The Commonwealth of Virginia has been blessed by God with beautiful mountains, fruitful valleys, incredible rivers and a wonderful coastline. The state is also filled with wonderful institutions of higher learning and great athletics on many levels. But still one of the most amazing things about the Old Dominion is the head basketball coaches at the two ACC schools within the state. Tony Bennett at the University of Virginia and Buzz Williams at Virginia Tech are two of the finest college basketball coaches in America but more importantly they are two of the finest men in coaching in all the world. They are very different men and yet their core values are very similar.
Tony Bennett was born in 1969 (the year I graduated from high school) and has seemingly done everything well for 47 years. He played college basketball for his father Dick Bennett at Wisconsin – Green Bay from 1988 to 1992 and was twice named conference player of the year, was a two time Academic All American, was named the best player in the nation under 6 ft tall and still holds the record for NCAA percentage 3 point shooting – 49.7%. He was then drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA and after 3 years in Charlotte, Tony tried other levels of professional basketball before beginning his coaching career. Once he determined he could coach without the stress he had seen in his coach/father while maintaining his integrity and patience, he decided to become a coach.
Tony Bennett’s college coaching career actually began in 1999 when he agreed to be his father’s manager at the University of Wisconsin so they could spend more time together. Stress led to Dick Bennett’s retirement from coaching in 2001 but his replacement, Bo Ryan asked Tony to stay on his staff. Tony stayed at Wisconsin until his dad decided to come out of retirement and when Dick Bennett became Washington State University’s head coach in 2003, Tony left Wisconsin to become an assistant at Washington State. A year later Tony Bennett was named his dad’s successor and promoted to associate head coach. He became head coach in 2006.
Since becoming a head coach Bennett has achieved as much success as any coach in America, having been named the Naismith Coach of the Year, having won the Henry Iba Award as the best coach in the Nation twice, having been named the ACC coach of the year twice and having earned the reputation as the best defensive coach in college basketball. His teams have won 70% of their games and his teams hold the records for most games won in a season at both Washington State and the University of Virginia.
But Tony Bennett is not defined by his success as a basketball coach. Bennett is married and has two children, one son and one daughter. Bennett met his wife at a church in nearby North Carolina, while he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets. He is a Christian, and has spoken about his faith saying, “When you have a relationship with the Lord, there’s a peace and perspective you have. The world didn’t give it, and the world can’t take it away.” Bennett also has cited his faith as impacting his coaching philosophy, in particular his use of his father’s “Five Pillars”: humility, passion, unity, servanthood, and thankfulness. Tony Bennett is a terrific basketball coach but he is a far better man and Virginia is blessed to have him in her midst.
Brent Langdon “Buzz” Williams was born in 1972 (when I was a junior at Virginia Tech). He earned his nickname because of his boundless energy as a student assistant in college. Williams is one of the rare coaches in college basketball who has never set foot on the floor as a college player. He makes up for that now as a coach as he spends most of the game walking up and down the floor in front of the bench encouraging his players.
Buzz began as an assistant coach in 1994 and remained an assistant coach for 12 years at several schools until he was named head coach at New Orleans in 2006, just seven months after Hurricane Katrina. By then he had earned the reputation as a great recruiter and after only one year at New Orleans he was lured away by Tom Crean at Marquette. A year later, Williams was named Head Coach at Marquette.
Immediately after being named Head Coach, Buzz went right after the big three (Wesley Matthews, Dominic James, and Jerel McNeal) the same way he did Bo McCalleb at New Orleans, always pushing, proding, and demanding their best every day. Buzz always went after the best players, forcing them to set the tone and pace for the rest of the team. Lazar Haywood, Jimmy Butler, Darius Johnson-Odom, Dwight Buycks, Jae Crowder, all NBA players that were never top 100 high school players. Buzz forced them to lay it all on the line and it made them the professionals they are today. A magazine article one time read,”With Buzz Williams you have to Practice” practice, you better not miss your turn in line, every drill, every day is a much better synopsis of a Buzz Williams practice.
At Marquette Williams led his teams to NCAA bids in each of his first 5 seasons as head coach and his teams won 67% of their games. His NCAA tournament record is 8 – 5, having reached the Sweet Sixteen twice and the Elite Eight once. After 6 years as Head Coach at Marquette Buzz shocked the nation in 2014 by accepting the job at Virginia Tech.
In his first season at Tech, the Hokies finished 11 – 22 (2 – 16 in the ACC) and people were sure Williams had made a huge mistake in coming to Blacksburg. But by working hard and recruiting harder, Buzz led the Hokies to an NIT berth in his second year with an overall record of 20 – 15 and an ACC record of 10 – 8. This season while playing with only 8 players most of the season, the Hokies are 18 – 7 and 7 – 6 in the ACC. Until Chris Clarke was injured in a double overtime victory over UVA, Virginia Tech appeared destined for an NCAA berth.
But like Tony Bennett, Buzz Williams is a better man than a basketball coach. He and his wife, Corey, have established a program called Buzz’s Kids first at Marquette and now in Blacksburg. Buzz’s Kids works with children with disabilities and invites these special heroes to several games a year to be introduced before the game and honored during the game. At Virginia Tech the Williams have also established a Buzz’s Kids scholarship program for students with disabilities. Buzz Williams also tweets profound wisdom nearly every day @TeamCoachBuzz on Twitter and I invite you to enjoy.
We are truly blessed to have these two young men in our midst for this season of our lives. They are true leaders of men and true examples of humility with boldness. May God bless Tony Bennett and Buzz Williams!
