Tony Bennett is a great basketball coach. Tony Bennett is lovely human being. However, Tony Bennett is refusing to adapt to today’s world of college basketball and the UVA program has lacked talent since the championship team. He has tried to recruit the 5 star players only to lose to Duke every single year since Scheyer took over recruiting ( Keels, Brakefield, TJ Power, Caleb Foster, Kon Knueppel, and soon to be Nate Ament. Did these recruits go to Duke to play for a better basketball coach than Bennett, they went to Duke to make money and lots of it.
It’s time Tony like Saban gives it up due to his unability to adapt to the current state of college basketball and lead with NIL. SO, what coach would you like to see next? Someone who drops bags, and can send kids to the NBA!
Dont think we are recruiting Ament too hard and most of the 5 stars we have lost to Duke weren’t 5 stars when Tony started recruiting them
Bag dropping is an excuse. SDSU and FAU were in the final 4 last year. Even Jay Wright was in the final 4 his last year. Tons of programs having success without dropping bags. And Tons of programs that are dropping bags (like Indiana Miami and Maryland) are underperforming
Tony needs to adapt not in his approach to NIL but in his schemes. Modernize the packline, play a more pressure style like his dad suggested. And find an offensive coordinator.
this list is terrible. LOL.
Best players are still the ones recruited out of HS. Just need roster balance and complimentary players in the starting 5. Think Tony is best with 3 playmakers (One of whom can hit an elite clip at 3 while the other two modest, and one of them being an elite defender) and two athletic front court pieces (Wing forward and rim protecting energizer). As long as they are top 200, the fit and dawg mentality (someone thriving with doing the dirty work as @tlgoudy put it) is key.
We won the ACC last year. It was our 6th time in 11 years. In the 15 or so years I was a fan before that, we won once (11-5 in 2007).
“Tony hasn’t or can’t adapt to NIL” is severely lacking in evidence to me.
That said, whenever he does leave, I hope we get a coach that helps us win a lot, but more than that I hope we don’t get a coach who embarrasses us with what he does or the types of people he brings into the university. I value being a UVA alum more than basketball success.
Careful, you’re going to get the ACC Tournament Well Actuallyists in here!
Agree with all of that. The NIL thing is just one of many things impacting this program. It’s kind of a lazy excuse and one that allows fans to cry foul and play the victim. The reality is that recruiting misses over the past 5 years plus wonky Covid and transfer rules have really upset Bennett’s roster construction. You’ve arguably struck out in the transfer market this season, at least for immediate impact (not giving up on Rohde long term), and you’ve got a perfect recipe for the chickens coming home to roost for a poor season. Now maybe these transfers are a harbinger for things to come, but I tend to think this is more a combination of a lot of substandard things finally catching up with the Hoos.
all but a select few will have seasons or dips like this, just sucks that we’re finally experiencing it again after a decade of damn near ACC dominance. Enjoy TB while we’ve got him. I don’t think we’re likely to see lightning strike twice wrt the next coach.
LOL. Incredible, he won the ACC last year in this environment. People like you just don’t understand reality. When he leaves We’re going straight back to mediocre and not the kind of mediocre we are experiencing now. It’s going to be the mediocre that is mostly 16-18 win teams with a tournament every 3-5 years, if we’re lucky.
Must say - the tone and negativity of game day postings is giving me flashbacks to the Sabre dumpster fire. A few bad apples dominate and suck all of the air out.
