Indoor66
Well-known member
What else is new?
Tony Bennett retires
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mph
Well-known member
Well, you and me and pretty much anyone else who’s participated in the back and forth of this thread. Why bother if you don’t think your position is correct? My point isn’t that you are wrong to say your position is the correct one. It’s that real world experience (whatever real world means in this context) and the fact that others agree with your position isn’t support for your position.
And just to put all my cards on the table, my reaction was partially prompted by what I interpreted as your attempt at a mic-drop moment on the way out of the thread which felt less like, “we can agree to disagree” and more like “you all are free to be wrong.” I acknowledge that might be a problem with how I read your post rather than your intent. At the same time, I’m having a hard time reading your posts in this thread without the baggage of your first 3 posts that all involved degrees of speculation that Bennett was caught up in a scandal.
NYBri
Member
All those points will be included in other threads.
brevity
Member
In theory. It's very early to start a 2025 Transfer Portal Thread (I'm still optimistic or naive enough to think we won't need it until the spring) or a 2025 Coaching Carousel thread. We'll be discussing UVA basketball in weekly ACC threads, but this is still the best place to collect our thoughts about the team's performance in the post-Bennett era.
That said, if the moderators wanted to close this thread for some reason, I could live with that decision.
Until then, let's do this. Jon Rothstein has the first word.
VCU 71, Virginia 49 (closed scrimmage)
Somehow I doubt that the Virginia players were in the right frame of mind for this matchup, which reportedly took place in Charlottesville around noon on Saturday. That's less than 48 hours after learning Coach Bennett was retiring, and about 24 hours after witnessing his press conference.
VCU's head coach is Ryan Odom, who was also UMBC's head coach in that monumental 16 vs. 1 upset of Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Maybe he has the Cavaliers' number. Maybe they should get his, and consider hiring him.
There's not much information out there -- closed scrimmage and all -- but I was able to find the following.
Hooz Got Next: "Elijah Saunders led UVA with 19 points in today's secret scrimmage loss. Isaac McKneely, Dai Dai Ames, and Christian Bliss didn't play. Transfer addition Phillip Russell was VCU's high scorer with 18."
Heard It First: "Rams were led by Max Shulga with 14. True freshman Terrance Hill, who was previously committed to Utah State, was very impressive and finished with 11. Both will play pivotal roles for the Rams this year. VCU no issues with Virginia despite not having Zeb Jackson who DNP with injury"
Zach Joachim: "Zeb Jackson DNP (nothing major, would have played in real game)... Rams led for 34:04... Phillip Russell led VCU w/ 18 pts... Bamisile 14, Shulga 11, Clark 9, Hill 8... Jennings 4 steals... Clark 11 boards"
That's only three reports, and one of them disagrees about VCU's leading scorer, so grain of salt.
sagegrouse
Member
It's his life. Life is complicated. He apparently did not want to coach any more, and he not only had the right to retire, but he clearly earned it. I'm fine with that. Virginia has an experienced staff to take over for this season, so his staff should be OK. Life won't change that much for the players either.
The University of Virginia has benefited from his 15-year tenure. He reportedly coached 500 games there and won 73 percent. Don;t discount the banner. Virginia is in position to hire an excellent coach.
The players? Give me a break! All have agents. They are paid through NIL, not to mention the full ride at a prestigious university. They know they can transfer somewhere else with no penalties and no sanctions. Poor guys -- their big bad coach is a meanie -- he ups and retires just before the season. I don't feel sorry for them at all.
The University of Virginia has benefited from his 15-year tenure. He reportedly coached 500 games there and won 73 percent. Don;t discount the banner. Virginia is in position to hire an excellent coach.
The players? Give me a break! All have agents. They are paid through NIL, not to mention the full ride at a prestigious university. They know they can transfer somewhere else with no penalties and no sanctions. Poor guys -- their big bad coach is a meanie -- he ups and retires just before the season. I don't feel sorry for them at all.
I think this is mixing feelings about the general situation with the specifics of this case.
I'm sure that the players at UVA are getting NIL/collective money. But I don't think any of their players are big bucks mercenaries, and they aren't the ones who are driving the changes in the college basketball landscape. They are bystanders who happened to draw the card "Pass Go, collect $200K". I mean, yay for them, but they are still facing a hard decision about whether they should:
- Transfer to play now (by second semester?) and hope they can not have this be a wasted year at a new school
- Redshirt (at UVA or elsewhere) and be limited to practicing for a year
- Stay at UVA, and hope this isn't a wasted year at their current school
Honestly, from a business point of view, as their agent I think I would recommend they redshirt. Save their eligibility and hope they can have a successful year in the future.
The snarky side of me would say that as a practice player for UVA this year, they would be giving their school more than their former coach is.
SkyBrickey
Member
18 pages on Tony Bennett and 2 pages on Duke's first competitive game of the season... Very DBR I guess to exhaustively debate the nuances of Bennett's decision.
