Here’s a provocative question: is the Tony Bennett era over at Virginia?
Quick answer: no, not really. More thoughtful answer: no, but it may never be the same again.
The face of the college game has changed in many ways. Commercial pressures, NIL and what we might call the liberal transfer rule have made building a team more of a spontaneous scramble than a calculated, long term play. And a calculated, long term approach is what Bennett prefers and is very good at. But a couple of years ago, we pointed out that Mike Brey’s player development model, which is similar to Bennett’s, was in big trouble because he no longer had the young players who were going to be patient, invest in the system and develop over time.