to Virginia, returning Saturday.

"I felt he was going to stay," said Sterk of his impressions following a Sunday meeting with Bennett. "He also spoke to the president, and he got the same impression. We received a call [Monday] that he had basically changed his mind."

Washington State was the first outlet to confirm Bennett's resignation and acceptance of Virginia's offer. On Tuesday, Virginia acknowledged its new coach for the first time.

Bennett will be introduced to the media today at a 1 p.m. news conference.

Athletic director Craig Littlepage described Bennett as "a perfect fit for UVa," in a prepared statement.

"He has all of the needed coaching and leadership skills, along with an understanding of how to succeed in a highly competitive academic and basketball environment."

Wazzu had four first-team selections on the 2008-09 Pac-10 All-Academic team.

Bennett said he was impressed by UVa facilities and the city of Charlottesville during his recent visit.

"When my wife and I visited, we were both impressed with how genuine Craig Littlepage and Jon Oliver were and the passion they have for the success of the men's basketball program," Bennett was quoted in the UVa release.

Oliver, the Cavaliers' senior associate athletic director and an active participant in the search, came to Virginia in 2001 after spending six seasons as an administrator at WSU.



 

Bennett about as good as U.Va. could hope for
By Paul Woody
Published: April 1, 2009

Atlantic Coast Conference basketball is exciting and competitive. It has a long and notable history filled with legendary coaches and players.

On the basketball power charts, however, the ACC now trails the Big East. And the ACC is, at best, even with the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10 and only slightly ahead of the Southeastern Conference.

ACC arrogance is the tedious byproduct of coaches and fans who try to sell a league whose reputation exceeds its results.

Tony Bennett is the new men's basketball coach at Virginia, and Cavaliers fans are asking, "Who?" and, "Can't we do better?"

The answers are: "A 39-year-old coach from Washington State who might be ascending to the ranks of the elite;" and "No."

The Virginia basketball job is not a jewel. That Virginia is in the ACC is no lure to a coach with an established program in a major conference.

The ACC is in danger of becoming known as North Carolina, Duke and the other 10.

Of the seven ACC teams in the NCAA tournament, only UNC and Duke survived the first two rounds.

Duke lost in round three to Villanova, a Big East team. North Carolina is in the Final Four with two Big East teams and one from the Big Ten.

Since 1982, there have been 14 occasions when a conference had three teams reach the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.

The Big East has done it six times, the Big 10 three and the Big 12 twice. The ACC has done it once, in 1983.

No one was going to take the Virginia job simply because the Cavaliers play in the ACC.

That a rebuilding job is in order for the Cavaliers hardly makes the job more attractive.

Virginia did not "settle" for Bennett. His selection was a surprise only because there was an assumption that everyone wants to coach in the ACC.

Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage and the Parker Executive Search firm went to hinterlands of college basketball to find Bennett.

He wasn't exactly off the radar - Bennett was the national coach of the year after going 26-8 in 2006-07 - but you had to know where to look.

Bennett has been successful at one of the most difficult spots in major college basketball.

The Cougars play in the Pac-10 and have no significant basketball tradition. Pullman, Wash., population 27,000 and a few miles from the Idaho border, is not a spot where blue-chip recruits dream of landing.

A coach who can win at Washington State, where Bennett was 69-33 in three seasons, should be able to win anywhere.

Virginia was 45-43 the past three seasons.

Hiring Bennett is about winning over fans by winning games. Bennett has a strong belief in the fundamentals of basketball. And the fundamental he adheres to most is that defense wins games.

During his tenure, the Cougars gave up an average of 57 points per game.

If you are a fan of fast-paced basketball, Bennett's hiring will elicit an "ugh." If you are a fan of winning basketball, Bennett's hiring should elicit a, "Hmmm. This guy is worth watching."

If the ACC is to regain the top spot in basketball's pecking order, it needs to find coaches such as Bennett. Then, those coaches must succeed.

Virginia took the first step. Bennett must take the next.

U.Va. men's basketball
Slowly challenging
David Teel
April 1, 2009

The University of Virginia hired Tony Bennett as its basketball coach Monday but will not introduce him publicly until today. During the interim we are left to sift through predictably glowing testimonials, and to parse the numbers he compiled in three seasons at Washington State.

Most important, Bennett's teams won. The Cougars defended like few others, and no one with a whiff of credibility considered them poorly coached.

The last time Virginia faithful could claim such was during the 1990s under Jeff Jones.

Any gripes about Jones' teams revolved around their stagnant offenses. As do questions about Bennett, a 39-year-old with only three years of college head-coaching experience.

None of Bennett's Washington State squads averaged better than 67 points per game or rated among the nation's top 200 in scoring. This season's Cougars ranked 314th out of 330 Division I teams at 59.2 points per game.

Bennett's Washington State record — 69-33 overall, 32-22 in the Pacific 10, two NCAA tournament bids and a Sweet 16 appearance last season — prove you can win without playing at Usain Bolt speed. But success at the Cougars' methodical pace is rare, especially in the ACC.

Since the advent of the shot clock in the 1985-86 season, 13 ACC teams have averaged fewer than 67 points. None had a winning conference record.

