Bennett lets high schools coaches know they are important

CHARLOTTESVILLE - On the first day Division I men's basketball coaches were allowed back on the road to evaluate prospects this month, Tony Bennett was in Hampton.

The University of Virginia's new coach wasn't there to scout players Monday. The classes of 2010,'11 and'12 were elsewhere. Bennett traveled to Tidewater to introduce himself to members of the Virginia High School Coaches Association.

He saw some familiar faces at the VHSCA's annual clinic, but most of the coaches he'd never met.

"I told them this is a very important day for us to be out on the road recruiting, but I thought it was more important for me to be there," Bennett said Tuesday from Cincinnati.

To the group, Bennett spoke some about his coaching philosophy and his system's defensive principles. Mainly, though, "I talked about how important what they do is to us," he said.

"There's a great value in being a high school coach and the impact they have. They're with the kids on a daily basis, whether they have a huge role in the decision-making process [in recruiting] or not. My high school coach had an impact on me, and I talked about that. Some of the things he taught me I still use today, and my dad still gets calls from players he coached in high school."

Bennett, whose uncle also is a former high school coach, had few ties to this state before taking the U.Va. job. He played for his father at Wisconsin-Green Bay and coached under him at Wisconsin and Washington State. Tony Bennett spent three seasons as WSU's coach, compiling a 69-33 record, before leaving for Charlottesville.

Baseball coach wins another honor

Brian O'Connor was named the CollegeBaseballInsider.com 2009 national coach of the year, marking his second national coach of the year award this season.

He also was named the NCBWA national coach of the year a few weeks ago. Earlier this week, he earned ABCA Atlantic region coach of the year honors as well.

The CBI award is the second such honor for O'Connor, who also was named the CBI national coach of the year in 2004 following his first season as coach at Virginia.

O'Connor was selected from a group of five finalists, which included Steve Peterson of Middle Tennessee, John Anderson of Minnesota, Mike Gillespie of UC Irvine and Jim Schlossnagle of TCU.

Virginia posted a 49-15-1 record this year, setting a school record for victories as the Cavaliers earned their first berth in the College World Series. - Jeff White