American basketball coach and player (born 1969)
Anthony Guy Bennett (born June 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player and college basketball coach. From 2009 to 2024, he was the head coach of the University of Virginia men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2019. Bennett is a three-time recipient of the Henry Iba Award, two-time Naismith College Coach of the Year, and two-time AP Coach of the Year. He is one of three coaches in history (with Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski) to lead his program to 10 or more consecutive winning ACC records—retiring with a streak of 13—and is one of three coaches (also with Smith and Krzyzewski) to be named ACC Coach of the Year four or more times. He coached 500 games at Virginia, winning 364 (72.8%) of them, edging out Pop Lannigan (72.7%) to hold Virginia's highest winning percentage in school history; he also holds that record at Washington State (winning 67.6%). He is the all-time wins leader at Virginia and holds or shares the single-season wins record at both UVA and WSU. He led the Virginia program to two of its three ACC Tournament championships and one of its three Final Four appearances.
As a 5'11" point guard, Bennett ranks first in NCAA history for career three-point field goal accuracy at 49.7%, shooting above 50% from range in both his junior and senior seasons. He started for the United States national team at the 1991 Pan American Games, was awarded the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation's top player under six feet tall, and was named Academic All-American of the Year. Bennett starred for the Green Bay Phoenix under his father, Dick Bennett, who later took Wisconsin to the 2000 Final Four using an earlier version of the packline defense Bennett perfected at Virginia.
Bennett played three years in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets and after an injury, several more professionally in Australia and New Zealand where he started coaching. He since coached several players at the college level who've gone on to be known for shooting prowess in the NBA, such as Malcolm Brogdon (eighth 50–40–90 shooter in NBA history), Joe Harris (led NBA in three-point accuracy in 2018–19 and in 2020–21) and Klay Thompson (one-half of the Splash Brothers). Both Harris and Thompson have won the Three-Point Contest at the NBA All-Star Game. His player Trey Murphy III recorded the only "college" 50–40–90 season from any ACC team.
Originally inheriting the worst Virginia team by record since 1967, his Cavalier squads had four 30-win seasons, won the with a 35–3 team , won ACC tournaments in 2014 and in 2018, and won or shared 6 ACC regular season titles. Known for coaching defensive intensity, Bennett was ranked the top defensive coach in college basketball by a CBS Sports poll of head coaches in 2015 and by "ESPN Insider" in 2018. The defensive style of basketball he taught at UVA was often compared to a boa constrictor choking out opponents, and his teams were also known for their unselfish play and tempo control.
Biography and playing career.
College.
Bennett, a point guard, played for his father Dick Bennett at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB) following his high school career at Stevens Point Area Senior High and Preble High School. The Bennetts led the Phoenix to an NCAA tournament berth and two appearances in the NIT. During his time there, the Green Bay Phoenix had a record of 87–34 (.719) en route to Bennett being twice named as the conference's Player of the Year. He was awarded the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award given to the nation's most outstanding senior under six feet tall and was named the 1992 GTE Academic All-American of the year. He also started for a bronze medal-winning 1991 Pan-American Games team led by Gene Keady. He finished his collegiate career as the Mid-Continent Conference's all-time leader in points (2,285) and assists (601), and still ranks as the entire NCAA's all-time leader in 3-point field goal accuracy. He made 80 of 150 (53.3%) three-point field goal attempts in his junior season and repeated the feat of hitting over half of his three-point attempts during his senior season, making 95 of 186 (51.1%). He was also incredibly accurate on two-point field goal attempts for a guard, connecting on 502 of 917 (54.7%) two-point attempts for his college career.
Professional.
Bennett went on to be selected in the 1992 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He spent three seasons (1992–1995) with steadily increasing playing time for the Hornets as the backup point guard to Muggsy Bogues (the Hornets' all-time leader in assists and steals) before a foot injury ended Bennett's NBA career. With an eye toward returning to the NBA, Bennett left for Australia in 1996 to play for the Sydney Kings of Australia's National Basketball League while rehabbing his ankle but the contract fell through within ten days of arriving and Bennett soon moved to New Zealand to briefly play for a team called the "Burger King Kings" in Auckland. Bennett has joked that the team was paid in Whoppers. He then joined the North Harbour Vikings, became its star player, and in his second year there became a dual-role player and head coach. He completed his playing career as a two-time New Zealand NBL All-Star Five honoree and a two-time Keith Carr Trophy winner for being the league's Most Outstanding Guard in both his years there.
Coaching career.
Bennett wanted to understand everything about the game of basketball to the point that, even as an NBA player, teammates felt he would rather learn and study the game than participate in it. Bennett's teams, especially at Virginia, are known for their motion offense and stifling defense which features his version of the "pack line" defensive strategy famously devised by his father. The pack line is designed to clog up potential driving lanes to the paint by forcing ball handlers to the middle of the floor where more "help" is concentrated. It forces opposing teams to pass and shoot well, while limiting dribble penetration and post play.
Coaching beginnings.