Three with winning records — Wake Forest in 1996; Clemson and Wake in '97 — scored fewer than 70 a game.

It's been two decades since any of the ACC's high-octane programs — North Carolina, Duke and Maryland — were that offensively challenged. The Tar Heels' last such edition was 1982, when they won Dean Smith's first national championship, nursed late leads in the four corners delay, and averaged 66.7 points.

Bennett's best team, last year's, averaged 66.4. The only 2008 NCAA tournament teams to score less were San Diego, American and Winthrop — notice the lack of power-conference teams.

The NCAA's online database dates eight seasons, and during that span 30 of 32 Final Four teams averaged 70 or more points. The exceptions were UCLA in 2006 and Georgetown in '07.

From 2003-05, all 12 Final Four teams averaged at least 76.6 points.

Virginia fans grew accustomed to games in the 60s, even 50s, during Jones' tenure. He was dismissed in 1998 after an 11-18 season in which the Cavaliers' norm was 65.7.

Ironically, his lowest-scoring team clawed its way to an 8-8 ACC finish in 1994 and advanced one round in the NCAA tournament.

But there's a glaring difference. Bennett's 2007 and '08 teams shot a much better percentage than any of Jones'. Washington State ranked 27th nationally last year at 47.5 percent.

So the Cougars weren't bad offensively. They were just slow.

Meanwhile, they ranked among the top 20 in scoring defense each season, No. 1 in 2009, and among the top 60 in field-goal percentage defense each year.

Having been to Washington State's remote campus in Pullman — you can see Moscow (Idaho) from there — I appreciate how difficult it must be to lure top-flight basketball talent to the school. But Bennett's deliberate ways are rooted in far more than geography.

Bennett played, and worked as an assistant coach, for his father. Dick Bennett's 2000 Wisconsin Badgers are the only team in the last 24 years to advance to the Final Four without breaking 70 in at least one NCAA tournament game.

Coaching at Virginia, however, should give Bennett access to players capable of running a more progressive offense. And if Bennett is half as astute as his peers say, he will recruit those players and adjust accordingly.

Can he sign enough of them? Given Bennett's dearth of regional ties, his staff will be paramount. They must possess what he lacks.

Jeff Capel realized as much when he left VCU for Oklahoma. He eventually hired former Arkansas assistant Oronde Taliaferro, whose connections helped the Sooners land McDonald's All-American guard Willie Warren out of Fort Worth, Texas.

Warren was this season's Big 12 freshman of the year.

Boo Williams' Hampton Roads summer program annually showcases prospects of Warren's caliber, and he is eager for Bennett to assemble a staff.

"Don't get me wrong," Williams said Tuesday. Bennett "might be a great guy and he might turn out well. But it's not going to be easy for him to recruit.

"He has no ties in the South, no ties in the East. Carolina, Duke, Georgetown, they all recruit here. Seth Greenberg (at Virginia Tech) works hard. This is a tough town.

"He's going to have to rely on assistants. His staff is more important than he is right now."

 

Bennett's bench debut forgettable
By Norm Wood | 247-4642
April 1, 2009

Tony Bennett's second career in college basketball — after his college and NBA playing career — couldn't have been any more inauspicious. His father, Dick, still laughs about it.

In the fall of 1999, Tony sat at the end of the bench as the University of Wisconsin, which his dad coached, prepared for its first men's basketball exhibition of the season. Tony's role? Team manager. His salary? Nothing. Not exactly a glamorous landing spot for a guy that was just coming off a two-year head-coaching gig in the New Zealand pro league.

His grunt-work responsibilities as team manager involved sweeping floors, tossing towels to players and handing out water and Gatorade. When the first cup of Gatorade of the season made its way to the end of the bench, Tony did what any other player would do — he drained it.

"That's a true story," Dick said. "It took him a while to realize we're really not interested in what you do on the court anymore. We're interested in what you do off the court now."

It was a rough start, but it didn't take long for Tony to catch on, and for the college basketball world to notice.

After six seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, not including his season as the team's manager, three seasons as an assistant under his dad at Washington State and three seasons as Washington State's head coach, Bennett has drawn the attention of the University of Virginia. He'll be formally introduced today in Charlottesville as the 11th coach in the history of U.Va. men's basketball.

U.Va. and Bennett have agreed to contract terms that will pay him total annual compensation of $1.7 million for five years. He'll also receive a $500,000 signing bonus, and an additional incentive bonus of $500,000 that he would receive after five years.

Dick said Tony and his wife, Laurel, visited U.Va. last Thursday night and Friday. In a Tuesday release from U.Va.'s athletic department, Tony said he and his wife were impressed with U.Va.'s academic reputation, facilities, the city of Charlottesville and the reputation of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"As important as those things are, it will be about the people and the family atmosphere we'll build to grow this program," Bennett said in the release.

Tony obviously knows a little bit about how a family atmosphere can build a career and a program. After watching his son endure several knee surgeries and ruptures of plantar fascia in both feet as a player with the then- Charlotte Hornets and in the New Zealand pro league from 1992-97, Dick saw Tony's attitude change about his future in the game.

"He'd worked so hard to get to the NBA that he didn't have much left in his joints once he got there," Dick said. "He was really worn out. I think he realized then 'I'm not going to have a long career.' That's when he started to think about coaching. He really started to sit back and observe (coaches) like Allan Bristow and everybody else in the (NBA)."

