CoB Higher Post: He left his heart in Charlottesville
Is this a one-off or the beginning?
Congregation, please stand up…
…because the new edition of the Higher Post is here! But it’s ok to sit back down because this is a longer one.
Yes, I’m a little late with this one, but I literally had to rewrite this about four times because news in the hoops world kept breaking. This is supposed to be the off-season, right? We are supposed to be reading Lindy’s, absorbing schedules, circling dates, and debating which preseasons predictions to laugh at in March, right? Nope! We gots news!
First, a new antitrust settlement was approved that would allow schools to pay their players without having to make them official employees of the school. This is huge! The NCAA fights for the amateurism model because as employees of the school, student-athletes would be eligible for workman’s comp. Think about that for a moment and how that would impact a football program. That’s crazy, right? Yes, but it's not the big story.
So it must be the NCAA voting to eliminate the National Letter of Intent program and replace it with the financial aid and scholarship agreements. This is also big and will totally change how recruiting is done - especially in football - but no, that is not the story.
Then, it must be the Preseason Top-25 rankings dropping? That loud sound you heard was the installation of a large chip on Danny Hurley’s shoulder after the two-time defending champion reloaded and got ranked #3 under Kansas and Alabama respectively. Maybe, South Carolina getting almost all the top votes in the women’s poll for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons canceled that story out. Maybe, because that was not the story either.
What got all of our attention happened at approximately 4:47pm EST on Thursday when all of our phones chimed with the notification that Tony Bennett was retiring as head coach at Virginia effective immediately.
Yes, we all had that same reaction. Wait…what???
Retiring. Not stepping down for a new job. Straight up retiring.
So, after 15 years in Charlottesville, The “Daddy of Defense” is taking his feather cap and riding off into the Shenandoah Valley sunset. What is the reason?
Well, according to Bennett, it's the state of the game. The transfer portal and NIL has seriously complicated the college hoops landscape and it’s a wild west right now. I’m not going to debate the merits of this here right now because its a long topic, but I will say that giving the players the freedom to transfer and earn on their own name, image and likeness, is necessary and right. How the NCAA is handling it, is a mess, and as Bennett said, moving the game to a pro model with possible collective bargaining and player contracts. Maybe that is not a bad thing, but it needs a framework to build on and pronto.
Coach Bennett has made his mark as one of the most dashingly handsome silver foxes successful coaches in ACC history, going 364-136 (.728) with 3 ACC titles, 10 NCAA appearances, and one national title. He is also only one of 3 coaches in ACC history to have 10 consecutive winning ACC seasons, only behind Coach K and Dean Smith. That is quite a mark in a conference known for basketball excellence and found that success teaching a lockdown defense with under-recruited players; showing them that if they believe in a system they can achieve it all. That is true coaching.
Of course, many will always think of his 2018 team who gained fame by being the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 when they lost to Ryan Odom’s Maryland-Baltimore County team. (We all remember where we were for that one too.) But, that team showed resilience and came back the next year to win it all. A sequence some have called ‘Pulling a Virginia’. To this date, they are the only team that has actually ‘pulled a Virginia’. (Sorry, Purdue)
Coach Bennett stated that he doesn’t have enough to give it his all in today’s game and that is understandable since the job now requires a coach to re-recruit their roster every season and no just build upon the current roster. These rotating rosters take a hit on continuity for building a program and helping players develop.
However, as a coach, if your love of the game is teaching first, this is not the game for you anymore. This is being shown by many sudden retirements of top coaches who are leaving rather than adapting to new rules (Coach K, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, etc). However, many of those coaches were already in the twilight of their careers so retirement was not surprising. Jay Wright was the first real surprise and while he didn’t cite the same reasons as Bennett for exiting, it is safe to assume that it was a factor. Bennett was the first younger coach to say this part aloud - and with grace, and more importantly, without old fashioned criticism of someone stuck in their ways. This landscape is changing and while old coaches and fans don’t want to change things, these adjustments are necessary.
