Tony Bennett’s shock retirement in October was an easy pick for the biggest story around UVa athletics in 2024. And that decision, along with everything that has happened since, set UVa up for a pivotal 2025 that will set the table for where the program is headed in the years to come.
Bennett’s retirement was just part of a tough year for UVa basketball in 2024. The Hoos started the year hot, winning eight in a row, but faded down the stretch, and put out an embarrassing performance in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four against Colorado State. That game was so bad, on a national stage, that Bennett had to pitch to recruits that he was going to dramatically alter his offense in order to convince those prospects that Virginia, a program just five years removed from a national title, is still worth considering. Bennett and UVa fell short in a few pivotal recruitments, but did put together a respectable group of transfer additions to build a new roster for 2024.
Even before Bennett’s retirement, the team’s expectations weren’t sky high going into the season. This team was seen as one that could be a two-year project for Bennett, with nearly everyone set to return in 2025-26. But with Bennett calling it quits a few weeks before the season started, any thought of a long-term plan went out the window. Virginia turned to assistant Ron Sanchez to lead the team through this season, an audition for the former Charlotte coach. Though Sanchez was dealt a tough hand and the early season performance probably has more to do with the roster he has than anything he’s done wrong, his team hasn’t shown enough yet to give him the keys to the program with a long-term contract.
UVa is 8-5 under Sanchez, and 1-1 in ACC play, having picked up that come-from-behind win over NC State on Tuesday. Technically, UVa has handled their business against the programs they’ve been expected to beat, but haven’t done so emphatically, and certainly received a few scares along the way. This was the first season in the Kenpom era where UVa didn’t win a non-conference game by 20+ points. UVa also had single-digit wins over Campbell, Manhattan and American. And when the Hoos have faced a program that is equal or better, they’ve lost most of the time, usually by double digits, with a couple of decent wins over Villanova and NC State, both in the top-100 of the Kenpom rankings.
Speaking of Kenpom’s top 100, UVa isn’t in it. As of January 2nd, UVa ranks 102nd nationally in efficiency. Virginia hasn’t finished lower than #72 since 2011. There have been flashes of good play here and there, to be sure. UVa actually shoots the three quite well this season at 38.5 percent, but they are just 48.7 percent on two pointers, which speaks to a lack of inside presence and driving ability. Defensively UVa ranks 49th in efficiency, not exactly a vintage Bennett defense, but not terrible either. We’re about to find out, however, if the defense can hold up against power-conference opponents on a nightly basis.
The problem isn’t that UVa has never looked good this season, it's that any success they’ve had has been fleeting. The Hoos have been prone to fast starts giving way to big runs for the opponent that ultimately end in defeat. The Tennessee game was a two-point game at half, and UVa lost by 22. The Hoos led Florida by 9 early, and lost by 18. Virginia had a seven point lead over SMU with 10 minutes to play and lost by 12, and Virginia blew an 11-point second-half lead to Memphis in a close loss. UVa did flip the script on Tuesday against NC State, rallying from 14 down to win that game, but the Cavaliers need to find a way to play for 40 minutes to have a real shot to make any noise in league play.
In addition to UVa’s goals in the immediate future, the focus has to be on the long term, as well. With an interim coach, it’s not going to be easy to recruit, at least while that tag is on. And looking at the current roster, one has to wonder how much of it will be intact in 2025-26, and even if there isn’t as much attrition as many currently anticipate, how can this roster be optimized to win? It’s not going to be an easy task for whoever is in charge.
Typically, stability is good. UVa fans saw what stability can look like over the past decade and a half, with one of the sport’s best coaches. Now, the UVa program has a couple of months to figure out who they are and where they’re going. Is it time to chart a new path forward, or does Sanchez put together an impressive turnaround after a slow start and give himself a chance to win the job?
Bennett’s retirement threw UVa basketball into the unknown and now we head into 2025, a year that should bring about tremendous change for the program. There’s a pretty good chance that UVa is headed towards a hard reboot in March. But first, we’ll see if Sanchez and this team can right the ship and make some noise in conference play, and potentially change perceptions along the way.
