Virginia coach Tony Bennett to announce retirement Friday

Field Level Media|published: Thu 17th October, 17:02 2024

Oct 10, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia head coach Tony Bennett answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett will announce his retirement in a press conference Friday morning, the program confirmed in a social media post Thursday afternoon.

Bennett, 55, won the 2019 national championship with Virginia and is retiring less than three weeks from the start of the new season.

No reason for Bennett's decision was made public, and it is unclear who will be tapped to coach the Cavaliers in 2024-25 and beyond.

Bennett spent three seasons as the coach at Washington State (2006-09) before taking the Virginia job. In 18 seasons as a head coach, Bennett has amassed a 433-169 record (.719 winning percentage) and coached 12 teams to the NCAA Tournament, including 10 in his 15 years at Virginia.

The Cavaliers reached the Sweet 16 in 2014 and the Elite Eight in 2016. They were the No. 1 overall seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16, UMBC, the year before returning to the dance and winning the program's first national championship.

Virginia, which went 23-11 and made the NCAA Tournament last season, opens the 2024-25 campaign Nov. 6 at home against Campbell.

--Field Level Media