Virginia coach Tony Bennett signed a contract extension that keeps him with the program through the 2029-30 season, the school announced Thursday.
If Bennett is still coaching on April 30th, 2026, another year is automatically added to the contract, tying him to the Cavaliers through the 2030-31 season.
Bennett — who turned 55 earlier this June — is the winningest coach in program history and led Virginia to its only national champion in 2019. With the recent retirements of Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim, Bennett is the only active title-winning coach left in the ACC.
“Tony Bennett is foundational to our efforts to compete for championships in this new model of college athletics,” Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said in a statement. “He embodies everything important to the University of Virginia and Virginia athletics. It’s an honor to work with him and we’re thrilled about the future of men’s basketball under his leadership.”
In his 15 seasons in Charlottesville, Bennett has led Virginia to two ACC championships (2014 and 2018) and at least a share of six ACC regular-season titles (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023). He has been named ACC Coach of the Year four times, and has won two of his three National Coach of the Year honors in his current role.
The program hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since its national championship victory in 2019, however. Virginia went 23-11 last season, falling 67-42 to Colorado State in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
“I love UVA and it has always been a special place for me and my family,” Bennett said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Carla Williams and Jim Ryan and to represent the University of Virginia. My staff and I look forward to adapting to the new landscape of college athletics. We will continue to build one of the best basketball programs on and off the court without compromising the values of our university.”
Why this extension matters
While Bennett took Virginia to the pinnacle of the sport in 2019 — famously, only one year after becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament — the Cavaliers haven’t tasted success in March. The team earned a No. 4 seed in both 2021 and 2023 before losing to No. 13 Ohio and No. 13 Furman, respectively, in the first round.
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That postseason victory drought, coupled with constant changes to the sport’s landscape, caused questions about Bennett’s future. His traditional methods — with a focus on multiyear development, and often even redshirt years — go against the grain of modern-era player movement, and even Virginia has had retention issues of late. Plus, personally, Bennett isn’t someone who wants to be the face of the sport or be the frontman spurring change; if he couldn’t build the relationships he values over time, then it was fair to question how long he would continue to coach — and the chatter increased this spring after the loss in the First Four.
Instead, the Cavaliers signed arguably the best transfer portal class in school history, including former five-star Duke recruit TJ Power, former San Diego State starter Elijah Saunders, former Florida State guard Jalen Warley and former Kansas State point guard Dai Dai Ames. Those four, combined with returning wing Isaac McKneely, will form the foundation of what Bennett hopes is a much-improved offensive team. While the Cavaliers have always been excellent defensively under the 55-year-old, the offense has been much less consistent; last season, Virginia finished a dismal 200th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency.
Signing Bennett to this extension was a no-brainer on Virginia’s part — he’s the best coach in school history and is still putting players (albeit fewer of them) into the NBA — but it signifies that Bennett isn’t ready to walk away just yet. Where some of his peers have folded in the face of the sport’s evolving landscape, this move signifies that Bennett is willing to adapt and try to get Virginia back to the peak of college basketball.
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(Photo: Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images)
Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. He previously worked at The Charlotte Observer as a Carolina Panthers beat reporter, and his writing has also appeared in Sports Illustrated, The Boston Globe and The Baltimore Sun. He's a native of Raleigh, N.C.
