VIDEO: Ron Sanchez Intro Press Conference as UVA Basketball Interim Head Coach

Matt Newton | Oct 23, 2024

Ron Sanchez has been named the interim head coach of the Virginia men's basketball program. / Virginia Athletics

Ron Sanchez made his first public appearance as the interim head coach of the Virginia men's basketball program on Wednesday afternoon, answering questions from the media in a Zoom press conference for around 20 minutes. With Sanchez taking over the program in a very unique situation - just six days after Tony Bennett's shocking retirement but exactly two weeks away from opening tipoff of the 2024-2025 UVA basketball season - there were a wide variety of questions thrown at Sanchez in this presser.

Watch the video below to see the full press conference with Virginia's interim head coach Ron Sanchez and read a full transcript of the presser below:

Q. Hey, Ron, good afternoon. Tony made it clear the other day that he wasn't really happy with a lot of the recent developments in college athletics. What is your comfort level with the current state of affairs?

RON SANCHEZ: Before I even answer that question, Jeff, and it's a really good one, I first just want to say thanks to Carla Williams and President [Jim] Ryan for giving me an opportunity to lead this program during this time. This was unprecedented for us to be here, but we are, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to do this.

As far as the state of college basketball, we all know where it is; it's changing drastically. It's changing quickly, and I think we as coaches and athletic communities have to adapt to it. It's not going to go backwards. I still think that this game is fantastic. It's phenomenal for these young people to be a part of college basketball. You know, the changes that have come into play can impact some of these young people's lives, and we now, as coaches get to assist them in a different way, not only on the floor, but with some some financial opportunities that could also lead into financial literacy and education as well. Because in the end, this is about allowing these young men to become the best version of themselves. And you know, we now, with tangible resources, can can help them grow and become better. You know, the state of college basketball is not extremely healthy right now and that has to do with some rules and regulations. And I think when those things come into play, it will be better.

Q. I just want to give people a chance to maybe get to know you a little bit deeper. I know you grew up in the Bronx after coming from the Dominican. I'm curious how big a part of your childhood was basketball and if you could share anything just about your upbringing, your family, we would like to know a little more about that.

RON SANCHEZ: I'm the youngest of a pretty big family, being from the Dominican Republic where we're baseball fans, you know, by nature. So I grew up in the Bronx, obviously, you know, right down the street from Yankee Stadium. Yankee Stadium was 161st street I grew up on 163rd Street. I could see the stadium lights, you know, from our apartment building. So, basketball actually was just something I did because it kept me out of trouble growing up in the South Bronx. And in the mid 80s, early 90s, it was not the easiest environment to be in. And, you know, the PAL and the boys club and Midnight hoops and things like that were things that, you know, kind of became my positive addiction as a kid. And I just fell in love with the game because of what it could do for us as a community. We got together, we played, sweated, it kept us out of trouble. So the game was always been important to me personally, because I feel like it's something that - and I don't use this lightly - really impacted my life in a way that I never thought it could.

Q. Hey, coach. I'm curious for whether it be because of your background or your time at Charlotte, what you anticipate being different from Coach Bennett in sort of how you run this team and what you anticipate being the same?

RON SANCHEZ: I'm not sure there are going to be many changes in what we do here. I referenced the Virginia way. In the past, this has been something that has taken years to establish. You know, I talk about Tony's last press conference when he departed, I was also there at his initial press conference. So, you know, the bookends to those in that moment, I realized how much energy has been invested into creating this basketball culture that's at the University of Virginia today. And that culture was led by a phenomenal human being who was an amazing basketball coach. And it would be a mistake for me to come in here and think that I could do things completely different and try to have the same results.

Tony is one of the best coaches in the country, and we'll do some things that are going to be a little different, but not because I'm here. Those were things that Tony and I actually, and the staff, discussed this summer, there were plans to try to do things a little differently. You know, Coach Williford, Coach Soderberg, Coach Guy, Coach Wilkins, we were all involved in many conversations about trying to do things a little different. But it's not just because of this change. It was something that was coming regardless of.

Q. Ron, what experiences from your five seasons as Charlotte's head coach can you then apply to Virginia that might make you better this time around?

RON SANCHEZ: Honestly, all of it. It's one thing to be an assistant. It's another to become a head coach and have to lead a program. I'm using those experiences right now, if I'm being, if I'm gonna be completely thinking through your question. Having to galvanize energy every day, having to take young men that you know are in a transition space and try to unite them to pursue a specific goal. And then obviously, you know the basketball stuff I don't have to speak of.

