As a 5'11" point guard, Bennett ranks first in NCAA history for career three-point field goal accuracy at 49.7%, shooting above 50% from range in both his junior and senior seasons.

[12][13][14] The defensive style of basketball he taught at UVA was often compared to a boa constrictor choking out opponents,[15][16][17][18] and his teams were also known for their unselfish play and tempo control.

Washington State's success immediately skyrocketed under the younger Bennett, and his 26 wins in both the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons tied a 66-year-old school record[32] set by the team that reached the Championship Game of the 1941 NCAA tournament.

[38][39] He also discussed the LSU (his wife's alma mater) vacancy at that year's Final Four, a job that eventually went to Stanford coach Trent Johnson.

Thompson rapidly improved on the offensive side of the court as a freshman, but the team struggled more than in the two previous years on the defensive end and finished 17–16.

While very impressed with John Paul Jones Arena and the potential advantages of coaching in the ACC, he initially decided to once again remain loyal to WSU.

[2] He found in Charlottesville a fanbase that has really "bought in" on his defense-first mentality and tempo control, and John Paul Jones Arena is regarded as one of the toughest places to play for opposing teams of the ACC.

[46][47][48] Thousands of fans lined the streets to JPJ from Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport in 2019 to congratulate the Virginia team and Bennett on winning the program's first NCAA Championship.

[50] Sophomore Sylven Landesberg, a former McDonald's All-American recruited by Leitao, led the team in scoring before getting suspended for the final game of the season after failing to meet academic obligations.

[52] Despite every disadvantage, including one star player (Landesberg) leaving because of academic struggles and another (Mike Scott) going down with an early-season injury and taking a medical redshirt, the Cavaliers started the season with a bang by knocking off No.

Based on his early successes, Athlon Sports named Bennett one of the four best ACC coaches (with Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, and Leonard Hamilton) before the season.

Justin Anderson, Malcolm Brogdon, Anthony Gill, Joe Harris, Darion Atkins, Mike Tobey, and Akil Mitchell all started or played extensively for the young team.

"[68] UVA later defeated Iowa State in Niang's final collegiate game in the Sweet Sixteen, before Bennett's first loss (starting 3–0) to Jim Boeheim's Syracuse in the Elite Eight.

Bennett is this league's landlord.UVA was viewed as a rebuilding team after departures of London Perrantes, Marial Shayok, and Darius Thompson, and the first AP poll had Virginia unranked for the first time since 2013.

UVA earned the first overall seed in the NCAA tournament, but the next day lost ACC Sixth Man of the Year De'Andre Hunter to a broken wrist.

[85] After a decade of proving himself as one of the very best coaches in all of college basketball, Tony Bennett shook the monkey off of his back for good as he led Virginia to the greatest redemption story in the history of sports.UVA opened the season with consecutive wins over ranked Big Ten teams, No.

Diminutive (5'9") point guard Kihei Clark, an unheralded three-star recruit who had initially committed to the UC Davis Aggies of the Big West Conference, started both games as a true freshman.

"[97] Virginia did just that in a back-and-forth physical 2019 NCAA Tournament Championship Game to outlast fellow defensive stalwarts Texas Tech in overtime and win it by a score of 85–77.

[98] Thousands of fans lined the streets from Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport to John Paul Jones Arena the next day to welcome the team and Bennett back home.

[102] Bennett declined a raise when extending his contract before the season and UVA President James Ryan called him "one of the most selfless people [he's] ever met.

One player had a positive COVID test following the team's quarterfinals victory over Syracuse, forcing a forfeit against Georgia Tech, which then received an effective bye to the championship game and won it.

[114] Virginia's rival Louisville, which narrowly missed an NCAA bid, was put on standby in case UVA was unable to assemble a team with at least five eligible players against MAC champions Ohio.

[120] Regaining composure, Bennett's Cavaliers held Paolo Banchero to single-digit scoring for the first time of his career as the team emerged from Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 69–68 win over AP No.

7 Duke in Mike Krzyzewski's final home game against Virginia, delivered by Reece Beekman's last-second three-pointer; Trevor Keels remarked that UVA had "punched [them] in the mouth.

The team also lost ten games by double digits including blowout losses of 20 or more points to Wisconsin, at Memphis, at Notre Dame, at Virginia Tech, at Duke, and in the NCAA First Four to Colorado State.

[124] Dunn subsequently declared for and was selected in the 1st round of the 2024 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets, while Beekman signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors.

"[127] Bennett had, earlier in the year, already given Associate Head Coach Ron Sanchez "more of the reins" to implement a faster-paced offensive system in the upcoming season.

[128] Under head coach Tony Bennett, the Cavaliers have built a program that seems to feed on itself [...] They have forged a culture that perpetuates success, regardless of the individuals on the floor, like college basketball's version of the San Antonio Spurs.Only the fourth former NBA player to win the NCAA Championship, Bennett developed many of his players into NCAA All-Americans and NBA draft picks.

"[130] Bennett's methods of recruiting and development was compared to the San Antonio Spurs (because of that NBA franchise's commitment to unselfishness and team success under Coach Popovich).

Other Bennett players to play in professional basketball leagues around the globe include London Perrantes, Mike Tobey, Jack Salt, Akil Mitchell, Darion Atkins, Marcus Capers, Mustapha Farrakhan Jr., Sylven Landesberg, Laurynas Mikalauskas, Jerome Meyinsse, Austin Nichols, Taylor Rochestie, and Sammy Zeglinski.