The college basketball world reacts to Tony Bennett’s retirement

Others like Fox Sports’ John Fanta, who covered Bennett, shared similar thoughts while noting how monumental he’s been at Virginia over the years. Before Bennett’s arrival in 2009, the program was fledgling, but soon became an annual contender, winning six ACC titles, two ACC Tournament Championships and the 2019 National Championship during his tenure.

It’s not yet known why Bennett decided to leave now, with the Cavaliers’ season set to begin Nov. 6 at home against Campbell. However, health did not appear to be a factor in the decision, according to Field of 68 analyst Jeff Goodman, who speculated that the ever-evolving world of college basketball may have played a role.

“There is no health issue with Tony Bennett,” Goodman posted on X. “There are likely other reasons, but the changing landscape of college basketball over the last two years cannot be understated in his decision.”

The timing of the announcement made it easy for the mind to wander when considering the “why” in this scenario. It’s even easier to jump to conclusions with health seemingly off the list of reasons.

But as CBS Sports pundit Jon Rothstein pointed out, it’s not unusual for college basketball. With Bennett stepping down, three coaches who have won four of the last eight national championships, including Jay Wright and Roy Williams, are now out for one reason or another.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello got an interesting response when he asked Bennett during ACC media day about possibly being “the next Jay Wright,” by opting to retire early.

“I’ve always said,” Bennett said, “when you’re doing this, you’re in this profession, whether you agree or disagree with how you’re doing, you’ve got to be true to yourself and really look at it and say who can I operate the way I want and can it be successful enough?” Bennett said. “And you can choose whether you want to be a part of it or not. And when you think it’s time, like Jay did, like Coach K, maybe Saban, it’s their choice.”