Is Virginia a Good Fit for Tony Bennett?

Last year Tony Bennett turned down jobs at LSU, Indiana and Marquette to stay at Washington State. At the time I thought that he was going to stay in Pullman long term, continue to try and keep that program staying afloat. I believe that TB realized finally how hard it was going to be to consistently win in the Palouse. It is much easier to leave after a 17-16 record than a 26-9 record.

The Bennetts got all that they could out of Washington State Basketball. The program was in the ground when Dick took it over, after he "retired" from Wisconsin, just so Brad Soderberg could have that job for a year before they got smart and hired Bo Ryan. Tony took the program to back-to-back 25 win seasons and a Sweet 16 appearance. That is probably all you can get out of Washington State, it is so incredibly tough to recruit up there. You have to win with a system and Tony's Badger Ball certainly worked there. The future of Cougar basketball is in doubt, unless the can hire someone to play the same type of ball.

But why Virginia and not Indiana, Marquette or LSU? Timing has a major factor. Like I said earlier, Bennett probably finally saw that the Sweet 16 every once and ahwile might be his peak if he stayed. Virginia is an ACC job, with a brand new arena and lots of money. I worry for Tony Bennett taking this job though, Virginia has already killed the coaching career of one former coaching star, Dave Leitao.

Leitao was an up and coming star for what he did with the DePaul program. The Jim Calhoun-disciple was the reason that the Blue Deamons are in the Big East. Without his success there, DePaul might be still in Conference USA, but that could have been a good thing for them, since they didn't win a regular season conference game this year.

But on to Bennett and Virginia. The pieces are there to win, they have a gorgeous arena that is only a few years old and they are just a few years removed from winning an ACC title and coming up a Sean Singeltary missed shot from being in the Sweet 16. Bennett will be in for an awakening...this isn't the Pac 10. But he has proved that he can win in a tough situation.

The Pac 10 is looked upon poorly in ACC country. The student paper at Virginia ran a story about the hiring and most of the students had no clue who Bennett was and the one that did said something like this.

"I looked him up, saw that he was a PAC-10 coach, which was an interesting choice," said Greg Schaffer, a second year. "Un-proven I guess."

Unproven? Are you kidding? Come on Greg...this man won 68 games in three years at a place that is a horrible basketball school. Your Cavaliers won 20 less games in those last three years. Unproven in the ACC...sure.

Tony Bennett is going to get Virginia to play hard, play defense and his Princeton style offense will be unique in the ACC. Bennett has everyone back, his only senior losses were Mamadi Diane and Tunji Soroye who combined for a whopping 7.3 PPG last year. Sylven Landesberg and Mike Scott return, as does super recruit Jeff Jones...who Bennett will have to get more out of than Leiato did this year.

Right now I think this is a lateral move for Bennett, but certainly there is much more potential for bigger things in Virginia. I'm assuming that he got a nice raise...because it is going to be a long process to get the Cavs to be winners in the ACC. The facilities are worlds better at Virginia, Wazzu's are so old and outdated and need major upgrades. Bennett is a fellow Wisconsinite, so I wish him luck and I'm glad I no longer have to root against him.

For Washington State...this hire is going to be huge. Unless they can attract a system coach, Cougar basketball could collapse. My favorite for their job is Portland St. head coach Ken Bone. Bone is already interviewing in Pullman and likely will be the Cougs man. If not, look for St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett, former Utah coach Ray Giacoletti and a darkhorse of UA interim coach Russ Pennell.

Tomorrow the Arizona State Women will try to slay Goliath when they take on the undefeated UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight. Also, #2 ASU Baseball takes on #1 Cal St. Fullerton in Tempe and John Calapari will become the highest paid coach in the NCAA. Stay tuned...