This story appears in the April 22–29, 2019, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
Tony Bennett wasn't making this trip alone. All season Virginia's mantra had been "united pursuit," and so on Saturday, April 13, when the coach was summoned to a small stage mounted at the 50-yard line of Scott Stadium for an official championship celebration, "the architect of it all" did not emerge from the brick-walled end zone tunnel until the rest of his Cavaliers were in tow.