In 1998, Bennett continued as head coach of the North Harbour Kings (who had changed their name from Vikings) but retired early as a player. His time there taught him he was able to coach without the anxiety he had seen his father experience coaching back in Wisconsin, and convinced him that he could undertake the stressful life of a coach while maintaining his integrity and peace of mind. After the 1999 season, he returned to the U.S. to become his father's team manager so that they could spend time together. Tony Bennett was then able to get a firsthand experience of Wisconsin's run to the 2000 Final Four as a part of the staff under Dick Bennett.
After his father retired, Bo Ryan retained Bennett on his staff and there he remained until 2003, when Dick Bennett came out of retirement to coach Washington State. After one season as assistant coach, Bennett was designated as his father's successor and promoted to associate head coach.
Washington State.
Tony Bennett accepted the position of head coach at Washington State when his father retired in 2006. Washington State's success immediately skyrocketed under the younger Bennett, and his 26 wins in both the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons tied a 66-year-old school record set by the team that reached the Championship Game of the 1941 NCAA tournament.
2006–07: School record 26 wins.
Bennett led the 2006–07 Cougars basketball team to a 26–8 (13–5 Pac-10, second place) record and the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Cougars earned a No. 3 seed and defeated Oral Roberts in the opening round before falling to Vanderbilt in double overtime in the second round. The NCAA tournament appearance was the first for the Cougars since 1994, breaking a 13-year March Madness drought for the Cougars.
After the 2006–07 season, Bennett was given the prestigious Henry Iba Award by vote of the United States Basketball Writers Association, and was named the AP college basketball Coach of the Year and the Naismith College Coach of the Year. He was also named the Rivals.com Coach of the Year.
2007–08: 26 wins and Indiana offer.
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 They should put up a statue of him at Washington State. To win like he did there in that program, told me right away the kid is a winner.–Dick Vitale, ESPN, 3/2016
During the 2007–08 season, Bennett finished with a 26–9 record (11–7 in the Pac-10). He also went on to lead the Cougars to the Sweet Sixteen after beating Winthrop and Notre Dame in the first and second rounds. After losing to North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, Bennett's team had again reached the school record for wins, with 26.
After the season, Bennett reportedly turned down an offer to become head coach at Indiana, a job which eventually fell to Marquette coach Tom Crean. He also discussed the LSU (his wife's alma mater) vacancy at that year's Final Four, a job that eventually went to Stanford coach Trent Johnson. Bennett decided to remain loyal to WSU.
2008–09: Rebuilding and budget constraints.
Bennett went back to work at Washington State with a need to replace NBA draft pick Kyle Weaver. He brought in Klay Thompson, a talented four-star recruit out of California (and son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson). Thompson rapidly improved on the offensive side of the court as a freshman, but the team struggled more than in the two previous years on the defensive end and finished 17–16.
Canceled recruiting flights and Final Four trip for staff.
Washington State dropped charter flights for Bennett and his staff for use in recruiting to the remotely located school and cancelled a trip for his staff to the 2009 Final Four due to ongoing budgetary constraints in the WSU athletics department. As this was happening, Bennett was contacted about the open Virginia job and traveled to Charlottesville to interview. While very impressed with John Paul Jones Arena and the potential advantages of coaching in the ACC, he initially decided to once again remain loyal to WSU. However, when Bennett went to call Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage and decline the offer, Bennett's wife Laurel stepped in and said "put the phone down," as she could sense a great uncertainty in his voice when he said he would pass up UVA.
Bennett then accepted the Virginia offer on March 29 exactly one year, to the day, after turning down the Indiana job.
Virginia.
Bennett was named head coach at Virginia on March 31, 2009. Ritchie McKay, head coach of the Liberty Flames, stepped down to become Bennett's associate head coach before returning to the Flames in 2015. 
During the rebuilding process, Bennett's teams increased their win total in every successive season. After inheriting a 10–18 squad that had the worst record in program history since the 1966–67 season, Bennett's Virginia won 15, 16, 22, 23, 30, and 30 games in his first six seasons. Under his guidance, Virginia had four of the five teams with records of 16–2 or better in the 18-game era (2012–2019) of ACC play, and only Virginia had a team finish 17–1 (none went undefeated).
Bennett worked from Day 1 to build "a program that lasts" at Virginia. He found in Charlottesville a fanbase that has really "bought in" on his defense-first mentality and tempo control, and John Paul Jones Arena is regarded as one of the toughest places to play for opposing teams of the ACC. Thousands of fans lined the streets to JPJ from Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport in 2019 to congratulate the Virginia team and Bennett on winning the program's first NCAA Championship.
2009–10: Five-win improvement.
In their first season under Bennett his new team finished the season 15–16 (5–11 in the ACC), an improvement of 5 wins (+50%) versus the prior year under Bennett's predecessor (former and current DePaul coach Dave Leitao). Sophomore Sylven Landesberg, a former McDonald's All-American recruited by Leitao, led the team in scoring before getting suspended for the final game of the season after failing to meet academic obligations. It was soon announced that Landesberg and the program mutually parted ways, and he turned pro but went undrafted.
2010–11: Personnel losses but continued rise.
Despite every disadvantage, including one star player (Landesberg) leaving because of academic struggles and another (Mike Scott) going down with an early-season injury and taking a