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Tony Bennett shocked the college basketball world on Thursday when, just weeks before the start of his 16th season, he announced his retirement.
And with his departure, the ACC will lose yet another active head coach that has won a national championship throughout their career. In fact, the upcoming season will mark the first since 1981-82 in which the ACC will open a college basketball season without a coach who has won an NCAA Tournament.
Dean Smith won his first title with North Carolina in 1982. Jimmy Valvano won the tournament with NC State the following year. Mike Krzyzewski won his first title with Duke in 1992. Bennett’s title in 2019 kept the streak alive after Krzyzewski’s retirement in 2022.
Bennett’s departure leaves just 6 active Division I men’s college basketball coaches with a national championship — Dan Hurley at UConn, Bill Self at Kansas, Scott Drew at Baylor, John Calipari at Arkansas, Tom Izzo at Michigan State, and Rick Pitino at St. John’s.
It’s also the fourth straight year the ACC has seen a national championship-winning coach leave the sport.
Jim Boeheim retired last March. Krzyzewski coached his final game for Duke in April 2022. Roy Williams retired in April 2021.
Bennett, 55, is set to hold a press conference on Friday where he will discuss what ultimately went into the decision and presumably explain the timing. He appeared at ACC Tipoff last week to discuss Virginia’s upcoming season. According to ESPN, the decision was not motivated by any health-related factors.
He ends his career with 433 wins across 18 combined seasons with Washington State and Virginia. He was twice named the AP Coach of the Year, won the ACC Coach of the Year award 4 times, and made the NCAA Tournament 12 times.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
