Anthony Guy "
Tony"
Bennett (born June 1, 1969) is the head coach of the
Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team since March 31, 2009. Bennett is regarded as the best defensive coach in the NCAA (according to a 2015
CBS Sports survey
[3] of opposing coaches) and his
motion offense[4] is praised as one of the most efficient and elite.
[5][6][7] He is a two-time winner of the prestigious
Henry Iba Award for the nation's top coach as voted by the
USBWA, and has also won the
Jim Phelan Award and other National Coach of the Year honors from the
AP and
Naismith.
Bennett is the only ACC coach to win 16 conference games in consecutive seasons, and one of three in ACC history to enjoy back-to-back 30-win seasons overall.
[8] His Cavaliers won ACC regular season titles in 2014 and 2015, won the
2014 ACC Tournament, and reached the Elite Eight of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Bennett shares school records for single-season wins at both Virginia and Washington State, and won six major coaching awards in 2007 to break the Pac-12 record set by legend
John Wooden at UCLA in 1972.
[9] He was the first coach to defeat all five
Hall of Fame coaches active as of the 2014–15 season.