College basketball world reacts to Virginia HC Tony Bennett's abrupt retirement

Virginia announced Thursday that two-time National Coach of the Year Tony Bennett was retiring after 15 seasons leading the program .

Following the abrupt news, many from the college basketball world shared their appreciation for his accomplishments and lasting imprint on the game.

A pair of former colleagues, Rick Pitino and Jay Wright, commented on Bennett's class while conveying the loss college basketball would feel without him.

If the news is true, college basketball just lost a man with incredible class, humility, and dignity.

Tony Bennett is an awesome teacher of our game.

You will be deeply missed! Tony is one of the most talented and toughest coaches we ever competed against .

We always respected him and his teams at the highest level .

A class guy - Inspirational - spiritual and an incredible competitor !! @UVAMensHoops https://t.co/aSgZxGFfAD Others like John Fanta of Fox Sports, who covered Bennett, shared similar thoughts while highlighting how monumental he has been to Virginia over the years.

Before Bennett's arrival in 2009, the program was fledgling but soon turned into an annual contender, winning six ACC titles, two ACC tournament championships and the 2019 National Championship during his tenure.

Tony Bennett was one of college basketballs remaining elite longtime head coaching faces and authored the sports ultimate redemption story from going from humiliation and handling it with class to the mountaintop.

One of the sports great humans.

He will be very missed.

It's still uncertain why Bennett chose to walk away now, with the Cavaliers' season set to begin on Nov.

6 at home against Campbell.

Health doesn't appear to be a factor in the decision, though, according to Field of 68 analyst Jeff Goodman, who surmised that the ever-evolving world of college basketball could have played a role.

"There is no health issue with Tony Bennett," Goodman posted on X .

"There are likely other reasons, but the changing landscape of college basketball over the last couple of years cannot be underestimated in his decision." The timing of the announcement made it easy for the mind to run wild when considering the "why" in this scenario.

It's even easier to jump to conclusions with health apparently off the list of reasons.

But, as CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein pointed out , it's not unusual for college basketball.

With Bennett leaving the sidelines, three coaches who have won four of the last eight National Championships including Jay Wright and Roy Williams are now out of the game for one reason or another.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN received an interesting response when he asked Bennett during ACC media day about possibly being "the next Jay Wright," by choosing to retire earlier than expected.

"I always have said," Bennett said, "when you're doing this, you're in this profession, whether you agree how it's going or not, you have to be true to yourself and really look at it and say, who am I? Can I operate how I want, and can it be successful enough?" Bennett said.

"And you get to choose if you wanna be a part of it or not.

And when you feel it's time, like Jay did, like Coach K, maybe Saban, it's their choice.".

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