Former Wisconsin assistant, son of Badgers program legend surprisingly announces retirement

Former Wisconsin basketball assistant and longtime Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is announcing his retirement from coaching at a press conference on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Tony Bennett, who is the son of former Wisconsin head coach Dick Bennett, coached with the Badgers from 1999-2003. He began on his father’s staff in 1999 — a year that saw Wisconsin’s first Final Four run in over 50 years — before staying on after Bo Ryan took over in 2001.

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Bennett surprisingly announces his retirement after 15 years as head coach at Virginia. His resume includes a 433-169 overall record, four ACC Coach of the Year awards, two Naismith Coach of the Year honors, eight ACC titles and a national championship in 2019.

He is the latest college basketball coach to retire far before their career twilight — Villanova’s Jay Wright being the other prominent example.

Bennett was 3-2 against the Badgers in his Virginia career — the latest a 65-41 Wisconsin victory in last year’s Fort Myers Tip-Off.

From a Wisconsin perspective: Bennett was always a popular name brought up by fans when discussing a potential move off of Greg Gard. That move obviously has not happened, and I wouldn’t predict it to in the coming years.

But Bennett’s retirement does take one primary replacement candidate off the board for whenever the Badgers are next searching for a head coach.

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Story originally appeared on Badgers Wire