When Tony finally starting drawing a paycheck as an assistant coach in 2000, Dick said one of his son's biggest assets was his ability to connect with people, which helped on the recruiting trail. Lane Odom, the coach at Latin High in Charlotte, can vouch for Tony's recruiting acumen.

David Chadwick, a 6-foot-9 forward at Latin whose father, Rev. Dr. David Chadwick, presided over Tony's and Laurel's wedding ceremony, signed a letter of intent last September with Bennett and Washington State. Though Odom doesn't know if Bennett might pursue bringing the younger Chadwick to Charlottesville, Odom said he liked what he saw from Bennett during the recruiting process. Odom, who has been Latin's coach for two years, was also an assistant coach for six seasons at Missouri and for five seasons at Alabama.

"He's a very honorable person," Odom said. "I'd run into him on the road (during Odom's college coaching days), but I'd never really gotten to know him very well. Through the recruiting process, I was able to spend some time with him. He's just a very, very thorough, honest and I think in a lot of ways very, very capable person. Everything he has ever done, he has succeeded at the very highest level."

Odom also knows a thing or two about growing up in a basketball family. He's the son of Dave Odom, a former head coach at South Carolina, Wake Forest and East Carolina who spent seven seasons in the '80s as an assistant coach at U.Va. under Terry Holland.

Lane remembers walking with his mom across the overpass on Alderman Road that spans the train tracks to University Hall to see Ralph Sampson and Co., while his dad worked as an assistant coach. Lane knows a little something about the athletic culture at U.Va., and what Bennett is getting in to in Charlottesville.

"The first thing both of us probably heard was a ball bouncing," said Lane, comparing his childhood to Bennett's.

"(Hiring Bennett) may not be a big splash to some of the people around (Charlottesville), and to the people that read some of the recruiting Web sites, but I think what they're going to get is a whole lot of substance."

Tim Floyd, the coach at Southern California who worked against Bennett in the Pac-10 Conference, agrees with Odom's assessment. Floyd offers high praise for a guy that once flubbed his job as team manager. Floyd's impressions of how the Cavaliers will perform under Bennett are simple:

"That they will be as well coached as anybody in the United States," Floyd said. "They will not beat themselves by turning it over. You will always have problems scoring. Once he gets his players in there and gets it established, they will be very good for a long time."



 

In Weighing U-Va. Job, Bennett Faced a Heavy Decision
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 31, 2009; 12:28 PM

Washington State Athletic Director Jim Sterk has confirmed that Tony Bennett will leave the school to become the men's basketball coach at Virginia. During a teleconference late Monday night, Sterk provided a detailed account of the days leading up to Bennett's acceptance of the Virginia job.

-- On Thursday, Virginia contacted Sterk about speaking with Bennett. Sterk was told Virginia wanted to make a hire "within five days."

-- On Friday, Bennett visited Virginia. He returned to Pullman, Wash., on Friday night.

-- On Saturday morning, Bennett met with Sterk and Washington State President Elson S. Floyd. On Saturday afternoon, Virginia offered Bennett the job.

-- On Sunday, Bennett and Sterk spoke around noon Pacific time. "He felt like he was going to stay," Sterk said. Bennett also spoke to Floyd, who had the same impression.

-- On Monday, Bennett informed Sterk and Floyd he was going to go to Virginia. On Tuesday, Virginia confirmed that Bennett was its new men's basketball coach.

The big question, then, is what happened in the 24 hours between when Bennett said he wanted to stay at Washington State and his decision to take the Virginia job. Such wavering proves it was not an easy decision, which was evident when his father, Dick Bennett, said Monday night that he and Tony Bennett had five conversations during the weekend, yet still did not know on Monday morning which way his son was leaning.

"It was a 60-58 ballgame," Dick Bennett said. "My last comment to him was, 'Tony, you're in a win-win situation.' I don't know what tipped the scales."

Sterk said Bennett and wife Laurel had "sleepless nights" and "changed their mind," but finally felt like the time was right. The appeal of the ACC and John Paul Jones Arena, which opened in 2006, factored into the decision.

In Bennett's conversation with Sterk on Sunday, he revealed that Virginia had offered a "great package." Sterk said it was entirely not about the money, though, because Bennett planned on giving $100,000 of his salary back to Washington State for improvements to the basketball program.

Bennett accepted a retention bonus on March 15. Virginia will be responsible for a $400,000 buyout in Bennett's contract. He received $1 million per year at Washington State under a contract that ran through 2015.

Virginia announced Tuesday that Bennett will receive $1.7 million annually for five years. He also will receive a $500,000 signing bonus, and will get an additional $500,000 after his fifth year with the program.

Bennett signed an impressive recruiting class for Washington State next season, including David Chadwick, a prospect from Charlotte. But do not expect any of Bennett's recruits -- nor any current Washington State players -- to follow him to Charlottesville.

"One, I don't think Tony's going to be doing that, and I wouldn't be supportive of that kind of move," Sterk said. "If there was extenuating circumstances, maybe."

