One prominent name we haven’t included on our hot board to this point for the upcoming IU basketball coaching vacancy is former Virginia head coach Tony Bennett.
The 55-year-old Bennett surprised many when he announced he was stepping away from Virginia just a couple weeks before the start of the 2024-25 season.
Bennett said he left Virginia in large part because of all of the recent changes in the college game, namely the Wild West nature of NIL and the transfer portal.
“The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot. It’s not. And there needs to be change and it’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am,” Bennett said in October.
Could Bennett have had a complete reversal in just four months and be open to coaching at Indiana?
If he is, legendary ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale says he should be IU’s primary target.
“If Tony Bennett decides to want to coach again Indiana should do whatever it takes to bring him to Bloomington,” Vitale wrote this week on X. “Absolutely the best available as he is a sure future Hall of Famer.”
There is no doubt Bennett has proven to be a very good coach.
After an elite stretch from 2014-19 that saw Bennett compile five seasons of at least 29 wins in six years, and a national title, the appeal is obvious. Bennett went 178-36 (.832) during that six-year span. Overall Bennett won 433 games in 18 seasons. He posted a 71.9% wining percentage and reached 12 NCAA Tournaments.
But should Vitale’s post be taken seriously? It should be noted he made a similar statement about Brad Stevens in 2021. Connecting those dots, it would be reasonable to conclude Vitale is sharing his thoughts on who might be the best choice, without regard to whether or not they are a realistic candidate.
So why is Tony Bennett and Indiana still an unlikely marriage?
Bennett has had plenty of opportunities to take the IU job.
He was the first call IU AD Rick Greenspan made in 2008 when Kelvin Sampson was fired according to multiple reports. He publicly turned down IU’s overtures at the time. He was a prominent name at least mentioned in the 2017 and 2021 Indiana searches as well.
Bennett’s older sister Kathi was once the IU women’s basketball coach until she resigned in 2005. There have been suggestions there was a feeling within the Bennett family she was mistreated by IU, although it isn’t clear whether any resentment remains after the passage of so much time and virtually all of the individuals involved having moved on.
And although his resume speaks for itself, there would be at least a faction who would be turned off by Bennett’s methodical style of play.
But the biggest reason we haven’t placed Bennett on the hot board is his own rationale for leaving Virginia.
Yes, with legal settlements paving the way for more structure and clarity in the NIL landscape beginning next season, there have been significant changes even in the months since Bennett left Virginia. Players will receive revenue sharing from the schools, and NIL deals will have to be evaluated by an independent clearinghouse to ensure they are legitimate.
You can never say never, but it would come as a major surprise if that were enough to lure Bennett back to coaching so soon after his sudden departure.
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