Tony Bennett wakes up CBB with abrupt retirement, putting sleepy UVA offense to bed

The men's college basketball season is just a matter of weeks away. For the Virginia Cavaliers, they were preparing for the upcoming campaign, beginning on Nov. 6 against the Campbell Fighting Camels. But on Thursday, the Cavaliers made a huge announcement.

Virginia men's basketball's official social media account announced that head coach Tony Bennett will announce his "immediate retirement" in a press conference on Friday at 11 a.m. ET. The news was first reported by The Field of 68's Jeff Goodman.

According to Goodman, there is no health issue tied to Bennett's reason to retire.

Tony Bennett to retire just days before start of Virginia men's basketball's season

Bennett has been a mainstay at Charlottesville since 2009 after previously spending three seasons as the head coach of the Washington State Cougars (2006-09).

Bennett raised the bar at Virginia, leading the team to numerous NCAA Tournament appearances with his primarily defensive-heavy approach. Perhaps his most successful run was in the 2018-19 season, one year after they were bounced by UMBC in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. Virginia made it all the way to the NCAA Championship Game, where they defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 85-77 in overtime. This was the program's first NCAA Tournament Championship.

Last year, Virginia made it into the NCAA Tournament, where they lost 67-42 to Colorado State in a First Four matchup.

Bennett has a 364-136 overall record at Virginia. During his overall coaching career between Virginia and Washington State, 433-169 overall record and a 16-11 record in NCAA Tournament games.

There is no word on who will replace Bennett as the head coach on such short notice. Those answers will likely arrive during his press conference on Friday.