Virginia's Tony Bennett retiring ahead of basketball season - ESPN

Virginia men's basketball coach Tony Bennett will announce his immediate retirement Friday, the school announced.

Bennett, 55, was set to begin his 16th season with the Cavaliers in less than three weeks, with the program opening the campaign against Campbell on Nov. 6.

As of Thursday afternoon, the school had not named an interim replacement. The most likely option is associate head coach Ron Sanchez, who spent five seasons as the head coach at Charlotte before returning to Charlottesville ahead of last season. Associate head coach Jason Williford also has been by Bennett's side during his entire tenure at Virginia.

Bennett is a two-time national coach of the year who led Virginia to the national championship in 2019. He won six ACC regular-season titles and two ACC tournament titles.

Under Tony Bennett, Virginia's defense ranked top-10 in PPG allowed, opponent free throw attempts per game, opponent rebounds per game and opponent FG pct:

The Cavaliers made 10 NCAA tournament appearances under Bennett but hadn't won a tournament game since the national title run in 2019. They were picked fifth in the ACC preseason poll released Wednesday.

Bennett signed a two-year contract extension in June through the end of the 2029-30 season.

Despite leading the program to unprecedented success during his time in Charlottesville, Bennett also bemoaned the direction of college athletics.

During an interview with ESPN at ACC media day last week, he was asked why there was a perception that he could be the next Jay Wright and abruptly retire while still in his prime.

«I gotta call Jay Wright and see what he says, right?» Bennett said. «I always have said, when you're doing this, you're in this profession, whether you agree how it's going