#1 – Tony Bennett of Virginia
If the Phoenix Suns are going to look to the college ranks to hire their next head coach, among the greatest college basketball minds that are actually available, their first phone call should be to Mr. Bennett.
To overcome adversity like the Suns do, bringing in a head coach that has done that on a personal level is a very good start.
He’s only 49-years-old so he’s fairly young.
He has been the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Virginia since 2009.
Bennett is the only living coach to have won the Henry Iba Award for National Coach of the Year three times. Only the late John Wooden has won more. As a coach, to have your name up there with Wooden is a serious accomplishment all on it’s own.
The Cavaliers just won the NCAA Tournament Championship under him. They’ve won the ACC Tournaments in 2014 and 2018 as well.
He holds the school record for single-season wins and career winning percentage.
In his 10 seasons at Virginia, the team has averaged 25 wins per season on a .741 winning percentage.
After being knocked out in the first round despite being a number one seed, he marched his squad back out there and cut down the nets the very next season. How’s that for adversity? Instead of letting him get him and his team down, they got even.
Why would he come coach the Phoenix Suns?
It would be a serious step if he left what he had at Virginia to come to Phoenix. However, what he could do with Ayton, Booker and the rest of the guys would be special. Watching him build this city back to a basketball power like it once was would be great and there’s no doubt he would be able to do just that.
According to a source on Wikipedia, his style of basketball has drawn a rather descriptive image.
"“It’s a boa constrictor choking out opponents.”"
His teams are known for their unselfish play, defense-first philosophy and tempo control.
The Suns need to pick up the phone, congratulate Tony on his championship and ask him if he’d be interested in coming to Phoenix. If he says yes, I’d be completely fine with them not even interviewing him. Just have him sign that dotted line and bring him over.
These are my top candidates if the Suns go the direction of the college ranks. What do you say fans?