And when you take over a program that was not performing well, and, you know, the expectations were in one place, and you really come in and you want to create something special, the beauty about that is that all those things already happened here. So for me is, I see every single year that I was at Charlotte, I learned something new that I will most certainly use during my time here.

Q. I'm just wondering what excites you about this year team? What excites you about the group that you guys have, a lot of new faces? What excites you about this year's group?

RON SANCHEZ: It excites me that they're new, you know? It excites me that they're coming in with a blank slate, and they're all excited about being here. They were excited about coming and joining this championship culture that Tony built at the University of Virginia. Tony's desire to put this group together, along with the coaches responsible for the acquisition of talent, it had a vision, and we're excited about trying to bring that vision to fruition.

Q. Hey Ron, congratulations. I'm curious as to when you guys were sitting around with the staff in the summer that you referenced to make some adjustments, I guess mostly offensively what we've heard - what prompted that? Was that something that you guys felt like you needed to do to attract better recruits, to just jazz up the offense because it had been lacking a little bit last year? What was the main catalyst I guess, for the change?

RON SANCHEZ: The main catalyst was just trying to evolve. The game has changed so much over the last decade and we were just trying to find a way to keep up with those changes and identifying guys that can open up the floor a little bit for us, guys that could shoot the ball from the perimeter, guys with some size and some length. And it was for practical reasons. It wasn't just to - "oh this helps us in recruiting" - we felt that this would help us compete at a higher level and that was the main reason behind making the change.

Q. Hey, Ron, congratulations, and thanks a lot for doing this. I'm wondering what the last five days have been like for you. Has it been kind of a whirlwind with everything kind of coming at you - no doubt you're, you're equipped to handle it - I'm not saying that. But what have the last five days been like for you, in terms of transitioning into the head coaching position?

RON SANCHEZ: The last five days have been busy, is the word that I could use and busy, because the, as the announcement was made, the priority became our athletes and our staff. You know, how can we unite, get it together and understand that we're responsible for what happens from from here forward. When your leader departs, you realize how many things fall on your plate and other responsibilities on you.

So there have been a lot of phone calls, a lot of communication, a lot of meetings with our players, with their families, with all the people around them, with their circles, to make sure that there's great communication between all of us. So it has been busy, but it's been a good busy. This was not expected, but with every challenge comes an opportunity, and that's kind of the space that we've decided to create and operate in right now.

Q. I understand you had breakfast this morning with with Coach. [Brian] O'Connor. Obviously, you've been around this athletic part of this university for a long time. You know about the success that's kind of all around here. How do you plan to tap into those resources, maybe even outside the basketball program, to help you with your transition here?

RON SANCHEZ: I'm a part of this community, man, I've been immersed into this space. My daughter was born here, so when you're in a space like this, so many fantastic coaches here, so many with so much experience here, you know, national champions. I returned to Virginia because of Virginia, because of what Virginia is. Coach Oak [O'Connor] gave me some time this morning. It was fantastic. I just wanted to ask him a couple of questions. And I'm hopeful that I would have those resources as I journey because I think they will make my transition a lot easier. Brian obviously has won so much at such a high level and has been dealing with certain things in non-revenue sports, or non head-count sports that I think we're experiencing now, where now things are different. So he was able to share some things with me that I think really helped me create a really good space in our locker room. And I'm hoping I can apply those things as soon as possible.

Q. Just about the emotions of when you heard the news from Tony Bennett and just how did those conversations go when Carla did approach you about this position?

RON SANCHEZ: It was a very emotional moment for me, personally. You have to understand my relationship with Tony goes well beyond what goes on in the basketball court here, Tony and I spend a lot of time together. We play tennis together, we work out together. Tony and I go far beyond just being colleagues. Tony's one of my closest friends. It was emotional for me because I didn't realize how hard this space had been for him, and he was, for the first time, really opening up and sharing that. And I actually felt disappointed in myself that I wasn't aware because I never really asked. And in this new space that they were all occupying, not just in basketball, but basically globally, it's okay to ask somebody - "man, like, how you doing, like, how you doing today, what's going on?" And, you know, I didn't do that for him, and that was that was hard for me.

Q. Hey, Coach, can you just take us through your initial message to the players after the news dropped, and what you wanted to portray to them? I'm assuming, stability, but can you just take us through what the opening message to the group was after the news came?

