The University of Virginia, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from AFP, released on Monday the details of UVA Basketball coach Tony Bennett’s contract.
The contract, amended in 2019, set Bennett’s term of employment as ending on April 30, 2025, with an automatic one-year extension that went into effect on May 1, 2020.
Where that leaves us is, Bennett, with that extra year, is under contract with UVA through April 30, 2026, so, two more seasons – the 2024-2025 season and the 2025-2026 season.
That was one revelation from the institution to our FOIA request. The second item that we asked for was information on any contract extensions that have been offered to Bennett.
The answer from the FOIA office on that one: “The University has no records responsive to your request.”
Translation: there is no record on file at UVA about any contract extensions beyond April 30, 2026, that have been offered to Bennett.
We first made a request on the matter of Bennett’s remaining contract time and any extensions on the table after reports surfaced in online forums earlier this month that Bennett’s contract was up after the 2025-2026 season, and that he had been offered, and declined to sign, an extension that would lock him up beyond 2025-2026.
The truth, from the response to our public-records request, splits the difference: Bennett is committed to UVA Basketball for two more seasons, and to date, UVA Athletics has not tried to extend him beyond that.