Another intriguing note from this hire is that Bennett reportedly spurned overtures from Indiana, Marquette and Louisiana State after the 2007-08 season. But at this time a year ago, Washington State was losing two four-year starters and faced a rebuilding effort, and Bennett had only been on the job for two seasons.

"He felt he owed the school at least more time," Dick Bennett said. "He knew this year would be a tougher year for him. He felt it wouldn't have been right to just run off.

"This year was a little different. He's been there six years, three years as a head coach. There were seven freshmen, some good freshmen coming in. It's a good time for someone to go in there, to put his own stamp on it. Tony felt a lot better" leaving Washington State after this past season.

Another curious aspect of Bennett's decision to go to Virginia is that he had stronger connections with each of the three schools that previously were interested in him. Marquette is in the same state where Bennett played college basketball and started his college coaching career, Bennett's sister once coached the Indiana women's team and LSU is located in the same city where Bennett's wife was raised.

Virginia offers no similar connections, and Bennett was never among the names discussed in the speculation as to who would replace Dave Leitao as the Cavaliers' coach.

"None of you were speculating, but I felt more of a threat [that Bennett would leave] this year," Sterk said. "Someone was going to be looking for a great coach and come and approach him."

The mission now will be to see how Bennett familiarizes himself with Virginia's supporters and the high school coaches and AAU coaches in the area.

Virginia is located in the center of a fertile recruiting base. It's in the same state as powerhouse private schools such as Oak Hill Academy and Hargrave Military Academy, and Richmond and the Tidewater region have long produced elite athletes. Virginia also is within close proximity of some powerful Washington area high school programs and AAU teams, and Bennett must establish connections with the coaches for both.

"He will have to try to secure a staff with experience there," Dick Bennett said. "The thing about recruiting, once you meet a guy whom you like, and who has qualities of him, that person becomes very attractive to you. When people meet Tony, that will offset a lot of his inexperience in that area. He will line up a staff that is familiar. All he has to do is meet people, and once these athletes meet him, it offsets a great deal of the unfamiliarity. He's a special person."

 

Tony Bennett, meet the ACC
Submitted by kentysiac on 03/31/2009 - 07:00

Welcome to the ACC, Tony Bennett. We’re not sure if the snail’s pace basketball you used to become one of the nation’s hottest coaches in 2007 and 2008 will work at Virginia.

But you seemed like a decent guy when we met you in Charlotte last year for the NCAA Tournament regional, and after suffering through four seasons of Dave Leitao, Virginia needs a decent guy.

In a little more than a month, you will find yourself seated in a Ritz Carlton conference room on Amelia Island near Jacksonville, Fla., with the rest of the ACC’s coaches. Here’s what you need to know about them as you join the conference:

Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams: They are not as clumsy as they look in their “Guitar Hero” TV commercial guest spot. K likes fine wine and Roy likes to play golf. And though they may seem friendly, Roy will run circles around you in recruiting and K will simply outcoach you during the course of a game.

Sidney Lowe: He’s a really loud whistler. And he's a strong Xs and Os coach. His ability to build a program, though, has yet to be proven.

Oliver Purnell: You don’t want to play his team in early January. You do want to play Clemson in late February or March. It may be because the Tigers’ full-court press wears them out.

Paul Hewitt: Don’t get too close to him, because he might not be around too long. He’s a heck of a recruiter and a highly principled leader in the college basketball world, but his teams are never as good as the sum of their parts.

Gary Williams: If you could put Hewitt in charge of recruiting and Williams in charge of game coaching, you’d have one of the strongest programs in the country. Williams might be the best Xs and Os guy in Division I, and he’s not a maniac away from the court even though he looks like one while he’s coaching.

Al Skinner: Here’s another guy who will flat-out take your lunch. How he beat North Carolina and Duke with a team that consisted of Tyrese Rice and not much else this season is almost impossible to figure.

Seth Greenberg: This is the coach in the ACC you’d most want to have a beer with. Unless you were a referee. For some reason, he always seems like he thinks the officiating tilts against his team.

Leonard Hamilton: If you need a primer on how to coach defense in the ACC, this is your guy. If you’re interested in offense, he wouldn't be at the top of the list.

Frank Haith: He’s still a good coach even though his team underachieved this season. But when you see him, be thankful you landed where you did. Miami is just not a college basketball town.

Dino Gaudio: Don’t worry if he doesn’t have much to say. He’s still trying to figure out how a team with three future first-round NBA draft picks could get hammered by Cleveland State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

One more piece of advice, Tony. Make sure you’re wearing a sweater when you leave your room at the Ritz for the conference room, which is the coldest place in the ACC region other than the Greensboro Coliseum media room.

In the meantime, good luck getting started at Virginia. The new arena there is gorgeous and the fans will be excited to have you around. It won’t be difficult to generate more good will than Leitao did, so you should have a nice grace period as you prepare to build a winner when you start without much talent.

 

Q & A with Tony Bennett
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/31/2009

VirginiaSports.com was able to catch up with new Cavalier basketball coach Tony Bennett Tuesday, his first day on Grounds. Here's a 10-question Q/A to help Wahoo fans get to know their new coach. Bennett will hold a press conference Wednesday at 1 p.m. that will be streamed live on VirginiaSports.com. The webcast is free.

