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Tony Bennett (basketball)

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Tony Bennett

Anthony "Tony" Guy Bennett (born June 1, 1969 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is the men's basketball head coach for the University of Virginia Cavaliers. Previously, he was an NBA player for the Charlotte Hornets and later head coach at Washington State University. As a player, he ranks first all-time in NCAA career three-point field goal percentage, at .497. He is the son of coach Dick Bennett.

As a coach, he was awarded the Henry Iba Award and was honored as AP National Coach of the Year and Naismith College Coach of the Year in 2007. As a player, he won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1992.

Biography

Playing career

College

Bennett, a point guard, played for his father Dick Bennett at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay following his high school career at Preble High School. While there, the Bennetts led the Phoenix to an NCAA Tournament berth and two appearances in the NIT. During his time there, the Phoenix had record of 87–34 (.719) en route to Tony being named conference player of the year twice. Tony won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award given to the nation's most outstanding senior under six feet tall and was named the 1992 GTE Academic All-American of the year. He also started for a bronze-medal winning 1991 Pan-American Games team led by Gene Keady. He finished his collegiate career as the Mid-Continent Conference's all-time leader in points (2,285) and assists (601). He still ranks as the NCAA's all-time leader in 3-point percentage (.497).

Professional

Bennett went on to be picked 35th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He spent three seasons (1992–1995) with the Hornets before a foot injury abruptly ended his NBA career. He briefly attempted a comeback and played 10 games for the Sydney Kings in Australia's National Basketball League season in 1997.[1]

Coaching career

Washington State

Bennett began his college coaching career, at the University of Wisconsin as a member of his father's staff. After his father retired, Bo Ryan retained Bennett on his staff. Bennett would remain at Wisconsin until 2003, when his father came out of retirement to coach Washington State. Bennett was designated as his father's successor, and he inherited the position of head coach at Washington State University when his father retired after the 2005–06 NCAA season.

His 26 wins in both the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 seasons each tied the Washington State school record set by the 1940–41 team that lost in the championship game of that year's NCAA Tournament.

2006–07 season

Tony Bennett led the 2006–07 Cougar basketball team to a 26–8 (13–5 Pac-10, second place) record and the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Cougars earned a #3 seed and defeated Oral Roberts in the opening round before falling to Vanderbilt in double overtime in the 2nd round. Bennett tied the WSU school record for wins. The NCAA tournament appearance was the first for the Cougars since 1994.

After the 2006–2007 season, Bennett was named the AP college basketball Coach of the Year[2] and the Naismith College Coach of the Year. He also won the Henry Iba Award by vote of the United States Basketball Writers Association, and was named the Rivals.com Coach of the Year.[3]

2007–08 season

During the 2007–2008 basketball season, Tony Bennett finished with a 26–9 record (11–7 in the Pac-10). He also went on to lead the Cougars to the Sweet Sixteen after beating Winthrop in the first round and Notre Dame in the second. After losing to North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, Bennett's team had tied the school record for wins, with 26, for the second consecutive season.

Virginia

Bennett was named head coach at Virginia on March 31, 2009.[4] His team began coming together later the same day, as Ritchie McKay, then head coach of the Liberty Flames, stepped down from his position to become Bennett's associate head coach.[5]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Washington State (Pacific-10 Conference) (2006–2009)
2006–07 Washington State 26-8 13-5 2nd NCAA 2nd Round
2007–08 Washington State 26-9 11-7 3rd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2008–09 Washington State 17-16 8-10 7th NIT 1st Round
Washington State: 69-33 (.676) 33-23 (.589)
Virginia (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2009–present)
2009–10 Virginia 15-16 5-11 T-9th
Virginia: 15-16 5-11
Total: 84-49

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/09/1041990049201.html Retrieved December 6, 2006
  2. ^ http://sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10097793 Retrieved March 30, 2007
  3. ^ Rivals.com Coach of the Year: Tony Bennett
  4. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4028642&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines Retrieved on 2009-03-30.
  5. ^ http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/sports/college/article/mckays_departure_stuns_lu/14861/ Retrieved on 2009-04-02.

Template:Naismith Coach of the Year men

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