DESPITE FLAK ... WHO ELSE IS BETTER COACH?

 I have come to the conclusion that Virginia, the state of, lives in an alternate universe when it comes to college athletics. Where else would they celebrate a basketball coach who makes $1.7 million annually… yet has been to three NCAA tournaments in … 19 years? 

Or, would they hire an Ivy League coach with a losing record 

… who relies on three-point field goals (33, making 12, in a 

three-point NIT loss at Ohio State) … which is like watching 

the NBA … which, frankly, would never be described as an 

endorsement here? And, they have the nerve to say, “We are 

committed to athletic excellence.”

THEN THERE is the man in charge of the DI program in 

Charlottesville … where he has built a winner unlike any other 

… based on defense … not just rolling the ball out on the floor 

and allowing the players to create one-on-one offense on their 

own. TONY BENNETT is a coach who … are you ready for 

this? … actually coaches. Wow! Is that a novel idea, or what?

In 15 years at Virginia, Bennett has given the school more than 

reasonably expected. Like ... winning more games than any of 

his predecessors (at an astounding rate of 72.8 per cent -- 364-

136) … providing the program’s first national championship, 

rebounding from hoops hell for being the first top seed to lose a 

first-round matchup to a No. 16 a year earlier … oh, and one 

guess who is the only coach other than the legendary duo of

 DEAN SMITH and MIKE KRZYZEWSKIto be selected 

ACC coach of the year four or more times?

Of course, there is a lot more … on the record for all to see. 

What has really endeared Bennett, 54, to everyone who knows 

him is the character of this humble leader of young men … 

whose trustworthiness and incorruptibility in a profession 

hardly known for integrity make him almost too good to be 

true.

Nevertheless, since winning the national title in 2019, the 

Cavaliers have come upon hard times in post-season play 

including back-to-back first-game losses that reached an all-

time low recently with a 25-point loss to Colorado State, of all 

teams. Suddenly, Bennett has something in common with, of all 

people, Kentucky’s JOHN CALIPARI whose reputation for 

bending the rules preceded him from UMass and Memphis … 

who is many things but humble is not one of them.

Despite their respective successes, both suddenly are 

confronted by the same question: Has the game passed them 

by? Unlike Calipari, whose high-ranked Wildcats -- favored to 

win it all by several bracketologists including DICK VITALE

 -- were ousted in the opening game for the third straight year, 

there has not been a universal call to fire Bennett. No, the 

primary concern in Hooville is that he’s had it with what big-

time athletics has become with the transfer portal and 

sanctioned payoffs brought about by issues of name, image and 

likeness (NIL), etc., and is thinking about walking away.

In this era of “What have you done for us lately?”, there 

naturally are some people who hope he will. They are spoiled, 

of course. Bennett has set the bar so high … but then this is a 

continuation of the same fan base that cheered the removal of

 GEORGE WELSH, winningest football coach in school 

history. Former Cavalier QB and governor of the 

commonwealth GEORGE ALLEN got it right when called 

them “a bunch of damn fools.”

Listen to local sports call-in shows … and you’ll get pretty 

much the same perspective. Bennett better update his 

philosophy and enroll more offensive-minded, high jumping, 

play-on-the-run athletes. Remaining devoted to defense first 

keeps him from recruiting many of the top players who 

otherwise would consider U.Va., they say.

What’s more, Bennett is losing some media members who have 

been solidly in his corner. They’ve pointed out shortcomings …

 Oh my gosh, say it isn’t so!! … like his tactical blunder in the 

final moments that cost Virginia a victory against North 

Carolina State in the ACC tournament. The Wolfpack won on a 

buzzer-beating three pointer and wound up surprise conference 

champion, knocking off favored Carolina in the final.

SO, IN THE absence of Bennett discussing rumors about his 

future plans, we turned to a man who should know. TONY 

MARKEL, who along with his brother Steve endows U.Va., 

basketball (in other words, writes checks for very large 

amounts) and recently indicated he would do likewise with 

golf, too, said he doesn’t expect Bennett to leave. In fact, he 

would be surprised if it came to that – at least in the near term.

“I don’t think this season is going to send him to the showers. 

Understand, this is strictly my feeling … He’s never said a 

word to me … I know him pretty well … but we don’t talk 

about this stuff,” Markel said a few days ago. 

“My feeling is ... the NIL is out of the bag ... it’s there … you’re 

going to have to deal with it ... but unless the establishment 

corrects the transfer portal … by signing contracts with these 

kids, agreeing to pay them in exchange for commitment time-

wise ... that could be the thing that sends him to the showers … 

It won’t happen this year but ...

“Look … Tony loves coaching. He loves the kids, and I think 

they love him ,.. but how much fun can you be having when 

you can’t keep a kid more than a year?”

NOT THAT T. Markel, former COO and president now vice-

chairman of the board of the Richmond-based $55 billion 

Markel Corporation, is giving Bennett a pass on the 67-42 

embarrassment to Colorado State (which, next time out, was 

limited to 11 first-half points by Texas and lost 56-44.) 

“Candidly, that was the worst defensive effort I’ve ever seen a 

Virginia team play,” he said. “You can shoot [poorly] and miss 

free throws … but defense is effort and discipline and …

“I thought the team, inexcusably, was laissez faire, flat the last 

part of the year … had no spark … and Tony has had so many 

winners and brought so much mediocre talent to the top … I 

can only blame the kids because he is the same coach he’s been 

for the last 15 years … and arguably did a helluva job to finish 

third in the league ...”

STILL, MARKEL knows there is some, if not considerable, 

discontent out there. We’ve been told the school’s 

administration – not the athletic department or Carla Williams, 

who runs it – has some issues with the men’s basketball 

program.

“I can’t speak for the administration because they lost me,” 

Markel said. “I don’t contribute to the administration any more 

because of the wokeand DEI and everything else I find 

absolutely misplaced. Shame on them.

“Carla Williams called me from Dayton [site of the game with 

Colorado State] to thank me for endowing the golf program … 

and she said, ‘You know … Tony is taking all kinds of flak … 

but you tell me: Who else in the country is a better coach?’”

“This season is not going to run him off. I don’t think the 

limited number of naysayers are going to run him off,” Markel 

said. “I can’t see him leaving because of any pressure.

“In my opinion, he is the best coach in the country … but he 

could be the best man in the country. And, I mean that. As a 

human being, as an individual … I don’t know anybody with 

higher standards than Tony Bennett.”

Yes, Markel knows … “because of the year they had, his 

program will be somewhat hard to sell. That said, he’s got a 

reasonable amount of NIL [to spend on recruits]. He’s still Tony 

Bennett, and he still develops players not necessarily high 

profile … like [NBA stars] MALCOLM BROGDEN and JOE 

HARRIS and ...”

IT SHOULD BE noted that Markel, 80, knows sports beyond 

being a typical fan. He was the last owner of ice hockey’s 

original Richmond Renegades and had to put them out of their 

misery in 2006. In other words, he understands the ups and 

downs … and the people responsible for both. Markel has been 

there, done that.

Bennett, he said, “deserves to leave when he wants to leave, but 

he won’t drag it out. He’ll know when it’s time … The criticism 

now is not fair. It’s not fair. As far as I’m concerned, he has a 

lifetime job.”