Tag: UVA

Who is Ron Sanchez? Meet UVA’s interim head coach and Tony Bennett’s potential replacement

Ron Sanchez is UVA’s interim head coach, but there’s a strong chance he could be more.

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.

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?

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

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.

4 replacements for Tony Bennett after the Virginia head coach unexpectedly retired

After the shocking retirement, here are some possible replacements for Tony Bennett.

Virginia men’s basketball head coach Tony Bennett is expected to retire.

This is unexpected news for the program, especially occurring so close to the start of the upcoming season. There is still a lot to learn about this decision, and fans will likely get more details at Bennett’s press conference on Friday morning.

But no matter the reason, Virginia still needs a head coach on the sidelines for the 2024-25 campaign. One would assume that the hire would come from their internal staff based on familiarity with the roster and system, so here are a few names they will likely consider.

One of these names will likely become the interim head coach. Then after the season, depending on how it goes, perhaps they get promoted to have the gig on a full-time level.

Ron Sanchez

Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

Current:

Associate head coach, Virginia (2023 – Present)

Past: 

Head coach, Charlotte (2018 – 2023)

Assistant coach, Virginia (2009 – 2018)

Assistant coach, Washington State (2003 – 2009)

Assistant coach, Indiana (2001 – 2003)

Assistant coach, SUNY Delhi (1999 – 2001)

Assistant coach, SUNY Oneonta (1996 – 1999)

Jason Williford

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Current:

Associate head coach, Virginia

Past: 

Assistant head coach, Virginia

Assistant coach, American University

Assistant coach, Boston University

Assistant coach, John Marshall High School

Professional basketball player

UVA collegiate basketball player and captain

Brad Soderberg

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Current: 

Scouting, Virginia (2021 – Present)

Past: 

Assistant coach, Virginia (2015 – 2021)

Head coach, Lindenwood (2009 – 2015)

Head coach, Saint Louis (2002 – 2007)

Assistant coach, Saint Louis (2001 – 2002)

Interim coach, Wisconsin (2000 – 2001)

Assistant coach, Wisconsin (1995 – 2000)

Head coach, South Dakota State (1993 – 1995)

Head coach, Loras (1988 – 1993)

Assistant coach, Loras (1987 – 1988)

Assistant coach, Fort Hays State (1986 – 1987)

Graduate assistant, Colorado State (1985 – 1986)

Assistant coach, Wisconsin–Stevens Point (1984-1985)

Ritchie McKay

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Current: 

Head coach, Liberty (2015 – Present)

Past: 

Associate head coach, Virginia (2009 – 2015)

Head coach, Liberty (2007 – 2009)

Head coach, New Mexico (2002 – 2007)

Head coach, Oregon State (2000 – 2002)

Head coach, Colorado State (1998 – 2000)

Head coach, Portland State (1996 – 1998)

Assistant coach, Washington (1993 – 1995)

Assistant coach, Bradley (1991 – 1993)

Assistant coach, Seattle Pacific (1990 – 1991)

Assistant coach, Queens (1989 – 1990)

Assistant coach, Washington (1988 – 1989)

Player, Seattle Pacific (1983 – 1987)

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NC State’s Final Four run continues recent stretch of ACC dominance in NCAA Tournament

The Atlantic Coast Conference has found success in the Final Four with the latest run from NC State.

It’s going to be weird watching the Final Four with no UNC in it, but we’ll be fine.

Thursday’s loss to Alabama was certainly heartbreaking, but there’s no denying that what North Carolina did was special. The Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament entirely last year, came back with a majority of the same players and won their first, outright ACC Regular Season Title since 2016.

Right now, college basketball’s attention (UNC fans, too) has turned to rival NC State.

The Wolfpack wouldn’t be playing in the Final Four if it weren’t for Michael O’Connell’s game-tying, buzzer-beating shot in the ACC Tournament Semifinal against UVA. Cavaliers guard Isaac McKneely bricked the front end of a one-and-one, NC State pushed it up court, then O’Connell drained an insane attempt.

The Wolfpack later won that game in overtime, downed North Carolina in the ACC Championship and now sport a 9-game winning streak. They’ll be playing the Zach Edey-led Purdue Boilermakers in the Final Four on Saturday, April 6 at 6:09 p.m. ET

With NC State’s win over Duke, it became the fifth different ACC program to reach a Final Four in the past five NCAA Men’s Tournaments.

Please excuse sports blogger Danny Neckel’s typo in the post. He even has some fun with it in the comment thread.

Miami represented the ACC last year, making its first Final Four appearance in school history. UNC and Duke, two of the conference’s premier programs, did the same in 2022. No ACC program made the Final Four in 2021, COVID cancelled the 2020 Big Dance, while UVA won it all in 2019.

I rarely root for NC State, but how can you not fall in love with them when they’re led by DJ Burns, who has unofficially become America’s Sweetheart?

The Wolfpack’s bruising, Shaq-esque center already has two 20-point games in the NCAA Tournament, including a 29-point explosion on Easter against Duke. When Burns isn’t terrorizing opponents on the court, he’s smiling and acting as NC State’s fun-loving, big-hearted hero.

