Year Three at Virginia
The third year of anything usually is the big one. It is when wide receivers in the NFL break or bust and it is when basketball coaches better start winning at their “new” school. For Virginia and Coach Tony Bennett, it is year three and the expectations are higher and it is time for the Cavaliers to start winning some games.
For Coach Bennett, there is not much history to be had as far as his year three progress. At Washington State he took over for his father and had absolutely no rebuilding to do. In fact, his third and final year with the Cougars was by far his worst. After back to back 26 win seasons and trips to the NCAA Tournament, Coach Bennett finished with an 8-10 conference mark and his team only made it to the NIT, where they lost in the first round.
At Virginia Coach Bennett has had to rebuild. His team has only gone 12-20 in conference play during his first two seasons in Charlottesville, but the bad times should be coming to an end this year. The Cavaliers are not an overly experienced team as Bennett is still bringing in his style of players, but the talent is there and the system is now in place. Learning a Bennett offense is never easy, even though Tony’s version of the system is a little more open than that of his father’s slow it down style. The team is starting to buy into it and the recruits are mostly Bennett’s now. They fit into what he wants to do. He has those scrappy players who will work hard on both ends of the floor.
The one thing this group may lack is a consistent point guard who can be an extension of Bennett on the floor. Jontel Evans has that job and is making big strides. Whether or not that is enough remains to be seen. Either way, this is a team that should take the next step in 2011-2012. If everything goes well, which would involve Evans controlling the tempo, the frontcourt remaining healthy and the wings avoiding sophomore slumps, this could be a team that flirts with a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Even if everything does not go perfect, this is still a group that should reach a postseason tournament of some sort for the first time under Coach Bennett.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
