The last trip for Tony Bennett’s Virginia team to the NCAA Tournament in March of 2021 ended with a 62-58 upset loss at the hands of then-junior forward Ben Vander Plas and the 13th-seeded Ohio Bobcats.
Vander Plas had 17 points that day, never realizing at that moment that just over a year later, he’d be playing for the coach he just sent home.
Bennett’s father, Dick, was the coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay during the 1990-91 season when Tony and Vander Plas’ father, Dean, were Phoenix starters — Vander Plas was a senior and Tony Bennett was a junior.
Bennett, who knocked down 80 of his 150 3-point attempts (53 percent) that season, was the team’s leading scorer at 21.5 points per game, while Vander Plas, a 6-foot-5 forward, put up 10.5 points and hauled down 3.5 rebounds a night.
That Green Bay team won nine of its last 10 games in the regular season before winning the Mid-Continent Conference championship and advancing to the school’s first NCAA Tournament. Although the Phoenix lost by two points that year to a solid Michigan State squad in the opening round, a lifelong bond was formed between the two families, so much so that when he was born a few years later in 1998, Bennett Vander Plas was named after his dad’s college coach.
“That family has meant a lot to my family over the years,” Vander Plas said of the Bennetts after the game. “When we got matched up, I was really excited to play against [Bennett]. He’s a great coach. I got to talk to him for a little bit after the game. He asked where my Dad was sitting. I pointed up there. That was a pretty cool moment with Coach Bennett.”
Fast forward to this past offseason, when Bennett was on the lookout for an experienced transfer to come in and help provide some perimeter scoring.
Vander Plas was entering his fifth and final year of eligibility after four years at Ohio. The 6-foot-8, 236-pound forward, originally from Ripon, Wisc., decided to transfer, and was familiar with Bennett and the success of the UVA program through conversations with his father.
After speaking with Bennett during the recruiting process, Vander Plas was intrigued by the stories of former Wahoos like Anthony Gill, Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III, who had each transferred in and improved their skills during their time with the Cavaliers en route to NBA careers.
Vander Plas also referenced UVA strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis’ ability to get guys stronger and more athletic as a major determining factor in his ultimate decision to become a Wahoo.
“That was a big piece, and then just the opportunity to win,” Vander Plas told reporters at the Cavaliers’ media-day event Wednesday. “This is a really, really good team. A lot of success in the past, and being able to be a part of it and try to win some games this year is something that I wanted to be a part of.”
Vander Plas admits that upon arrival, it wasn’t easy getting up to speed when it comes to learning the ins and outs of Virginia’s Pack-Line defense, but he feels “confident” in how far along he has come with the start of the regular season just a few days away.
“It’s going really well,” he said. “It’s challenging at times. They hold us to a really high standard, which I love. You know, they’re trying to get us the best we can be defensively, and we work at it every single day for a pretty good amount of time. So it’s been fun.”
He added that getting a little extra work in prior to the team’s trip to Italy this summer was a big help.
“Yeah, that Italy trip was super important for us,” Vander Plas said. “We get those 10 days of practice leading up to it, which were awesome, especially as a new guy being able to learn some of the system and get to play with the guys more. And then obviously playing the games over there, being able to be on the court with them. And then the off-the-court stuff is huge too, teammate chemistry stuff is huge for us, and being able to spend that time with them was a lot of fun.”
Fans got a glimpse of what Vander Plas can bring to the table in the annual Pepsi Blue-White Scrimmage at John Paul Jones Arena, when the newest Wahoo sank 3 of his 4 3-point attempts, certainly a welcome sign for a team that had its struggles from beyond the arc last season.
As a senior last year with the Bobcats, Vander Plas did a little of everything. He started all 35 games, averaging 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.5 blocks and a team-high 1.8 steals in 35.3 minutes per contest. He shot 46 percent from the field (166-for-363), 34 percent from long range (67-for-198) and 73 percent from the free-throw line, earning first-team All-Mid-American Conference honors in the process.
Vander Plas has played predominantly at the power-forward position, but said he has also spent a little time at the 5 (center) defensively, and believes he could even play at the 3 (small forward), depending on who else is on the floor.
It’s not known yet, at least externally, exactly what kind of role Vander Plas will have with the Cavaliers, but he will certainly be a key contributor throughout the season on both ends of the floor. He is also intrigued by the amount of talent around him.
“I think it’s really, really exciting to see how many guys we can have on the court,” said Vander Plas. “Obviously, there’s a set amount of minutes that we play in the game, so everybody can’t be playing 35 minutes a game, but the amount of guys that have the ability to step on the court and make a positive impact on the game is honestly unbelievable.”
Vander Plas said the biggest difference between the intensity level in practice with his new Cavalier teammates compared to his time at Ohio is the defense. He said he has been working with Coach Curtis on his footwork, and believes that will help more and more as the season rolls on.
“We really get after people here, and we need to with the competition we have, obviously, so the adjustment period in the summer getting used to that was a little bit challenging at times, but it was fun,” he said. “It was a fun challenge. Confidence continues to grow every day, being able to work with these guys and continue to learn new things defensively, but that was probably the biggest adjustment was just the defensive intensity of it.”
As he continues to acclimate himself to his new surroundings and improve his game, Vander Plas said he is ultimately just eager to get back out on the court. That next opportunity comes Monday night at 9 p.m. against North Carolina Central at JPJ.
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