Virginia head coach Tony Bennett suddenly retiring, just weeks before season starts

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The Virginia basketball team, less than a month before the start to its season, will have to find a new coach.

The school announced Thursday that Tony Bennett will retire, effective Friday.

Bennett, 55, joined the Cavaliers ahead of the 2009-10 season, and he was .500 in his first two seasons. But he built Virginia into a college basketball powerhouse.

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Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett after a victory against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at McCamish Pavilion.  (Brett Davis/USA Today Sports)

After missing the March Madness tournament in three of his first four seasons, the Cavaliers have gone dancing in nine of the last 10 tournaments.

Bennett drew scrutiny when his team became the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a 16th seed, when UMBC dominated them in the first round of the 2018 tournament.

Bennett and his Cavaliers came back with a vengeance, though, running the table to win it all the next year.

Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett looks on from the sideline during the first half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Capital One Arena.  (Amber Searls/USA Today Sports)

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Recent years, though, have not been kind to Virginia. The Cavaliers have lost each of their last three games in the tournament. They were upset as a No. 4 seed in 2021 and 2023 and failed to get out of the First Four in March. In 2022, they were in the NIT.

Prior to joining Virginia, Bennett coached Washington State for three seasons, making the tournament in two of those