Phredd3
Member
It might just be me, but I think you'll get more response to a Duke game when we actually do take part in a competitive game this season. In case you've forgotten, we won by 51 points. I'm not sure there's a lot there to engender much controversy or debate.
Matches
Member
That’s how NC State ended up with Les Robinson!
i'm not sure i'd call a 50 point win over a school i've never heard of "competitive"
devilirium
Member
One bit of news that has escaped the news hounds is that Sanchez did a lot of the heavy lifting this summer. Bennett relied on his staff a lot more in the last few years (with the advent of NIL and the portal, etc), so I don't think the transition to Sanchez is going to be as dramatic as some may believe. Sanchez was a stalwart member of Tony's staff a number of years before he left for Charlotte, then came back a few years ago. A lot of the local media picked up on that--there was always a sense that Bennett wasn't going to coach until 2030.
This is a sad, sad time for ACC Hoops. The league is now bereft of coaches in the league that have won a title--that is a bit astounding. Like most, I think Jon dents that stat soon.
This is a sad, sad time for ACC Hoops. The league is now bereft of coaches in the league that have won a title--that is a bit astounding. Like most, I think Jon dents that stat soon.
killerleft
Member
When I saw the name Terrance Hill, I immediately thought of Terence Hill, the blue-eyed star of the Trinity series of spaghetti westerns in the 70s. Some funny stuff. The 'family sits down to buzzard dinner' scene is one of my all-time favorites.
LeadingEdge
Member
As a Hoo, monitoring this thread has been interesting. I was hoping Tony's comments would ignite a thread here on DBR about whether there's any hope for reforming college sports in the areas of Tony's criticisms, and, if there is, how we get there and what the destination looks like.
I'll hold onto that hope and monitor a while longer.
Losing Tony sucks for us Hoos, and it has me questioning whether I should continue to be a college sports fan, particularly for revenue sports. But I hope that somehow his departure will help ignite popular demand for reform that's fair to players but also strengthens the athlete-school bond and the academic legitimacy of college athletics, particularly in high-major revenue sports.
I'll hold onto that hope and monitor a while longer.
Losing Tony sucks for us Hoos, and it has me questioning whether I should continue to be a college sports fan, particularly for revenue sports. But I hope that somehow his departure will help ignite popular demand for reform that's fair to players but also strengthens the athlete-school bond and the academic legitimacy of college athletics, particularly in high-major revenue sports.
OldPhiKap
Super Moderator
I think there are a large number of DBR posters who agree with your position and it has been discussed elsewhere. As a small school where football money is the coin of the NCAA realm, this is a significant problem for us. And for schools like Duke and UVA that actually work to keep an academic honesty in the term "student-athlete" we all work at a significant disadvantage in this new semi-pro minor league system of college sports.
As always, I appreciate our UVA posters. They consistently add value to the discussions here. Thanks.
I think a lot of the response to Tony's decision here is related to the timing and not to his view. He can be wholly correct about the decision, but wrong about the timing of the resignation. At least, that's the vibe I get on this thread.
chrishoke
Member
Fully agree.
Sorry I missed you were a Hoo. Not paying enough attention. I agree with you about the state of college sports.
GoDuke!
SkyBrickey
Member
There are LONG threads here dedicated to the sorry state of college sports and how to fix them. TB's news is sadly just another log on the fire.
Pat Forde siding with those who think Handsome Tony's timing was suspect
www.si.com
Someone named Chris Graham firing double barrels back at Forde, including some real cheap-shots at Forde's daughter, Brooke, the Olympic swimmer, who, by the way, went to Stanford.
augustafreepress.com
Ego-Driven Timing of Tony Bennett’s Retirement Puts Virginia—and His Players—in a Bind
Tony Bennett was emotional and candid in saying goodbye to the Virginia Cavaliers and college basketball Friday. And perhaps calculating, too. Bennett said he d
Someone named Chris Graham firing double barrels back at Forde, including some real cheap-shots at Forde's daughter, Brooke, the Olympic swimmer, who, by the way, went to Stanford.
UVA Basketball: ‘Towering Fraud’ Pat Forde gets one last lick in at Tony Bennett
Dean Smith retired on Oct. 9, 1997, to engineer giving the UNC job to Bill Guthridge, and SI.com columnist Pat Forde had no issue.
augustafreepress.com
HereBeforeCoachK
Member
With due respect that's an arrogant take. Yes he could do it for one more season. He "could do it" for five more seasons probably. That is NOT THE STANDARD. He said, and we should take him at his word, that he was no longer the right person to coach UVa. If you don't think you are THE MAN to coach a team, you should not coach the team. If you've ever coached, you understand that. Coaching at this level is not about "trying hard" or even "giving it your all" - if you don't believe with a passion that the job should be yours.....you cannot bring to it what it requires.
Also, this is all very disrespectful of the current UVa staff and players......like we're trying to protect all of them from the life changing horror of Bennett retiring. Do we hear ourselves???
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