Bennett suddenly retiring was a shock to the world of college hoops. The reasons he gave were not.
You will be missed in our crazy world, Coach. Go Defense!
Keeping up with the Hannahs
Two of my favorite players coming out of last season were not only incredibly fun to watch…but are both named Hannah! We dedicate this section to them. Try and keep up!
Hannah Stuelke (Jr, Fo / Iowa):
The B1G has an entirely new look this season with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joining to put the ‘west’ in midwest. This gives the B1G preseason poll a new look too with USC and UCLA taking the top two spots in both the coaches and media polls. Meanwhile, Iowa also has a new look as Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall all graduated. Plus, longtime Hawkeye head coach Lisa Bluder retired handing the clipboard to her assistant of 24 years, Jan Jensen. Coach Jensen started reloading immediately bringing in Villanova senior guard Lucy Olsen to fill some of that Caitlin Clark void, so while there are is a lot of upside going into the season, there are a lot of questions as well.
What is not in question is what the league thinks of Hannah Stuelke as both the coaches and media polls picked her to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team (alongside teammate Lucy Olsen). Both polls also picked USC sophomore sensation Juju Watkins as the unanimous Preseason B1G Player of the Year, so circle Groundhog Day for when the Trojans travel to Iowa City for their only scheduled matchup of the season.
Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame/PG):
Meanwhile, just a little over 300 miles away, Hannah Hidalgo and company will not surprise anyone this upcoming season, as the Irish was voted ACC Preseason #1 with Hidalgo, not only making the Preseason All-ACC Team, but doing so with a high majority of first place votes (62-17). She was also voted the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. Remember, she is only a sophomore. As mentioned last week, she will also go head -to-head against Juju Watkins on November 23. And then against Paige Bueckers when her Eras Tour goes to South Bend on December 12. The Basketball Gods have been very good to us.
Five Touches: Quick passes around the world of hoops
She can really hit from anywhere! During a golf match this week, Caitlin Clark goes within inches of a hole-in-one. Maybe if they painted a Hawkeye logo at the tee, she would have hit it.
We come in all shapes and sizes: You can now see a satellite view of every outdoor basketball court in the US. Spoiler: Not all of them have ‘surf-side seats’ like FIU.
The Evolution of Paige Bueckers: “If, for whatever reason, we don’t win a national championship this year,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma says, “she’ll feel like, ‘I’m the best player to ever play at Connecticut that didn’t win a national championship.’”
The Becky Hammon Coaching Tree has sprouted: The newest WNBA expansion team, The Golden State Valkyries, hired Aces’ assistant (and UCLA alum) Natalie Nakase as the franchise’s first head coach. Incidentally, the Valkyries also collected over 17K season-ticket deposits for their inaugural season, breaking a women's sports team record.
Seasons end, but Bracketology is forever: It may only be October, but that can’t stop Joe Lunardi from releasing his first bracket of the season and he asks the question, is it finally the B1G’s year? It's been 25 years since a team from the conference watched ‘One Shining Moment’ from the championship floor.
Extracurricular Reading: Sometimes you gotta call a T.O.
Now, finally a proper use for AI: Swsh’s new photo-sharing app lets Gen Zers filter out red Solo cups and alcoholic drinks
How did Cal and Stanford end up in the ACC exactly? The Athletic has a great video to take you through major conference history and what lead us to this moment. Fortunately, it does not cover Massachusetts’ future move to the MAC.
You can have to do it! We ‘hope’ to help: Home Depot announced a program requiring corporate staff to work one eight-hour retail shift per quarter so they understand the retail employee experience directly from the floor. So if you notice NCAA President Charlie Baker suddenly walking-on the McNeese State bench, you know the inspiration.
And finally, Samuel L. Jackson’s still got it 30 years later!
Ok, folks - that is it for this week. 16 days until the season tips off.
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Remember, happiness is living One Shining Moment at a time!