Basketball Eve: How We Got Here

HOW WE GOT HERE:

I distinctly remember when the news broke that Virginia had hired Tony Bennett as its Men's Basketball Coach. My reaction was probably the same as just about every UVA fan. "Huh?" "Who?" After a quick google search, I was able to get as far as, "Oh. That guy from Washington State." The next logical step from there, it seemed, was to ask, "Why?" When Dave Leitao was fired shortly after a miserable 10 win season, I have to admit that I was surprised. It wasn't that I didn't want him gone, but rather I just didn't think it would even cross the minds of the powers that be to get rid of a coach who had just two seasons prior won the ACC Coach of the Year, leading the team to a share of the regular season title, a 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and a "would-be" Sweet 16 run if not for an injury to the scorching hot JR Reynolds. Granted, Leitao followed that team up with a squad that started 10-2, only to lose 9 of their last 10 (the first of which a 108-70 thrashing to Xavier), and eventually finish with a mediocre 17-16 record and a CBI appearance. Still, despite the poor stretch of play, especially in ACC action, an above .500 record for a team that had lost one of the programs most productive players in JR Reynolds as well as other starters, wasn't exactly viewed as a complete and utter disaster. However, it turned into just that with the departure of Sean Singletary, and the wheels had officially fallen off. Still, I think most fans expected Littlepage & Co. to give Leitao at least one more chance to prove himself.

Thank God they didn't. After the somewhat surprising firing, Virginia began speculating about whom the next coach might be. Many names were thrown out there, but eventually the general consensus was that it would be Tubby Smith. So while diehard Wahoo fans spent minutes and even hours on their computers, refreshing the Charlottesville Airport's flight tracker, searching for an arrival from Minnesota, Littlepage was working on pulling what was in hindsight, at least, a pretty big upset. At the time, however, it certainly did not seem that way at all.

Ultimately, as fans including myself did some more research and came to get a sense of just who this Tony Bennett guy was, it seemed like most everyone was willing to at least give him a chance. While there were (and somehow still are) some more vocal ones who insisted that this hire guaranteed the program's mediocrity, most were ready to give their support.

The first time I was really introduced to Coach Bennett was when he made his first appearance on Wes McElroy's show on Richmond's Sports Radio AM 910. The thing that stuck out about him, besides his Badger accent, was how he wasn't throwing promises or guarantees out left and right. Rather, he stated his goals for the program through the use of phrases like: "We want to build a successful program, but build it the right way....It is going to take time and I ask for fans to be patient when adversity comes...etc." Those were essentially typical coach speak answers. However, one thing he said really caught my attention. He kept repeating what seemed to be the thesis of his argument: "I want to build a program that lasts." I don't really know why that stuck with me, but it did. But when I look back on those words now, they make perfect sense.

Tony made it clear that he was going to build the program his way, without taking shortcuts, even if that meant some bumps and bruises along the way. Well, it appears as if he was a man of his word. His first season, the team roared out of the gates to a 12-4 (3-0) start, with two consecutive wins over top 25 foes. Despite the unexpected success, Bennett urged fans not to get ahead of ourselves.

But it was too late. Everyone had hopped on onboard the Bennett Bandwagon......Only to be brutally let down once again. People immediately began to (fairly) compare this team to Leitao's 2008-09 one. Doubts arose.

Going into Bennett's second season, gone were Sylven Landesburg, Jeff Jones, Jerome Meyinssee, and Tristan Spurlock. However, in came Bennett's first real recruiting class, and it was a good one at that. An early season injury to Mike Scott was eventually to hard for Bennett's young team to overcome and make it to postseason play. To cap off the year, the Hoos blew a double digit lead in mere minutes against Miami in the ACC Tournament, finishing the season just a game over .500. Still, given crucial injury to Scott, and the overall youth and lack of depth, some fans, including myself were optimistic about Bennett's future.

In the following two seasons, Bennett really established himself. He dealt with adversity, such as transfers and injuries, and found a way to lead his team to about as many wins as fans could have hoped. Even though the team was ranked in the Top 25 for a good chunk of the year, just making the tournament despite all that went wrong was a huge accomplishment. By year's end, the team just was not able to make any sort of a March run, and everyone knew it. But looking back at that year, I kind of treat it as where we turned the corner as a program. We had expectations, though nothing like this year, and for all intents and purposes, we at the very least met them. Then last year, thanks to the highly anticipated 2012 recruiting class as well as the leaps forward by Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell, the team really set the stage for where we are now.

We've had some good breaks (Gary Williams retiring) and plenty of bad ones too (transfers, injuries, the 2012 UNC game), but all in all, Tony has been true to his word. It wasn't easy, it wasn't quick, but I think this program is just where Bennett wanted and imagined it to be. While the players certainly have to prove it on the court this year, I think it's safe to say that Tony has built his program.

Now it's time to do something with it.