Question: What have you done on your first day at Virginia?
Bennett: “I’ve met with a lot of people and have really enjoyed it. What I really enjoyed was meeting the young men on the team. I was excited to look into their eyes and to talk to them and start the process of getting to know them. I also enjoyed meeting Barry Parkhill, Dirk Katstra, coach Groh and Leonard Sandridge and some of the leadership here. It has been a whirlwind, but like I said, what I really enjoyed was meeting the young men in the program.”

Question: You met with the UVa players today. What did you say to them?
Bennett: “I just wanted them to relax. For two weeks they have been without a coach. I wanted them to be able to put a name to a face and ensure them that we are going to do this thing together. I wanted to instill in them what some of my vision was for this program. I answered any questions they had. I asked them all their majors and found out a little bit about them, where they are from.

We just talked. It was good. It was hopefully the start of a nice relationship. I wanted them to know I was going to push them hard, but I was going to care for them greatly as young men. I told them how excited I was to start working with them.”

Question: What attracted you to this position?
Bennett: “It was the opportunity to do something special. It’s coaching in the ACC. It’s working at an academic institution that is one of the best in the world. The facilities here are second to none. The people seem to be tremendous. It is a place you can raise a family. I think, at Virginia, you can be about the right stuff.

“It would have taken a lot to get me out of Washington State because I really believed in what was going on there. I felt this was an opportunity to compete and to do something special.”

Question: What would you like UVa fans to know about you and the way your teams will compete?
Bennett: “They will see great passion, great soundness and toughness. As I learn more about the young men in this program and the young men we are bringing in, we need to find the best way to give us a chance to be successful. You have to look at your personnel and adjust to it. You have to find a way to compete at a high level and I think that’s what we will do. I think we will play real hard and hopefully there will be a level of soundness that all good teams have.”

Question: What are your impressions of John Paul Jones Arena and UVa’s basketball facilities?
Bennett: “When Arizona opened up the building, I remember watching that game. The arena already has an unbelievable reputation. Seeing it in person, it did not disappoint. I love the fact the facilities are self-contained with the weight room and academic advising and the dining hall, all here under the same roof. It is second to none. It is very exciting.”

Question: You were an Academic All-American and your teams at Washington State earned numerous Pac-10 All-Academic honors while being highly competitive in the league. Do you consider UVa’s high academic standards a challenge?
Bennett: “That was one of the things that brought me here. I saw firsthand the success Stanford had out west. I am so excited about selling that to the players we are going to recruit. There is a complete package here. When you leave this university with a degree, you are set. It really fits what I am about with the whole student-athlete experience. I want them to have an opportunity to compete, and attend a world class institution, that is a tremendous advantage. It is a strong point at this University and I like what it is about.”

Question: Talk about the opportunity to coach in the ACC after having been on coaching staffs in the Big 10 and Pac-10.
Bennett: “The league I came from, the Pac-10, has great prestige with programs like UCLA and Arizona. It has great coaching. To be among those schools and to compete for conference championships, and to go head-to-head with those coaches was a thrill and a great challenge. It was enjoyable to test yourself against those teams. Now, coming to a league like the ACC, which many believe, me included, is the best in college basketball year in and year out, it will be a great challenge to compete against the great teams here and see where we stand.”

Question: What was the toughest thing about telling your players at Washington State you were leaving?
Bennett: “Well, there was an investment there. There were deep relationships built. You had been through the wars together – the great successes and the hard losses. You watched those young men grow. You never plan on leaving when you are recruiting them. When an opportunity like this presents itself, it is hard to look those kids in the eye and tell them you are not going to be their coach anymore. The one good thing I felt about at Washington State is that there is some promising young talent. They’ll find a good coach and there are good things on the horizon for them. From that standpoint, I feel better about it, but that does not make it easy to sit with those kids and deliver that news. It was very difficult.”

Question: After the formalities that come with being named the head coach are over, what are your immediate priorities?
Bennett: “I have to get a staff assembled and then it is about working with the young men in this program and investing in them. At the same time, we need to recruit real hard and get involved with the kids who are potential University of Virginia players and sell the vision. I need to meet with the young men who have signed and their parents and assure them of what is in store. I need to find a house and I need to find a good restaurant. There are a lot of things. Your first 30 days, it is a whirlwind. I want to meet as many people as I can. I want to meet the students on the Grounds. I’ve learned that term already. I want to familiarize myself with the University, its history and its traditions.”

Question: You played and coached for your father, Dick Bennett, what has been his best advice for you?
Bennett: “Be yourself and play in such a way to win.”

 

Questions still exist on search process
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: April 1, 2009

The Tony Bennett era of Virginia basketball begins today with an ever-growing wave of excitement.

Personally, I believe this is a good hire. After talking to a lot of people in the coaching business and from around the world of basketball, I’m convinced that the Cavaliers brought a solid guy on board.

Still, part of me wonders what happened along the way. We may never get all the answers, but we believe there’s more to this story, just as there was the last time Virginia conducted a search for a new basketball coach.

Some people are going to get mad at me for writing this, but I have to write the truth — or what I believe to be the truth after talking to sources throughout this two-week process.

