The Tony Bennett retirement press conference Friday was a gut punch from the NCAA to the game of college basketball.
Some of us in the world of fringe media have been preparing the Virginia faithful of this day for months.
After a painful dismantlement by NC State in early January last season, I submitted an article that asked if the finish line was close for Bennett.
Apparently, that story ruffled plenty of feathers in Wahoo Nation.
I could just sense something in Coach Bennett’s body language, that there was something far more bothersome to him than his team being on the lopsided end of the scoreboard.
Friday, Bennett let us all know that there was, and he didn’t mince words about it.
Bennett, 55, cited the fast-changing landscape of college sports, specifically, the transfer portal and NIL, as major reasons for his exiting the ranks of college coaching.
Hate to keep referencing that January story, but.
Bennett’s systems require patience, dedication and a willingness from the players give of themselves to the system.
The transfer portal says the opposite.
College basketball has devolved into nothing more than a game of musical chairs for players, agents and handlers chasing dollars.
Which is fine, because the coaches are making dollars, the schools are making dollars.
Tony Bennett, calling himself a “square peg in a round hole,” just doesn’t see a place for him in the game anymore.
“If you’re going to do it, you gotta be all in,” Bennett acknowledged at the Friday retirement presser. “If you do it half-heartedly, it’s not fair to the university and those young men.”
Reading between the lines here, Bennett isn’t sure he wants to be a part of what college sports has become.
And who can blame him?
In case you’re not following what’s happening in college sports that has driven Bennett, a titan of the coaching ranks, out of the game, here’s the skinny.
College basketball is becoming the developmental league for the NBA.
The model is shifting increasingly toward professionalism. Players are inching closer to becoming employees, with collective bargaining, salary caps, and more agent involvement on the horizon.
This isn’t what Tony Bennett signed up for.
Bennett made it clear, he’s not against athletes getting paid, no one should be, but everyone knows the current structure of student-athletes being 365-day-a-year free agents is not healthy or sustainable for the sport.
Who’s to blame for this mess?
Clearly this falls squarely on the NCAA.
Bennett sent a clear message to the NCAA over his concerns about his sport’s health, and he’s not the first coach to voice discouragement.
Bennett’s retirement from college coaching is just another high-profile departure from what is becoming the dark underbelly of college athletics.
Late Friday, the NCAA issued a lame response to Bennett’s retirement, stating, “The NCAA believes change in college sports is long overdue and is pursuing significant reforms, such as the expansion of core guaranteed benefits for student-athletes that include health insurance, scholarships, academic counseling, mental health support and career preparation.”
Nice try, but that’s about a decade or so too late.
Share
