BALTIMORE — If any team can empathize with Virginia basketball’s current circumstances, it’s Villanova.
The Wildcats understand the shock of having their championship-winning head coach retire suddenly. They experienced it when Jay Wright stepped down in 2022 after leading Villanova to two national titles in 21 seasons.
But the sting is still fresh for the Cavaliers, who beat the Wildcats 70-60 on Friday at the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore to improve to 3-0.
Virginia was less than three weeks away from its season opener when Tony Bennett stunned the college basketball world by stepping down abruptly last month. Bennett, who led the Cavaliers to their lone national championship to date in 2019, was the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coach of the Year four times during his 15-year tenure in Charlottesville.
“If you’re going to do it, you gotta be all in. If you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men,” Bennett said at his Oct. 18 retirement news conference. “So in looking at it, that’s what made me step down.”
Ron Sanchez is now in charge at Virginia, tabbed as the team’s interim coach after spending last season as associate head coach under Bennett.
Sanchez, 51, faces the same challenge that current Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune did after taking over for Wright: inheriting a storied program after the sudden departure of its greatest coach.
But when asked Friday whether he draws on Neptune’s similar experience for guidance amid his new role, Sanchez downplayed the parallel between himself and his counterpart.
“I just focus on the task at hand. I don’t spend too much time wondering about other things,” Sanchez said. “Right now, (athletic director) Carla Williams has afforded me the opportunity to lead this program and to lead these young men.
“The only thing I think about … is how can I be the best for them? Who retired, who left, there’s no free rent in my head for any of that.”
Both Sanchez and Neptune had previously been longtime assistants under the coaches they eventually succeeded, and they also have prior head coaching experience at the Division I level. For Sanchez — a Bennett assistant from 2009-18 before spending five seasons leading Charlotte — that familiarity means keeping Virginia’s trademark pack line defense in place while trying to help the offense evolve.
That side of the ball looked sharp Friday, as the Cavaliers shot 51 percent from the field and had their season highs in points and 3-pointers (14).
For his part, Neptune was asked to compare his circumstances to Sanchez’s.
“I don’t know exactly what he’s going through every day,” Neptune said. “I would imagine that he’s just trying to coach his team to the best of his ability, work with his staff every day to make sure that they’re trying to put their guys in the best position possible.”
Unlike Sanchez, who has coached just three games since taking over for Bennett, Neptune is not immune to scrutiny amid his quest to deliver his program another national title.
Friday’s loss dropped the Wildcats to 2-3 this season and 37-36 overall under Neptune in his two-plus seasons on the job.
For a fanbase that experienced championships in 2016 and 2018, patience is starting to grow thin. Villanova has missed the NCAA Tournament two straight years, and Neptune’s job security has become a valid topic amid the Wildcats’ slow start this season.
“All I can focus on right now is trying to prepare our team for our next game, and (trying) to make sure that we put ourselves in the best position to be the best team we can be at the end of the year,” Neptune said.
Villanova’s struggles under Neptune warn of the potential heat Sanchez could receive if the Cavaliers endure a similar multi-year rut.
Both men already deal with plenty of pressure as the head coach of a storied Division I program. Returning their team to championship contention after replacing an iconic predecessor makes it even more daunting.
Facing such circumstances may be a lonely feeling, but for two hours on Friday evening, Neptune and Sanchez were connected by that unique challenge.
–Tanner Malinowski, Field Level Media
