Tony Bennett, Virginia Men's Basketball Coach

Sports Spectrum Podcast

Episode 180

Tony Bennett has been the men's basketball coach at the University of Virginia since 2009. He's led the Cavaliers to 3 ACC regular season titles, and 2 ACC conference titles. In 2018, Virginia was the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after finishing with a 31-3 record. For his accomplishments, Bennett was named the NABC Coach of the Year, the Naismith Coach of the Year and the AP National Coach of the Year.

After playing his college basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay under his father Dick Bennett, Tony was selected in the second round of the 1992 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He would go on to a 4-year NBA stint from 1992-95 before a foot injury would end his career.

Prior to Virginia, Bennett was the head coach at Washington State, where he brought that program to the national spotlight by winning 26 game in back-to-back seasons in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Coach Bennett about becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, how he was able to face that adversity with humility and grace, where his faith journey in Christ began, why beginning his day in the Lord is a discipline that he instilled into his life and how he lives his faith out everyday as a prominent coach, and the Bible verse that he is clinging to right now.

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