Will the Wolfpack be able to continue their Cinderella run against Purdue?

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

 

UNC ends 12-year drought in Charlottesville with win over UVA

The UNC men’s basketball program ended their 12-year drought of not winning in Charlottesville, beating UVA 54-44 Saturday.

The UNC men’s basketball program took on the Virginia Cavaliers Saturday, looking for their first win in John Paul Jones Arena since 2012.

UNC was not only playing to break their losing streak in Charlottesville, they also had extra motivation to create a gap in the ACC standings with Wake Forest upsetting Duke.

And they left Charlottesville ending a 12-year drought with a 54-44 win on Saturday afternoon, giving them sole possession of first place in the ACC.

North Carolina is known for their fast-paced offense that often jump-start them into big leads, but the first half painted a different picture. Instead of scoring, it was UNC’s juggernaut defense, holding UVA to 16.7%(5/30) from the field.

Tar Heels had some offensive issues, with their leading scorer [autotag]RJ Davis[/autotag] failing to score a point the first period. However, the Tar Heels did get a spark by Cormac Ryan who was responsible for 15 of 26 UNC first-half points.

The second half saw UNC ten ten-point lead evaporate with the Cavaliers finding their offense. Despite making the game interesting a few times, the Tar Heels held control for the majority of the half, ballooning their lead back into double digits a few times.

Closing out has been an issue for UNC this season, and appeared to be on the horizon again with UVA flirting with a comeback in the final moments. However, the Tar Heels was able to stand on business beating the Cavilers 54-44 to end their 12-year drought of not winning in Charlottesville.

Player of the Game

Player of the game belongs to [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag], who stepped up in a big way for UNC. Davis struggled from the floor, scoring 12 points, causing another Tar Heel to carry the scoring load.

That Tar Heel was no other than Ryan, who finished with 18 points, becoming a marksman from deep with six threes. This game marked Ryan’s third straight time scoring 15 points or more.

What’s Next

Next up for the Tar Heels is a home game against the Miami Hurricanes with only a day break in between. Thankfully for the Tar Heels, this game falls on Monday, and not bad luck on Tuesday, where a string of bad losses has happened.

UNC played the Hurricanes earlier this month, escaping the Hurricanes’s trap with a 75-72 road win. A regular season sweep is in play for the Tar Heels, but they will be hoping to win this one more convincing.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC one of seven ACC hoops teams in NET Top 60

Seven ACC hoops teams are in the Top 60 of the latest NET rankings. Can you guess where the Tar Heels sit?

Saturday is going to be a day full of highly-anticipated, marquee college basketball matchups that carry massive implications.

Several games to watch include a ranked Big 12 battle between Houston and Baylor, a significantly-improved Wake squad hosting eight-ranked Duke in a battle that could determine the ACC’s first-place team, Alabama and Kentucky battling between ranked SEC teams and – the one we hope you’re watching the closest – 10th-ranked North Carolina traveling to UVA, where it hasn’t won in over a decade.

We’ll talk more about the Tar Heels in a second, but let’s not discount the fact that – despite UNC and Duke being the only two ranked ACC teams, seven conference programs are Top-60 in the latest NET rankings.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3rK46SNjez/

That’s right – North Carolina leads the way at 10th, despite its recent hot-and-cold stretch. Duke is rightfully close to the Tar Heels at 12th, Clemson stands at 26th, Wake Forest jumped 10 spots to 27th, UVA sits at 48th, Virginia Tech rose 10 spots to 52nd after its huge win over UVA, while Pitt rounded out the ACC’s share of Top-60 teams at 58th.

There’s still two weeks left in the regular season and the ACC Tournament, which could drastically change these team’s NCAA Tournament outlook, but all seven being in the Top-60 of NET means there’s likely to be several ACC teams in the Big Dance.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

No. 14 Texas A&M falls to Virginia 59-47 in ACC/SEC Challange

A season high in turnovers was too much to overcome as the Aggies drop to 6-2 after loss to Virginia

No. 14 Texas A&M (6-2) battled but fell short of Virginia (6-1) on Wednesday night. A rested Virginia team was too much to handle as a shorthanded Aggie hit the floor with only a few days’ rest following a three-day tournament.

The Aggies started off slow for the second game in a row and had to rely heavily on defense early to stay in the game, falling behind 18-11 with about 10 minutes left in the first half. Luckily for Texas A&M, the Aggies got Henry Coleman back in this game and hit some big shots to keep the game from getting out of hand.

Like clockwork, the Buzz Williams defense turned it up and grabbed every rebound insight halfway through, resulting in a 10-0 run for a 23-20 lead. The lead would only last a few minutes as UVA would hit a big three off a late turnover to take a 27-26 lead.

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Similar to the 1st half, the Aggies couldn’t buy a bucket and fell down by 11 points early in the second half. There was a point that Texas A&M had more turnovers than points behind UVA’s stifling defense.

With the Aggies shooting residing in the ice box, the Cavaliers maintained a double-digit lead to around the two-minute mark of the game. Whenever Texas A&M looked like they might make a run, Virginia would squash it immediately and never really put the Aggies back into the game. Texas A&M shot a sluggish 30.4% with 16 turnovers, not winning numbers, which ended in a 59-47 road loss.

