UVA Basketball coach Tony Bennett, whose contract status was sitting out there, flapping in the breeze, for the past several weeks, entirely because the PR folks evaded questions on Bennett, and Bennett also evaded our questions, is officially, finally, extended.
UVA Athletics announced the extension on Thursday, coincidentally, a day after sending out emails to season-ticket holders to begin the renewal process for the 2024-2025 season.
The announcement, in a news release that went out to media members on Thursday afternoon, is that Bennett has signed an extension through April 30, 2030, with a rollover year that would be added if Bennett is still the head coach on April 30, 2026.
That April 30, 2026, date had been the end date for Bennett’s contract since the last time his contract automatically rolled over, on May 1, 2020.
That 2020 rollover was included in a 2019 amendment to the contract extension that Bennett signed in 2015.
I found all of this out through a series of public-records requests, because that’s what reporters do when people ask questions.
It’s probably worth doing one more Freedom of Information Act request, this one to see the details of the new extension, just to see what’s in there.
That would just be doing the ol’ due diligence as a reporter thing there.
More on that in five working days.
In the meantime, there are quotes from a press release to pass on!
“Tony Bennett is foundational to our efforts to compete for championships in this new model of college athletics,” UVA Athletics Director Carla Williams said in a statement in the news release.
Bennett “embodies everything important to the University of Virginia and Virginia Athletics,” Williams said in the statement. “It’s an honor to work with him and we’re thrilled about the future of men’s basketball under his leadership.”
“I love UVA, and it has always been a special place for me and my family,” Bennett said in a statement reported in the news release. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Carla Williams and Jim Ryan and to represent the University of Virginia. My staff and I look forward to adapting to the new landscape of college athletics. We will continue to build one of the best basketball programs on and off the court without compromising the values of our university. Go ‘Hoos!”
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Chris Graham
