Like we told you last week, UVA Athletics is going to name the court at JPJ for former hoops coach Tony Bennett at the Jan. 24 UNC game.
They confirmed this for us and the world with a press release that went out today.
We first stumbled onto the news when AFP contributor David Driver interviewed UVA Basketball alum Anthony Gill after a Washington Wizards game in DC earlier this month.
ICYMI
After publishing the story on AG, we checked with the media-relations folks to see if we were onto something there, were not told “no,” so we went with the story on TB.
I got questions from readers afterward asking my thoughts on why the PR people didn’t just say, OK, you got us, and my answer was, they had their timetable for releasing it, and I’m perfectly OK with that.
I’m not much into the breaking-news part of sportswriting anyway; usually, though, breaking a sports news item involves getting something a few minutes before the press release goes out, not 10 whole days.
Anyway, hat tip to Mr. Driver here.
David: Your coupon for half-off a Burger King Whopper (*with the purchase of fries and a soda) is in the mail.
The press release confirming all of this for us tells us that ceremony dedicating the court to Bennett, who no doubt will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the occasion, will begin 15 minutes before tip-off, which is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Fact-check: ESPN has a game at noon ET between Ole Miss and Kentucky, so the tip is going to be more 2:05-2:10 p.m. ET.
Either way.
“Coach Bennett built a culture rooted in integrity, discipline and excellence — one that elevated Virginia men’s basketball into a national power,” said Carla Williams, the AD, who tried for several years, successfully, at first, and then, not, to convince Bennett to hang on through the uncertainty of the Wild, Wild West NIL-revenue sharing era.
Bennett, as we all remember, stepped down on the eve of the 2024-2025 season, leaving behind a roster that would go on to post a 15-17 record to his long-time right-hand man, Ron Sanchez.
Bennett is, of course, also responsible for the 2019 national championship banner hanging above the floor that will soon bear his name, in addition to him having led the program to six ACC regular-season titles and two ACC Tournament titles.
He finished with a 364-136 record in 15 seasons at Virginia from 2009-2024, with 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, which would have been 11, if the 2020 tournament hadn’t been canceled due to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.
Shocker here: the press release confirming the details of the Bennett ceremony tells us that single-game, group and mini-plan tickets are on sale at uvatix.com, with a four-game mini-plan features North Carolina, and one of Syracuse (Feb. 7), Miami (Feb. 21) or Virginia Tech (March 7), and two additional games of the fan’s choice.
There’s also a six-game mini-plan that features North Carolina, one of Syracuse, Miami or Virginia Tech, and four additional games of the fan’s choice.
I wonder what’s going on there, and I’ll speculate, because I’ve heard from frustrated fans, that it’s about the reseating that UVA Athletics has in the works for next year.
Hey, my wife was able to get a ticket for the UNC game without having to take out a second mortgage, so I’m not complaining.
Even so.
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Chris Graham
