Three best Virginia basketball coaching candidates after shocking Tony Bennett retirement

10/24/2024 11:59 AM

Former Virginia basketball head coach Tony Bennett shocked the college basketball world when he suddenly announced his retirement last Friday. Who is the best person to lead Virginia following Bennett’s 15-year tenure with the Cavaliers?

While Ron Sanchez, Bennett’s former associate head coach, was named the interim head coach, Virginia is expected to consider a wide range of candidates after the season. In this new era of unlimited transfers, NIL and football-focused realignment, the pressure is on for the Virginia administration to make the correct hire so they do not fall ever further behind.

Here are the three best candidates for Virginia to consider as Bennett’s long-term replacement at the end of this season.

1. Current Virginia basketball interim head coach Ron Sanchez

It has been widely-speculated that one of the reasons that Bennett announced his retirement so late was to help ensure that Sanchez would get the interim tag for this season instead of Virginia trying to find an outside hire. Sanchez has coached alongside Bennett since 2003 at Washington State. Then, when Bennett got the Virginia basketball head coaching job in 2009, Sanchez went with him to Charlottesville. Sanchez stayed until 2018 when he took the head coaching job at Charlotte. After going 22-14 and winning the CBI tournament in the 2022-23 season, Sanchez chose to leave Charlotte to come back to Virginia as the associate head coach.

If Sanchez is able to bring Virginia to the NCAA tournament as the interim head coach, it will be difficult to look anywhere else. Sanchez has familiarity with the program, is close with the current group of players and has his own head coaching experience from his time with Charlotte. Virginia has a talented team this season. They were selected No. 5 in the official ACC preseason poll, but are currently not mentioned in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology. Sanchez is coaching for his future this season.

2. VCU head coach Ryan Odom

If Virginia decides to go with an outside hire instead of sticking Sanchez, the current interim head coach, there is a great option just about an hour way in the state’s capital. Ryan Odom, one of the fastest-rising names in college basketball, just finished a successful first season at VCU and has the Rams looking like the potential favorites to make it out of a loaded Atlantic 10 conference.

For Virginia basketball fans, Odom’s name should be familiar. Before taking over at VCU last season, he was the head coach at Utah State from 2021-2023 and UMBC from 2016-2021, where he orchestrated the first ever 16-1 upset in NCAA Tournament history when Odom’s No. 16 seed UMBC team beat Bennett’s No. 1 seed Virginia team in the 2018 tournament. Odom also brought Utah State to the NCAA tournament in 2021 and 2023.

Beyond his head coaching success, Odom also has deep ties to Virginia basketball. His father, Dave Odom, was an assistant at Virginia from 1982-1989. Odom also attended nearby Hampden-Sydney college and was an assistant at Virginia Tech for eight seasons. If Odom is able to bring VCU to the NCAA Tournament this season, it will be difficult for Virginia to look anywhere else for their next head coach. One potential issue: Odom has a $10,000,000 million buyout which may be difficult to get past.

Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett

While this may seem like a shot in the dark, Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett (no relation), who has been at Saint Mary’s since 2001, could be looking for a new challenge following the conference realignment that is impacting the WCC. With Gonzaga set to join the new-look Pac-12 in 2026, the WCC looks like it will become a perennial one-bid league.

Bennett has had an incredible amount of success at Saint Mary’s, making 10 NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2010. However, what would Bennett so appealing to Virginia is his coaching style. Like Virginia has been known for, Bennett’s Saint Mary’s teams are very disciplined and play at a slow, methodical pace. While Virginia had the slowest pace in the country, Saint Mary’s was not far behind with the ninth-slowest in the country.

If Virginia wants a coach who has found success in a similar play style, gets the most out of his recruits and has thrived in an underdog role, then Bennett should be at the top of their list. The only concern would be that even with all of the conference realignment, if Bennett would be willing to leave Saint Mary’s after such a long tenure with the Gaels.

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