Anthony Guy Bennett (born June 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player and since 2009 the head coach of the University of Virginia men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2019. Bennett is a three-time recipient of the Henry Iba Award, two-time Naismith College Coach of the Year, and two-time AP Coach of the Year. Bennett is the all-time wins leader at Virginia, and holds or shares records for single-season wins and career winning percentage at both Virginia and Washington State. He is one of three coaches in history (with Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski) to lead his program to ten or more consecutive winning ACC records and is one of three coaches (also with Smith and Krzyzewski) to be named ACC Coach of the Year four or more times.
From his first day at Virginia, he set the goal of building "a program that lasts." Originally inheriting the worst UVA team since 1967, his Cavaliers have had four 30-win seasons; won the NCAA tournament championship with a 35–3 team in 2019; won ACC tournaments in 2014 and in 2018; and have won or shared 6 ACC regular season titles. Known for coaching defensive intensity, Bennett has been ranked the top defensive coach in college basketball by ESPN Insider and a CBS Sports poll of head coaches. The style of basketball he teaches has often been compared to a boa constrictor choking out opponents, and his teams are known for their unselfish play, defense-first philosophy, and tempo control.
As a 5'11" point guard, Bennett ranks first in NCAA history for career three-point field goal accuracy at 49.7%, shooting above 50% from range in both his junior and senior seasons. He started for the United States national team at the 1991 Pan American Games, was awarded the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation's top player under six feet tall, and was named Academic All-American of the Year. Bennett starred for the Green Bay Phoenix under his father, Dick Bennett, who later took Wisconsin to the 2000 Final Four using an earlier version of the packline defense seen today at Virginia.
Bennett played three years in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets and after an injury, several more professionally in Australia and New Zealand where he started coaching. He has since coached several players at the college level who've gone on to be known for shooting prowess in the NBA, such as Malcolm Brogdon (eighth 50–40–90 shooter in NBA history), Joe Harris (led NBA in three-point accuracy in 2018–19 and in 2020–21) and Klay Thompson (one-half of the Splash Brothers). Both Harris and Thompson have won the Three-Point Contest at the NBA All-Star Game.
Biography and playing career
College
Bennett, a point guard, played for his father Dick Bennett at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB) following his high school career at Stevens Point Area Senior High and Preble High School. The Bennetts led the Phoenix to an NCAA tournament berth and two appearances in the NIT. During his time there, the Green Bay Phoenix had a record of 87–34 (.719) en route to Bennett being twice named as the conference's Player of the Year. He was awarded the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award given to the nation's most outstanding senior under six feet tall and was named the 1992 GTE Academic All-American of the year. He also started for a bronze medal-winning 1991 Pan-American Games team led by Gene Keady. He finished his collegiate career as the Mid-Continent Conference's all-time leader in points (2,285) and assists (601), and still ranks as the entire NCAA's all-time leader in 3-point field goal accuracy. He made 80 of 150 (53.3%) three-point field goal attempts in his junior season and repeated the feat of hitting over half of his three-point attempts during his senior season, making 95 of 186 (51.1%). He was also incredibly accurate on two-point field goal attempts for a guard, connecting on 502 of 917 (54.7%) two-point attempts for his college career.