Below are the Aggie critical contributors from the game:

Wade Taylor IV: 9 points / 4 assists / 4 rebounds / 5 turnovers

Henry Coleman: 16 points / 14 rebounds

Texas A&M will be back in action at 8:00 p.m. C.T. on Wednesday (Dec. 6) when they host DePaul at Reed Arena.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

No. 14 Texas A&M will be back on the road to face Virginia in SEC/ACC Challenge

The Aggie Basketball team will travel to Virginia to take on UVA in the inaugural SEC/ACC challenge

No. 14 Texas A&M will face ACC foe UVA at the John Paul Jones Arena in Virginia on Wednesday night.

The Aggies have battled through some adversity after losing both Tyrece Radford and Henry Coleman III for most of their last two games. This has been a testament to how deep the team is and how well Coach Buzz Williams has the entire team ready to play with an impressive 6-1 start.

Virginia is the reigning 2023 ACC regular season title winner and is currently on a three-game winning streak heading into the game. This will be their first game against a ranked opponent this season and have a 5-1 record.

This will only be the second time these teams have met on the hardwood, with the first game being a 60-59 Aggie victory in 1962 in Jonesboro, AR.

Palyers to watch:

Wade Taylor IV – 20.0 PTS / 4.4 AST / 2.4 STL

Andersson Garica – 3.6 PTS / 7.6 TOT

How to watch:

TV: ESPN 2

Play-by-play: Dave Pasch

Color Commentary: Corey Alexander

How to Listen:

TAMU Sports Network: WTAW 1620AM, WTAW 94.5FM (local)

Web: 12thman.com

App: 12th Man Mobile App

Play-by-Play: Andrew Monaco / Dr. John Thornton

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

Social Media reacts to UNC’s stunning loss to Virginia

Social media reacts to North Carolina’s shocking Saturday night loss to Virginia.

The North Carolina Tar Heels hosted the Virginia Cavaliers Saturday night, and what was supposed to be a breeze of a game was anything but.

Tar Heels had a plentiful of games with TRAP written all over them, but no one expected the Virginia Cavaliers to be the one that stuck to UNC’s heels. However, Virginia gave Carolina fits from start to finish, and it had social media in an uproar.

The first half brought mixed emotions, with UVA getting off to a hot start with the Tar Heels barely being able to keep pace. Nevertheless, they did go into the half up 17-14. The end of the third is where the wheels began to fall off with dropped passes, bad punts, and horrid penalties, causing a disastrous half for UNC.

UVA went on a 17-3 run to take the lead 31-27, with the clock, offense, and defense struggling. When the win started to look bleak, more and more panic started to sit in while the time dwindled. Despite another chance at leaving victorious, Maye throws a game-ending and potentially playoff-chance-ending interception.

UNC losses 31-27…

Social media had quite the reaction to UNC’s upsetting loss to Virginia. Let us see how they reacted.

UNC football defensive keys to the game vs Virginia

Taking a look at the defensive keys to the game for the UNC football program against Virginia Cavaliers.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are 6-0 for the first time since 1983, and despite the odds being heavily in their favor to go 7-0, there are a few defensive keys they will need to do to keep their record intact.

They will host the dreadful 1-5 Virginia Cavaliers, ending their three-game home stint before their two-game road trip. Despite the lackluster record, they managed to be in three of the six games, losing to James Madison 36-35, NC State 24-21, and Boston College 27-24.

That said, this game screams TRAP!

UNC walks into this game favored by 23.5 points, and now that they are in the top 10 for the Associated Press Poll, covering enormous odds against bad teams record-wise is the only way to continue to gain traction in the rankings. To meet those odds, it will not be on the offense more so the defense to keep the Cavaliers offensive attack under wraps.

Let us look at the defensive keys for UNC to wake up Sunday morning, 7-0.

UVA shooting survivor Mike Hollins gets first carry of spring football game

The UVA fifth-year player returned to the field after a remarkable recovery.

In November 2022, the University of Virginia community was stunned by a mass shooting that killed three students and injured two more. Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler — all members of the football team — tragically lost their lives after a fellow student opened fire on a bus as they returned from a field trip.

One of the injured victims, Mike Hollins, is also a member of the football team. He survived a bullet to the stomach, and worked hard to recover and rejoin his teammates on the gridiron.

Fans were delighted to see not only was Hollins dressed on the sidelines of Virginia’s spring game Saturday, but he got the first touch of the game.

Hollins opened the scrimmage with a 7-yard rush up the middle, leading to a standing ovation from those in attendance.

Prior to the game, Virginia held a moment of silence for their lost teammates. Several teammates paid their respects in the end zone painted with the “UVA STRONG” mantra the Charlottesville community adopted in the wake of the shooting.

Although Hollins didn’t score the first points of the game, it feels fitting that the first touchdown was in the end zone dedicated to the lives of those lost.

In all, Virginia’s spring game was one that brought fans and players some joy following months of immense pain.