Tony Bennett
Former UVA Men’s Basketball Coach and National Champion
Legendary Coach & Values-Driven Leader
Over 15 seasons, three-time National Coach of the Year Tony Bennett guided the University of Virginia basketball team to one NCAA championship, six ACC regular-season titles, two ACC Tournament championships, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT berths.
As a collegiate head coach, Bennett posted a 433-169 (.719) record in 18 seasons, including three seasons at Washington State. He posted a 364-136 record at UVA, including 30 or more wins in four seasons.
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Bennett ranks third in career ACC winning percentage (with a minimum of 15 years in the league) behind legendary coaches Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski, winning 69.7 percent of regular-season league contests. The four-time ACC Coach of the Year led the Cavaliers to ACC regular-season titles in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2023 and a pair of ACC Tournament championships in 2014 and 2018. He was named National Coach of the Year at UVA in 2014 and 2018.
Bennett posted a 69-33 record in three seasons as head coach at Washington State from 2007-09, guiding the Cougars to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and one NIT appearance. He was named National Coach of the Year in 2007, guiding the Cougars to 26 wins and, in 2008, its first NCAA Sweet 16 berth in school history. Bennett also served as an assistant coach at Wisconsin and Washington State.
He starred for his father, Dick Bennett, as a point guard at Green Bay from 1989-92. His 49.7 career 3-point field goal percentage is still an NCAA record. Bennett played three seasons in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets. Bennett and his wife, Laurel, have two children – a daughter, Anna, and a son, Eli.