My pal, Doomsday, tells me what he reads on message boards and sports talk radio shows. I don’t do message boards because many of the people that inhabit those places are rumor-mongers.

Just the facts, ma’am

I don’t believe in printing rumors. What you read in my columns you can count on came from legitimate sources involved in processes.

For the past two weeks, I have been talking to real sources on both sides of the coaching search, and what I have reported has been factual.

Tubby Smith originated as the No. 1 choice. I know that for a fact, confirmed by both sides of the equation. Something changed somewhere along the way, perhaps by too many fingers in the pie, perhaps by big money.

There were other names on the list. The best-kept secret of those was the man Virginia hired, Tony Bennett, who will be introduced to Wahoo Nation at a 1 p.m. press conference today at John Paul Jones Arena.

Strong potential

This column in no way is meant to disparage Bennett. I have already gained great respect for him. I know Dick Vitale very well, and if he says you’re a quality man of integrity, well, that’s enough for me.

Wally Walker said the same thing, as did several other coaches I know around the country. I look forward to working with Bennett and watching him rebuild Cavalier basketball.

However, as Doomsday told me, a few posters on one of the message boards ripped me for grossly striking out on the process by writing that Tubby was the man. Other posters said I should resign for missing so badly. Another, Doomsday said, said I should commit hara-kiri.

First of all, I didn’t miss. I know there was interest — great interest — from Tubby Smith through this process. I know that there was great interest from Virginia in Smith.

When it all came to an end on Monday, sources on the UVa side of things said they did everything reasonable to try to land Smith.

Folks in the Tubby camp said that “Virginia did not bring its ‘A’ Game to the negotiating table.”

Now, you can believe whatever side you choose.

What I do know about the process is that if anyone’s head should roll over the Tubby deal, it shouldn’t be mine. It should be a much bigger head, perhaps the same head that botched the deal with Smith four years ago.

This journalist — and yes, I take my profession extremely seriously — was told by one person involved in the process that if that person saw me going down the wrong trail at any time, that I would be told to back off.

That didn’t happen until half an hour before we broke the story that Bennett was going to be the next coach.

Apparently some posters out there haven’t evolved from the days of killing the messenger. Doesn’t surprise me. It only reminds me of why I don’t do message boards.

That’s what Doomsday and many other friends tell me. How they read those things, I’ll never know. Of course, that’s not to criticize everyone on those things. I know several very classy and intelligent people who participate on boards and choose not to get involved in the immaturity of it all.

I’m sure some of those people will fill my e-mail box this morning and for days to come.

So, if Virginia did botch the Tubby deal or just chose at the end to go with a less expensive, younger candidate, we may never know. Either way, it was probably a win-win situation in terms of rebuilding Wahoo basketball.

Tubby would have brought instant credibility, instant magnetism, instant national notoriety.

Tony will have to work for it, earn it. From what I understand about the man, that’s what he’s all about.

It should be interesting watching him do his work.

 

Bennett targets state assistants
By Whitey Reid
Published: March 31, 2009

Sources close to the just-completed Virginia coaching search have told The Daily Progress that Tony Bennett might have already added two assistant coaches to his staff.

One of them could be Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. The others could be Washington State assistant Ron Sanchez and an unidentified assistant coach from the Boo Williams AAU squad from Hampton Roads.

McKay has been head coach at Liberty for the last two years. Prior to that, he was head coach at the University of New Mexico. This past season, McKay led Liberty to a win over Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena.

The additions would seem to make sense, given that Bennett likely doesn’t have many recruiting contacts on the East Coast.

According to one source, former Liberty guard Seth Curry, the younger brother of Davidson All-American guard Stephen Curry, was planning on visiting Virginia before electing to transfer to Duke.

Reportedly, Sanchez, who had been on Bennett’s staff at Washington State the past six seasons, toured JPJ on Tuesday.

Virginia has already parted ways with Rick Brunson, the former director of basketball operations. Former UVa guard Cory Alexander, currently doing radio, could be a candidate for the position.

 

High praise from a Low authority
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 1, 2009

If Virginia fans are worried about new coach Tony Bennett’s abilities as a recruiter, all they need to do is look at the case of former Washington State player Derrick Low.

Bennett convinced the Honolulu native to come to school in Pullman, Wash.

Suffice to say, Honolulu and Pullman will never be confused with one another.

“I tell this to everyone who asks, because it’s the honest truth,” Low wrote in an e-mail to The Daily Progress. “The very first time I got off the phone with Tony, I already had my mind made up pretty much! I didn’t even need to visit the campus before I committed. I was that certain in him.”

Low, who is currently playing professionally in Rouen, France, graduated from Washington State in 2008.

The 6-foot-2 guard enjoyed some nice success with Bennett, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 his senior year.

In a brief interview, Low couldn’t make a single comment about Bennett without using an exclamation mark, sometimes two or three at a time.

“Simply put…I wouldn’t have wanted to play for any other coach besides him!” Low wrote. “He is a great coach who will definitely bring out the best in his players while making them feel comfortable on the court!”

Bennett is known for a “grind-it-out” system that has elements of the famed Princeton offense. His teams, known more for their defense, have been at the bottom of the Pac-10 in scoring.

However, Low believes Virginia fans shouldn’t be so quick to pigeonhole Bennett’s approach.

