Tony Bennett (basketball)

Not to be confused with Anthony Bennett (basketball).

Tony Bennett

Bennett in 2014
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Virginia
Record	103-59 (.636)
Biographical details
Born	(1969-06-01) June 1, 1969 Green Bay, Wisconsin
Playing career
Position(s)	Point guard
Head coaching record
Overall	173-92 (.653)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
ACC Regular Season Championship (2014) ACC Tournament Championship (2014)
Awards
Naismith College Coach of the Year (2007) Henry Iba Award (2007) AP Men's Basketball Coach of the Year (2007) Rivals.com National Coach of the Year (2007) ACC Coach of the Year (2014)

Medal record
Men's basketball
Representing the United States
Pan American Games
	1991 Havana	National team

Anthony Guy "Tony" Bennett (born June 1, 1969) is an American men's college basketball coach and current head coach for the Virginia Cavaliers. He was previously the head coach at Washington State, where he won the Henry Iba Award, and was honored as the AP National Coach of the Year, Naismith College Coach of the Year, and Rivals.com Coach of the Year in 2007.

In his younger years he played collegiately for the Green Bay Phoenix and professionally for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets. As a player, he won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1992 and ranks first all-time in NCAA Division I for career three-point field goal accuracy, at 49.7% (minimum 200 made and 2.0 made per game). He is the son of former Green Bay and Wisconsin Badgers coach Dick Bennett and brother of current Northern Illinois women's basketball head coach Kathi Bennett.

Biography

Playing career

College

Bennett's retired UWGB jersey

Bennett, a point guard, played for his father Dick Bennett at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB) 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 Bennett being named conference player of the year twice. He 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 (49.7) (minimum 200 made and 2.0 made per game).

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.

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 remained with the Badgers until 2003, when his father came out of retirement to coach Washington State. In 2004, Bennett was designated as his father's successor, being named from an assistant coach to an associate head coach, 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 2006–07 and 2007–08 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 Cougars 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 second round. Bennett tied the WSU school record for wins. The NCAA tournament appearance was the first for the Cougars since 1994.

After the 2006–07 season, Bennett was named the AP college basketball Coach of the Year 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.

2007–08 season

During the 2007–08 Cougars 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.

2008–09 season

Bennett in 2009

Having lost several key players to graduation the year before, Tony Bennett finished the 2008–09 Washington State basketball season with a 17–16 record (8–10 in the Pac-10). His team missed the NCAA Tournament, but qualified for the NIT as a #7 seed, losing to #2 seed St. Mary's in the first round.

Virginia

Bennett was named head coach at Virginia on March 31, 2009. 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. In 2009–10 the Cavaliers got off to a 5–2 start in Atlantic Coast Conference play, and 14–6 overall, but dropped their next 9 conference games and finished the season 15–16 (5–11 in the ACC). Despite much of his first recruiting class decimated by transfers, in 2011–12 Bennett led the Cavaliers to a 22-10 record and Virginia's first NCAA tournament berth in five seasons. They lost in the Round of 64 to the University of Florida. In 2013 Bennett became an assistant on the U-19 Basketball team that won the gold medal at the World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic with UVA sophomore center Mike Tobey on the team as well.

In 2013-14, Bennett led the Cavaliers to only their second-ever outright ACC regular season title. They clinched the title with a convincing 75-56 late-season win against ACC newcomer Syracuse. It was also only the seventh time ever, and fifth time in the last 34 years, that a team from North Carolina has not won at least a share of the title. UVA also won the ACC Tournament on March 16, 2014, beating Duke 72-63; Tony Bennett's father and coaching mentor, Dick Bennett, was in attendance at the game.

Personal life

Bennett is a Christian. Bennett has spoken about his faith saying, "When you have a relationship with Lord, there’s a peace and perspective you have. The world didn’t give it, and the world can’t take it away."

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Washington State Cougars (Pacific-10 Conference) (2006–2009)
2006–07	Washington State	26–8	13–5	2nd	NCAA Second Round
2007–08	Washington State	26–9	11–7	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2008–09	Washington State	17–16	8–10	7th	NIT First Round
Washington State:		69–33 (.676)	32–22 (.593)
Virginia Cavaliers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2009–present)
2009–10	Virginia	15–16	5–11	T–9th
2010–11	Virginia	16–15	7–9	T–7th
2011–12	Virginia	22–10	9–7	T–4th	NCAA Second Round
2012–13	Virginia	23–12	11–7	T–4th	NIT Quarterfinals
2013–14	Virginia	29–6	16–2	1st	NCAA
Virginia:		103–59 (.636)	48-36 (.571)
Total:		172–92 (.652)
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

External links

• Virginia profile
• Template:Basketball-reference