Virginia’s Tony Bennett picks up the AP coach of the year hardware. pic.twitter.com/jZOa4k6dsi
— Brian Hamilton (@_Brian_Hamilton) March 29, 2018
The Associated Press has announced Virginia head coach Tony Bennett as its 2017/2018 Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year.
Coach Bennett led a Virginia squad that was unranked in the preseason and picked by writers to finish sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference to a school record 31 wins, an AP No. 1 ranking for the first time since 1982, and ACC regular season and postseason tournament championships this past season. The Hoos earned the No. 1 overall ranking in the NCAA Tournament but became the first No. 1 seed in the tournament’s history to lose to a 16 seed.
“They experienced things a lot of guys don’t,” Bennett said in this AP article written by Aaron Beard. “That kind of success? Oh my gosh. And then that kind of loss? … But again, their body of work deserves to be celebrated.”
In nine seasons with Bennett as Cavalier head coach, Virginia has won 71.8% of its games (219-86), captured three outright conference regular season titles, and won two conference postseason tournaments titles. UVA has made the NCAA Tournament in six of Bennett’s nine seasons, reaching the Elite 8 in 2016 and the Sweet 16 in 2014.
