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UVA Basketball: Why Carla Williams is intent on a national search for a new coach

Chris Graham
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Photo: UVA Athletics

Ron Sanchez is the interim head men’s basketball coach at Virginia, and Athletics Director Carla Williams made it clear last week that she intends to conduct a national search for the next full-fledged head coach.

What does that mean?

Let’s start with what it doesn’t mean: that she’s going to hire somebody mid-season.

Just needed to get that out of the way here at the outset.

The 2024-2025 season is Sanchez’s, however it goes – and it should go well. UVA was picked fifth in the media poll at the ACC Basketball Tipoff earlier this month, and a team finishing fifth in the 18-team ACC would be on pace to win 23-25 games and get a top eight regional seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, if things play out like that, Sanchez is almost certainly the next full-fledged head men’s basketball coach at the University of Virginia.

But Williams needs to have all her bases covered, which is why she made public the notion of conducting a full-scale national search.

Because she doesn’t have a head coach currently under contract – Sanchez is the interim, and his contract has him serving as an associate head coach on the staff – Williams is free to begin the search process immediately.

The limitations on the search process are inherent to the presumption that top candidates are currently under contract somewhere else.

The search process, then, would involve Williams, or, more likely, a search firm hired by UVA Athletics, identifying and vetting potential candidates, and making contact with the agents of some of the candidates to gauge possible interest in the job.

The goal would be to have the process at a point of maturity by the end of the season to the point that UVA Athletics could be first in line to make a move on its top choice the moment that person would be available.

It’s not a sign of disrespect to Ron Sanchez that this work would be ongoing during the season.

It’s just Carla Williams doing her due diligence.

Notebook


tony bennett uva basketball
Tony Bennett at his retirement press conference. Photo: UVA Athletics

Does Bennett owe UVA Athletics a buyout? There seems to be a conflict in the language in the 2017 and 2019 contract amendments signed by Tony Bennett on the required buyout that Bennett would have to pay if he were to voluntarily leave before the end of his contract.

The 2017 contract amendment required Bennett to pay a buyout if he were to step down for any reason; the 2019 amendment tied the buyout specifically to Bennett leaving to become a head coach at another NCAA program or in the NBA.

The offer sheet that Bennett signed in June simply lists a $250,000 buyout.

I asked Williams last week about the buyout issue, and she said she hadn’t yet thought that through, which was understandable, given how quickly things had developed with Bennett’s decision to step down.


uva tony bennett staff
Photo: Mike Ingalls/AFP

What does UVA Athletics owe Sanchez, Williford if a new coach is hired? If the season doesn’t play out the way we hope it will, and Carla Williams ends up deciding to go outside for the next full-fledged head coach, Ron Sanchez is in a good situation, contract-wise, Jason Williford, not so much.

Sanchez, per the terms of his contract, is tethered to UVA through April 30, 2027, and if he is terminated without cause, UVA Athletics owes him money through April 30, 2027.

Williford’s contract expires on April 30, 2026, and if he is terminated without cause, his compensation is only guaranteed for three months following his termination.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].