Perspective: For Tony Bennett and his father, a scream of victory to release all doubt
By Jerry Brewer Jerry Brewer Sports columnist Email Bio Follow Columnist March 31 at 2:18 AM LOUISVILLE — The coaching father watched his coaching son stand on a ladder, cutting and tugging at the net. When Tony Bennett completed his first Final Four task, he lifted the braided nylon with both hands and let out a scream that could have been heard from here to Charlottesville.“That’s as much emotion as I’ve seen him show,” Dick Bennett said proudly.
The program that got UMBC-ed is going to the Final Four. The first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 in NCAA men’s tournament history is the champion of the South Region a year later. It couldn’t have happened without the determination and character of the players and the rock-solid leadership of Bennett amid humiliation.
Well, yes and no. It took a collective effort to be so brilliant in handling such a comeback. On Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center, in front of a Purdue-dominant crowd and facing the shot-making brilliance of Carsen Edwards, Virginia endured in a way that maybe it couldn’t have if not for the hardships. Edwards scored 42 points and made 10 three-pointers in an enchanting performance, but Virginia played through it. Kyle Guy scored 25 points, breaking out of his shooting slump in the second half.
It was the players’ triumph, for certain. But over the past 10 years, it has been Bennett who yo-yoed between the accolades and admonishment as his program suffered through March phobia.“To be the team that gets him to the Final Four, I think that’s what means the most,” Jerome said. “But he’s believed in every single one of us. He has our best interest at heart, on and off the court. And he’s a great person. To finally quiet the critics feels great.
“I’ve watched him develop,” said Dick Bennett, who won 316 games as a Division I college coach. “He’s gone way past me as a coach. To have that kind of poise in that circumstance last year shows what kind of character he has. It’s something I wished I had.”
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