“A lot of people associate the Bennett name with a boring, slow-down game!!!! What everyone doesn’t realize is that it really isn’t!

“The only reason we seemed to not play as fast as a run-and-gun team is because we never had the talent to do so. So we had to adjust to valuing each and every possession because we knew we had to make it count…there is no doubt in my mind that Virginia can attract higher-caliber players that can play up-tempo, yet still clamp it down on ‘D’.”

Low said Bennett was very different than the majority of the coaches who had recruited him coming out of high school. He felt that Bennett was “genuine and sincere.” One of the big selling points was also getting to work with former Washington State coach Dick Bennett, Tony’s father.

“I felt that under him and his father I could become a better player,” Low said.

“From the second I got off that phone with Tony till now…never once did I have any regrets about the decision I made.”

 

Still more on Bennett
Jeff White
Mar 31, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Remember the battle scene in the cinematic classic Anchorman, the one in which Luke Wilson yells, after having an arm chopped off, “I did not see that coming!”?

That was my reaction when I learned yesterday afternoon that the text message I’d received 30 minutes earlier from the irrepressible Richmond hoops promoter Thomas Leachman – and then promptly ignored—was no joke.

Tony Bennett indeed had been hired as men’s basketball coach at U.Va.

My shock wore off as I started working the phones. It’s become clear to me over the past 28 hours that Bennett is held in exceptionally high regard by many of his coaching peers. Schools always are eager to “win the press conference” with a new hire – that is, dazzle fans and donors, as well as the media – but in the end it’s more important that the coach win games. People who know Bennett, The Associated Press’ national coach of the year in 2006-07, are confident that will happen with him in charge at Virginia.

Among the Bennett fans I spoke to today was Lane Odom, a former college assistant who’s now head coach at Charlotte Latin High in North Carolina. Charlotte Latin star David Chadwick signed in November with Washington State, and Odom got to know Bennett well during the recruiting process.

Odom understands U.Va.‘s culture better than most. He lived near University Hall when his father, Dave Odom, was an assistant at Virginia under Terry Holland.

“I understand what an amazing place it is and also, I think I understand the environment,” Lane Odom said. “And I think Tony Bennett is an absolutely great fit for U.Va. He reminds me more of the Terry Holland style of play, the way that my dad coached at Wake Forest. He reminds me more of that than he does the more fast-paced, up-tempo style, but it’s going to be a very efficient style of play. And he’s a great defensive coach.”

Odom, whose brother Ryan is an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, said he believes U.Va. fans skeptical about the hire are “going to be pleasantly surprised. I think he’s going to really mesh well with the university and the people there, and ultimately I think they’re going to be happy to have him … He’s also a very, very honorable guy. He’s just a class act.”

As for concerns that the slower pace of Bennett’s offense will turn off prospects, Odom said, “I really think that stuff is overrated. There may be a few kids that fall into that, but [what most players] really want is, they want to know they’re going to be coached. They want to win. And what he’s got to show them is, ‘Hey, we had one of the best defensive teams in the country last year. We reached the Sweet 16 at Washington State. Just trust me. Be a part of the program and get in here and we’re going to do something great.’

“I don’t think ultimately that’s going to make that much of a difference. It may with a few kids, but ultimately kids want to go a great school, they want to play in a great league, and they’ve got those two things nailed. And then he can show them that he knows what it takes to win.“

Odom said he expects Bennett’s teams to evoke memories of Holland’s and Jeff Jones’ at U.Va. and Dave Odom’s at Wake.

“That’s really what you’re getting right now, and I think that is a great fit for Virginia,” Odom said. “I think it just works. I would be very optimistic if I were a Virginia fan.”

 

Another name
Jeff White
Mar 31, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Not all of Tony Bennett’s Washingon State assistants are likely to join him at U.Va. One who might, however, is Ron Sanchez.

Sanchez, who grew up in the Bronx, N.Y., was in town touring U.Va. today, and he may be at Bennett’s introductory news conference tomorrow. He spent the past six seasons on the WSU staff: the first three as coordinator of basketball operations, the next three as an assistant coach.

According to his bio on the Cougars’ Web site, Sanchez is a graduate of State University of New York, College at Oneonta. He spent two seasons as a volunteer coach at Indiana before coming to WSU.

Sanchez, a native of the Dominican Republic, has a master’s from Indiana in athletic administration/sports management.

 

How will Tony Bennett affect Virginia recruiting?
Eric Kolenich
Mar 31, 2009

We all know Tony Bennett the singer, we’re quickly learning about Tony Bennett the coach, and now I want to learn about Tony Bennett the recruiter.

To get some perspective, I spoke with Vince Grippi of The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington. (Note the snow in the background of the photo. Welcome to Virginia, Mr. Bennett.)

Many people have already pointed out the fact that if you can sell Pullman, Washington, you can sell anything. Pullman is, in fact, closer to Idaho than anything else in Washington. The facilities Bennett will be selling to recruits will certainly upgrade. Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum, in Idaho-adjacent Pullman, Washington (remember the snow still on the ground on the last day of March?) doesn’t really compare to state-of-the-art JPJ, which hosts basketball on Thursdays, Bob Dylan on Fridays, and the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey circus on Saturdays.

