On Friday morning before Virginia was set to host Miami and dedicate the John Paul Jones Arena court in honor of former head coach Tony Bennett, Ryan Odom received a call from the man of the hour himself.
“Neither one of us could have ever predicted that we would be standing there together,” Odom said.
“There” meaning on the court in front of a packed JPJ as Bennett’s signature was being unveiled on the court. Odom had always assumed the day would come for Bennett, Virginia’s all time winningest coach and perhaps the author of the greatest moment in UVA sports history, but he never could have guessed he would have Bennett’s former job when it happened.
Of course, the two are forever linked from when Odom’s UMBC squad became the first-ever No. 16 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history, that coming against Bennett’s Cavaliers in 2018. The reason for the phone call, though, was Bennett encouraged Odom to have his team stay in the locker room and focus on the game, which matched up two of the ACC’s top teams, in “classic TB form” as Odom described it.
Odom politely declined because as connected as he is to a different era of Virginia basketball, he wants his players to have an appreciation and connection to all eras of the program.
“I wanted them to witness that part of the history of our program and for them to see it and to be there with all the fans and see just the general appreciation that everyone in the building has for the Bennett family,” Odom said.
The day was a clear representation of Tony Bennett and his Five Pillars of humility, passion, unity, servanthood, and thankfulness. As Bennett walked onto the court, he was surrounded by dozens of former players, managers, and staff from his 15 years guiding the program. Some of the most notable names among them were former ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, Anthony Gill, London Perrantes, and Jay Huff.
Brogdon said the turnout from Virginia alumni speaks volumes for the impact Bennett made on all of their lives.
“It’s all a reflection of him,” Brogdon told The Sabre. “Guys that will come back and support him. Not every coach has that after they’re done playing, where there are guys that love you and respect you enough to support you.”
Bennett was greeted on the court by his wife, Laurel, son, Eli, and his sister, Kathi Bennett, who he still refers to as the best coach in the family. UVA President Scott Beardsley and Director of Athletics Carla Williams shared embraces with Bennett before Odom and family welcomed his predecessor to the floor.
Bennett took an extra beat to share a moment with Ryan’s dad, Dave Odom, as the entire Virginia team stood and watched from nearby.
“These players over here are still learning from you every day, you don’t know that, but we talk about you often and the players and the history of the program,” Odom told Bennett in front of a packed JPJ.
Odom then revealed a gift to Bennett, that could only hold more meaning coming from a fellow coach’s son: a commissioned painting of Tony with his father, Dick Bennett, painted by Odom family friend and Richmond native Kyan Patel. Odom said the painting had been done weeks prior in preparation for the original court dedication prior to the North Carolina game.
The moment depicted shows Tony and his father sharing a moment during last year’s banner raising. Odom knew Bennett likely had many pictures from the National Championship or with players, but also knew the impact of being raised in a coach’s family and the special bond both he and Bennett share.
“We were very blessed to be raised in a basketball family. The ball has done tremendous things for our families and I wanted to do something,” Odom said postgame. “At it’s core, it comes down to it was a coach and his son and it was a coach and his father in that photo.”
While the majority of focus fell on Bennett, something everyone knows he tries to shy away from, Bennett had a surprise to the former players, managers, support staff, and coaches from his 15 years at UVA. As Bennett’s signature was revealed on the court, written within was every name of every person who supported Bennett along his decade-plus journey at Virginia.
“To the staff, to the players, all those that were with me on this journey, you’re what this is about,” Bennett told the crowd. “When [Senior associate Athletics Director] Ronnie [Wideman] told me they were going to do this, I said is there anyway inside that signature we can put every name of every manager, walk-on, players, support staff, coaches. So all your names in the 15 years I am the coach is inside that signature, so forever we will be on that court together.”
Even though the gesture was meant as a surprise, few of the players in attendance were caught off guard. Bennett found a way on a day dedicated to him to turn the spotlight on others, displaying his trademark humility.