RON SANCHEZ: The opening message was that we know that they came here to play for Coach Bennett, but I also wanted to make them aware that, before their names come across coach Bennett's desk, we are the ones that identify them. We're the ones that see them. We're the ones that follow them around and watch them play continuously. And we're the ones that really believed in them from the beginning. So if they wanted to know how we felt about them, all they had to know is that we're the ones that recruited them. So that was the first message.

Now, the second message was - we're here, you know, let's commit to creating the most competitive and most enjoyable space possible, and let's journey well. That was the one thing that that I wanted to share with them and I wanted to tell them that they were loved, that that Tony's departure doesn't remove that level of appreciation for them as student athletes here, and that they chose the University of Virginia. A lot of that is because of basketball, but that this institution is still here. The leadership may have changed, but the program and the culture here will not, and I think that they really appreciated that message.

Q. Just wanted to ask - it's a unique situation having the interim tag. How do you kind of handle, not the permanence of having this job now, and just knowing as you go, how do you balance that as the season goes on?

RON SANCHEZ: It doesn't play a role in this at all. My role here as an assistant coach was to be a person that showed up every day to impact the program and to help this program be successful. It wasn't - "well hopefully I can have a different employment opportunity." Right now, the title, it doesn't mean anything. I'm here to serve this institution for however long it is.

Tony said in this press conference - and I'll quote him, it's a conversation that we've always had - it's about things being on loan. Tony was on loan. I mean, this was on loan, if only for 15 years. Right now, this is on loan to me for however long this institution chooses and every day, it's just going to get my best whether, right now, if there was a 10 year contract that I just signed, I will get the same effort that that I will give this institution or this program right now. I'm not sure that that plays any role in how I feel or how I approach this on a daily basis. This institution, Carla, President Ryan, Tony's legacy deserves that level of respect and commitment to excellence."

Q. You talked already about the relationship you have with the players and how you built that through bringing them here. But does your relationship with them have to change at all now that you're going from assistant to head coach? And how have you navigated that the last few days?

RON SANCHEZ: No, I'm going to be who I am. I'm relational by nature. That's just, you know, me. That's how I am, you know? Funny, I played golf with Elijah Saunders on Sunday, or I think it was Saturday one of them, over the weekend over fall break. Myself, Coach Williford and Coach Vandross took them out to the golf course, and we just played nine holes and had some fun. And I mean, if I have the time to do it, I will gladly do it. So I'm hoping that I don't have to do a lot of this, so I can spend a lot more time with with our guys, hanging out, having lunch, getting good meals.

I enjoy talking to these young people. The beauty about being a coach - as you get older, they don't, so you always feel like you can live in their space. I like to just communicate with them and keep up with them. I think it helps to be a better dad. I think that if you can coach them hard when you have great relationships with them, and I'm going to coach them hard. So I want to do that, man. I got to invest time into kind of getting to know their hearts, get to know their souls, knowing their families, knowing what their aspirations are. I got to know what makes them tick, so then I know what buttons to push. So it can't just be one-sided, you know, it's not, and I'm not talking about kumbaya relationships here. I'm talking about just genuine, authentic conversations, you know? I think it will remain the same if time allows. I'm starting to realize how much time this is taking from from that, this very moment, but I am hoping that I can continue to have an open door policy, like guys continue to walk in and spend time with me.

Q. Thanks so much for your time, coach. I just wanted to ask you, your time at Charlotte, obviously, Charlotte was in a very different situation than Virginia is in now. What do you see as major adjustments you might have to make to your head coaching strategy between then and now?

RON SANCHEZ: That's a great question. From a strategic standpoint, our personnel, you know, really trying to take our really talented offensive players and putting them in positions to be really successful, I think, is key. We still have so many new players here that they're learning our defensive system and I think trying to be one of the better teams defensively in this conference is key to any success that this team is going to have. But from that standpoint, I don't think anything else is really, really different. We have different personnel, and we have to play in a different way. I think that's probably the biggest difference.

Q. Real quick follow-up on talking about your family. I'm curious how many family members came over from the Dominican and do you still have family back there? Just share a little of that, if you don't mind.

RON SANCHEZ: Well, how much time do you have?

Q. I got all afternoon, you've got work to do.

RON SANCHEZ: I'm the youngest of nine. At the moment, I do have a couple of family members that still do reside in the Caribbean. I try to visit, sometimes I can. At one point, I was involved with Dominican national team. It gave me an opportunity to spend time with them. But, yeah, I think that's, that's the short, sweet answer to to your question, big family, definitely. Some lived there.

Q. Did your parents come over with you?

RON SANCHEZ: They were here first. My parents were here first, and then I ended up joining them later.

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