Virginia’s Tony Bennett Named AP Coach of the Year

UMBC gave Bennett props for his win.

After leading his team to 31 wins and the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, Virginia coach Tony Bennett was named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press on Thursday. 

Bennett and the Cavaliers had a tremendous season, winning the ACC regular-season and tournament championships. It was a memorable year but it will go down in history for the wrong reason—in the NCAA tournament, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed. 

UMBC wiped the floor with the Cavaliers in a 74–54 win on March 16 in Charlotte. The Retrievers congratulated Bennett on his win on Twitter, responding to a wisecracking tweet about the historic upset. 

Bennett was the runaway choice for the award, receiving 50 of the 65 votes. Tennessee’s Rick Barnes was second with five votes, while Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann received four votes.