Tony Bennett, longtime Virginia men's basketball coach, unexpectedly announces retirement

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WTVD) -- The national champion-winning head basketball coach of the Virginia Cavaliers abruptly announced his retirement weeks before the season.

Tony Bennett has led Virginia's men's basketball team since 2009. He has won 364 games while losing just 136.

The program said Thursday that Bennett will announce his retirement at a news conference Friday. No reasons were given for Bennett's abrupt departure.

His program has been one of the most consistently successful programs in the country during the past 15 years.

The Cavaliers have finished atop the regular season ACC standings six times in that span. The team has won the ACC title twice and lifted the NCAA championship trophy at the end of the 2018-2019 season. He was voted National Coach of the Year three times and ACC Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the country's premiere college basketball conferences. However, the conference has gone through a lot of upheaval in the last few years, with multiple Hall of Fame coaches retiring from top programs.

With Bennett gone, this will be the first season since 1981-1982 that no head coach in the conference has won a national title.

Jim Boheim retired in 2023 after 47 years leading the Syracuse Orange.

Mike Krzyzewski retired in 2022 after 42 seasons leading the Duke Blue Devils.

Roy Williams retired in 2001 after 33 years coaching at Kansas and North Carolina.

Those three coaches are the winningest in NCAA men's basketball history.