“I’m not surprised that he tried to implement everybody into this special night,” former guard London Perrantes said to The Sabre.
Hours after Virginia’s 86-83 win over Miami, former players were still on the court trying to spot their own names, teammates, coaches, and others. Former All-ACC and current Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill pointed to names, saying there were “some other amazing UVA old heads” surrounding his own name.
“I always thank him for not only what he did for me on the court, but off the court,” Gill told The Sabre. “He helped me and molded me into the man I am today and not only did he do that in this gym, but for the entire Charlottesville community. He uplifted his community in a big way. When basketball was down, he brought everybody back up. He brought everybody together. He brought everybody out to games. We laughed, we cried, we enjoyed good times together and bad times. So we’re all so thankful for him.”
That thankfulness was what Odom wanted his team to see. Over the summer, the Cavaliers read the book “Legacy”, about the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, and came away with a mission of leaving the “jersey” in a better place.
In today’s transfer chaos, connections to a program, school and community are short-lived, but Odom has laid the path for a longer lasting connection.
“It’s something that coach emphasized this summer and to honor the guys that came before us and the coaches and players that were before us and we should play for Virginia, not just ourselves, not the name on the back,” Virginia guard Jacari White said. “We want to honor that every day, every day we come in for practice and games we play.”
Of the players on the current Virginia roster, only a handful truly have a connection to Bennett. Reserve guards Elijah Gertrude and Desmond Roberts are the only two to have played for Bennett, while Carter Lang was recruited back to Charlottesville before Bennett’s sudden retirement. Maybe fittingly, the player who sealed the win for Virginia was another Charlottesville native in Chance Mallory, who committed to Bennett and the Cavaliers just weeks before his retirement.
In Kyle Guy fashion, Mallory hit three free throws to give UVA the win against Miami on the day Bennett was honored, a reminder of an era of Virginia basketball Mallory grew up immersed in.
“It was a blessing to be recruited by him and being a part of all of what he’s done,” Mallory said. “It was cool to see all the names written down on there. Even playing I was looking down and seeing all the past people I was growing up watching.”
Several of those players were in attendance to witness Mallory and White’s late-game heroics. As Gill, Brogdon, and Perrantes caught up on the newly-named Tony Bennett Court, they reflected on helping Bennett kickstart his successful run with UVA. The three all played key roles in Virginia’s 2014 ACC Tournament Championship, the first for the program in 38 years and the beginning of Bennett’s staying power at the top of the conference.
“You don’t see it when you’re in college,” Gill said. “You’re experiencing just living your day to day, but a couple years removed, you start to see how special it really was. Then how special it was for him to make that run he did to the National Championship. You kind of knew it was coming at a certain point.”
While most couldn’t fully see what was to come in Bennett’s 15-year run, Brogdon had an inkling he might return to Charlottesville for a day like Saturday in the future.
“I think the way he went about things, the pedigree of who he is and the type of family he comes from, I could see him having this level of success,” Brogdon said. “He’s incredible, he turned into an incredible coach, but he’s an incredible human being since the beginning.”
College basketball’s drastic changes in the last few years ultimately pushed Bennett to retire, but Odom still believes his character and ideals are what should define the sport.
“He’s what college basketball is all about from a coaching perspective,” Odom said. “He was about all the right things. He proved that you could win at the ultimate level, the highest level and do it with dignity and class and integrity and a ferociousness from a competitive standpoint.”
With a banner raised into the rafters and his signature on the court, this will likely be the final celebration of Tony Bennett for a while at John Paul Jones Area. A fact he’d be more than fine with. But if you could sum up Bennett’s Five Pillars into one sentence, he might have done so himself.
“My goal always was to honor the Lord as a coach and I pray that this program and how we did it was a bright light to all of you,” Bennett told the crowd before walking off the court now bearing his name. “I feel like this is more than I deserve, but we’re all in this together. It’s about us, never about me.”
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