Many college coaches across the country are nodding and tacitly agreeing with some of the comments made by Tony Bennett, who made the surprising decision to withdraw from the University of Virginia program just weeks before the 2024-25 season opener against Campbell. did. Bennett was simply fed up with it all.
In his own words, he was “not equipped” to lead Virginia in the current climate of college basketball. The NIL and transfer portal drive the sport. College basketball does not yet have a salary cap. There’s no such thing as a vacation after a long, grueling regular season. The 2024 transfer portal cycle opened the day after Selection Sunday with no guardrails or regulations in place.
Since it’s free, Bennett decides to wash his hands.
“We know we can’t do that until the parameters are determined, and that’s the whole deal here,” Bennett told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.
Two pathways are forming in the world of college basketball coaching. There are a lot of old guard coaches out there who grew up in this industry a certain way and are now being asked to change almost everything. The other is full of coaches born into this life of fundraising, collectives, free agency, transfer portals, high school recruiting, and international scouting. It’s nothing new. It’s just a way of life.
Programs like Purdue and Marquette are built on in-house development and maintenance and feel like mirages in the desert compared to many of the major programs that tend to win big bucks.
Change isn’t necessarily necessary to win — Purdue made it to the national championship game without changing its DNA — but for most, it may be necessary to survive.
Georgetown coach Ed Cooley told reporters last week: “Maybe I have to evolve or maybe I break up with it, but it’s my overall goal (in the portal). It’s just a gut feeling,” he told reporters. “Do it to the hilt. This system won’t let you get away with it.”
Bennett was a proud member of the Old Guard and the latest of many legendary all-time coaches to retire from the game. While age was certainly a factor for UNC’s Roy Williams, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, the changing landscape of college basketball played a role in their decisions to retire. That’s for sure.
Bennett, who is still only 55 years old, is in line with Jay Wright, who left his job at Villanova in 2022 at age 60 after leading the Wildcats to the Final Four. Wright and Bennett were stars in the college coaching world and were seen as second-rate players. It will be a legitimate mainstay of the sport for years to come. Bennett said last week that he intended to stay in the game longer but knew in his heart it was time to step away. He was no longer all in.
So what happens next in a coaching world that is so different from just five years ago when Bennett won the 2019 national championship?
Let’s take a look at 16 notable coaches and how they fit into this new era of college basketball. Who are the up-and-coming coaches who are embracing the current complexities and growing, and who are the members of the old guard who may be next to leave the sport?
