The UVA Basketball staff is obviously aware that an effort is well under way to identify and get into place the next full-time head coach, whether it’s the internal candidate or someone from the outside.
The word ahead of Tuesday’s ACC home opener with NC State, which the ‘Hoos won, 70-67, with a nice comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit, is that the staff is approaching each game like it’s a national championship game.
This comes on the heels of what we’ve been reporting here at AFP, about a search committee beginning to vet potential permanent replacements for Tony Bennett, who retired two weeks before the tip to the 2024-2025 season, and pushed his long-time right-hand man, Ron Sanchez, into the head coaching role on an interim basis.
ICYMI
Sanchez is certainly a candidate for the job, though the feeling is, the 8-5 start, with double-digit losses to three Top 25 teams, has opened the door to outside candidates, with the search committee floating a list of big-time candidates (Purdue’s Matt Painter, Marquette’s Shaka Smart) and intriguing prospects like Bucky McMillan (Samford), Bob Richey (Furman) and Drew Valentine (Loyola-Chicago).
Because Sanchez is an interim coach, Virginia can actively reach out to candidates, through their agents, to gauge mutual interest, and you’d have to assume that the UVA Basketball job will be, if not the most attractive, on the short list of the most attractive jobs on the market when the 2024-2025 season comes to an end.
OK, so, I lay all that out for you as the preface to what Sanchez had to say on that topic after UVA’s comeback win over NC State.
ICYMI
- UVA Basketball: Sanchez pushes the right buttons to fuel second-half comeback
- Live Coverage: UVA Basketball rallies, knocks off NC State, 70-67
“There is no make or break. We don’t, every game is important. And no matter what the record is, every game is important. Doesn’t matter who the opponent is, every game is important. The only thing that we can control is our preparation and our focus. If we start looking at what’s coming ahead, you’re going to lose your way,” Sanchez said, trying to minimize the obvious pressure that he and his staff are under.
And I mean, yeah, that’s the approach that Sanchez and his assistants need to take.
If the final won-loss record is going to factor into the decision regarding Sanchez’s future, and it’s going to, clearly – it may not be determinative, but it’s going to be a factor – you’re not going to get to x number of wins if you’re not focused on each game and each opponent as a singular entity.
“Today was about today. Today was about NC State. It wasn’t about anybody else. We didn’t talk about what’s going to happen three months from now. I think that would be foolish. Today has enough. We worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, today, this is, let’s get NC State,” Sanchez said.
The reference to “three months from now” is your signal that, despite what Sanchez is trying to sell about taking it one game, one opponent, at a time, he knows what’s at stake.
Three months from now would be in the vicinity of April 1.
Whoever it is – Sanchez or someone from the outside – is almost certainly going to be in place by April 1.
For reference on that, Bennett was formally introduced as the new coach on March 31, 2009.
Sanchez and his team have at least 18 more games between now and then, which is to say, a lot will happen over the next three months.
“We don’t focus on things that we cannot control,” Sanchez said. “Cannot control tomorrow. Only thing we can control is our attitude, our energy, our attention to detail and my commitment to helping those kids on the floor today for this very specific game. I am not worried about tomorrow.”
Video: UVA Basketball coach Ron Sanchez focused on here and now
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Chris Graham