As the assistant coach to his father, Bennett handled the recruiting. He’s responsible for recruiting Alano Tucker and Devin Harris. Grippi says that Bennett wasn’t happy with last year’s recruiting class, though. He thought he could’ve done better, given how well the team did the previous two years, reaching the NCAA’s secound round, and the Sweet 16. So Bennett took a more active role. And what he got to show for it was Xavier Thames, the No. 19 point guard in the nation, ranked by Scout.com. Thames has already said that he will ask to be released from his letter of intent.

Washington State’s three other commitments, however, aren’t as highly ranked. They include Brock Motum from Australia, Anthony Brown from Spokane, Washington, and David Chadwick from Charlotte, N.C. Chadwick’s father played for UNC under Dean Smith, and was ready to travel across the country to play for Bennett. Chadwick had family ties to Washington. Could he instead, make the much shorter trip to Charlottesville? It’s a little early to tell, but we’ll be watching. Motum was recruited by one of Bennett’s assistants, Ben Johnson, who spent a lot of time in Australia. If Johnson is retained, Motum will still probably head to Washington State. If there is any player Bennett would want to follow him to Virginia, it would be Xavier Thames. But Thames is from California, making Chadwick a more logical switch.

Grippi emphasized that Bennett really does recruit a different kind of player. Bennett focuses on controlling the tempo of the game and running a strong defense. Grippi said Bennett will bring a Big 10 mindset to the ACC.

Will Virginias two commitments for 2009 stay with Bennett? The Daily Progress reports that Tristan Spurlock is still undecided about his future:

On Monday, Spurlock told The Daily Progress that he is still “up in the air.”

“Right now, there are a lot of rumors that are saying that I’m trying to get out of my letter of intent, which is not the case,” said the versatile 6-foot-8 Spurlock. “I have yet to ask for a release. I’m not saying that I won’t or will, but right now I haven’t.

“I’ve just been waiting for this. I’m going to let things go for a couple of days and see how coach Bennett and I [get along] and then kind of just take it from there.”

Jontel Evans is reportedly leaning towards keeping his commitment. Evans’s only other offer that was comparable to Virginia was Marquette. Spurlock, however, had offers from Louisville, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and others.

It looks like Bennett’s one ACC connection might be that he played in the 1991 Pan Am games, where Coach K served as chairman of the Player Selection Committee.

 

March 31, 2009
U.Va.'s silence isn't golden
It was weird enough last night when Virginia officials permitted Washington State to officially announce THEIR hiring of Cougars basketball coach Tony Bennett.

It borders on absurd that by early afternoon today U.Va. athletic director Craig Littlepage has yet to confirm or applaud his own choice. Issue a statement. Conduct a teleconference.

Do something!

Not to mention that Littlepage has yet to answer the first question on the decision to fire Dave Leitao after four seasons. All we got that day was a lame statement thanking Leitao for his service and the acknowledgement of a $2.1 million parting gift.

The tone-deafness in Charlottesville is staggering.

Posted by David Teel

Boo on Bennett
Boo Williams was as shocked as everyone when he learned yesterday that Washington State's Tony Bennett is Virginia's choice to replace Dave Leitao as head basketball coach.

"Don't get me wrong," said Williams, whose Hampton-based summer program houses top-flight prospects annually. "He might be a great guy and he might turn out well. But it's not going to be easy for him to recruit.

"He has no ties in the South, no ties in the East. Carolina, Duke, Georgetown, they all recruit here. Seth Greenberg (at Virginia Tech) works hard. This is a tough town.

"He's going to have to rely on assistants. His staff is more important than he is right now."

Could not agree more. Hiring assistant coaches with established regional recruiting connections is a must for Bennett.

Former Boston University head coach and Virginia assistant Dennis Wolff might be a good place to start. It's been awhile since Wolff procured talent for Jeff Jones during the mid-90s, but I'll bet he could do the job.

Posted by David Teel
 

Spurlock Talks to Bennett, Waiting to Meet Him

Caught up with Virginia recruit Tristan Spurlock, who said he spoke briefly this afternoon with the Cavaliers' new coach, Tony Bennett, and hopes to meet with Bennett early next week.

"I had a free period and he called me during my free period," said Spurlock, a forward who played this past season at Word of Life Academy in Springfield. "He told me he had just gotten down to U-Va., and I was his first phone call. He was going to meet with the players and then he was going to call me again tonight."

Spurlock said he was aware of Bennett's credentials at Washington State: Associated Press Coach of the Year in 2006-07, two NCAA tournament appearances and being relatively young, 39 years old. "I heard a raving report that he's really a good person as well," Spurlock said. "Right now, I want to sit down and meet with him and shee where I fit in his system. I heard he has a slow-it-down system. I want to see if he's changing it here."

Any meeting though, probably won't take place until next week; Spurlock is scheduled to play in Charm City Challenge all-star game this weekend in Baltimore.

"To even think about going through that four-year recruiting process again is very draining," Spurlock said. "Once you sign that letter-of-intent, you hope everything is good to go. Now I have to go with the flow. I'm definitely going to sit and listen and I'm definitely going to give him a chance."

By Josh Barr