Kentucky coach Mark Pope shares his thoughts on Virginia coach Tony Bennett retiring

A college basketball legend has stepped away from the game.

Oct 18, 2024; Charlottesville, VA, US; Virginia Cavaliers head men's basketball coach Tony Bennett speaks at a press conference announcing his immediate retirement at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The college basketball world was shocked this past week as Virginia coach Tony Bennett decided to retire. The real shock from this announcement came from the fact that the season is less than two weeks away from starting.

At his retirement press conference, Coach Bennett talked about how NIL and the transfer portal played a big role in his decision to step away from college basketball. Coach Bennett had this to say about why he is stepping away at a recent press conference, “The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot, and there needs to be change. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am, and that’s how it was. My staff has buoyed me along to get to this point, but there needs to be change.”

After the Blue-White Game, Kentucky Coach Mark Pope was asked about his thoughts on the retirement of Coach Bennett. Coach Pope had this to say about Bennet's retirement, "I think he's one of the more iconic figures in college sports. He's going to be around this game, for sure."

It will be weird to watch Virginia take the floor with Coach Bennett, not as the head coach, but it is clear the former coach believes college basketball is not in a good spot with all of the changes.

It will be interesting to see if this starts to happen more often with some of the college coaching legends who have been in the game for a long time.