Tony Bennett’s sudden retirement put the University of Virginia in an extremely awkward position.
The men’s college basketball season begins in just a few weeks. By now, Bennett has run a camp with his players and begun formulating plans for the upcoming season.
Now, with Bennett’s retirement, all of that is up in the air.
TONY BENNETT STUNS CBB: The college basketball world was totally caught off guard by his retirement.
Now that his retirement is official, it’s time to discuss his potential replacements. One of them is serving as the interim head coach for the team in Bennett’s stead, the now-former UVA coach told the media on Friday.
Tony Bennett says that associate head coach Ron Sanchez will be Virginia's interim coach.
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) October 18, 2024
Many fans have probably never heard of Sanchez before this moment. That’s where we come in. Here’s everything you need to know about UVA’s new interim head coach and Bennett’s heir apparent.
Who is Ron Sanchez?
Sanchez has been Tony Bennett’s right hand throughout the majority his coaching career.
In total, Sanchez spent 12 years at Bennett’s side as an assistant on his coaching staff. He spent three years with Bennett at Washington State and then spent nine more years with Bennett at UVA.
He was promoted to associated head coach at UVA in 2015 before leaving three seasons later for greener pastures.
Has Sanchez been a head coach before?
Before returning to UVA in 2023, Sanchez spent five years coaching at Charlotte.
He amassed a 72-78 record with the 49ers, which doesn’t sound like a great tenure on the surface. However, he did see some historic success with the program.
He led Charlotte to its first-ever postseason tournament title in 2023 at the CBI championship before returning to Bennett’s side at UVA. Charlotte seemed to be a trail run for what could be next at UVA.
Is Sanchez going to be the official head coach at UVA?
It’s impossible to know the answer to that now. But, as far as his resume goes, there’s probably not a better option out there.
Again, Sanchez was Bennett’s right hand. He knows his system and is likely the person in the best position to keep things stable for this season at the very least. He spent years on Bennett’s staff before returning and also got a bit of head coaching experience in a situation where he saw relative success.
There are certainly other coaching candidates out there UVA could take a look at. But if they’re looking to stick with the Bennett coaching tree, Sanchez is probably the best choice moving forward.