Memphis Grizzlies: 5 College Coaches To Interview For Head Coaching Job
By Chris Kern
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett has quickly become one of the best coaches in college basketball. He has led Virginia to a lot of success and they get it done on the defensive end of the floor. His ability to get all these players to buy into what he teaches is elite.
He started off his coaching career with three seasons at Washington State before spending the last 10 seasons at Virginia. He has a career record of 323-122 including his record of 254-89 at Virginia.
The job he has done at Virginia over recent years is special. They were the overall number one seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but they would become the first one seed to lose to a 16 seed with their loss against UMBC. Even after that loss, he was able to get all of his players to buy in again the following year and that ended with a title after their win over Texas Tech in the national championship game.
He hasn’t coached many high NBA Draft picks, but he has coached players who have been successful in the NBA. Klay Thompson was the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, but he only coached him for one season at Washington State.
In his time at Virginia, he has helped players develop into guys who will make an impact at the next level. Joe Harris, Mike Scott, and Malcolm Brogdon are all guys who were selected in the second round who have come in and made a big difference with their respective teams.
His ability to develop players would serve him well at the next level. Getting players to buy into a system is tougher in the NBA than it is in college, but with the amount of success he has had with Virginia, it wouldn’t be wise to question his ability to do so.
One thing that people may not like is that he is a defensive minded coach. In the NBA you have to be able to score the ball and that’s what his teams have continued to improve on at Virginia. With guys such as De’Andre Hunter, Ty Jerome, and Kyle Guy knocking down shots he was able to orchestrate an effective offense.
Development is the key for the Grizzlies and that’s what Bennett can bring to the table. With the players he has helped succeed in the NBA you would have to imagine that he could develop an NBA squad the same way. Once again this is very unlikely, but maybe he would consider making the jump to the NBA.