Tony Bennett On Reaching the Final Four: “I Didn’t Realize How Hard It Is”

Tony Bennett matched his father’s success. He got to the Final Four, just like Dick Bennett did 19 years ago with Wisconsin Badgers.

These two became only the second pair of fathers and sons who reached the final stage of the NCAA’s March Madness, after Virginia eliminated Purdue in the Elite Eight last night, 80-75.

Bennett Jr., now aged 50, still remembers the game against Purdue when his father led the Badgers to Final Four. At the time, that achievement wasn’t looking special to him, but as the years went by, Tony realized that being successful in the tournament is one very nasty job.

“First year I was a volunteer manager for my dad, was the year they went to the Final Four against Purdue in 2000. I remember thinking, I think I want to do this. This seems easy. I didn’t realize how hard it was.”

After 10 years of coaching the Cavaliers, Bennett finally made something notable with this programme.

Last season, Virginia had high hopes, but they suffered a sensational loss against UMBC in the first round of the March Madness and became the first No.1 seed to lose against the 16th seed at that stage of the tournament.

Three games into this year’s tournament, and it seemed that the Cavaliers are going to choke again. They were behind the Boilermakers in the first half, at one moment even 10 points, 22-12, but managed to rally somehow and to decrease that until the halftime.

Coming into the second period, Kyle Guy hit two long-distance shots, which shifted the momentum to Virginia’s side. With 5:52, the Cavs had a 6-point lead.

But Carsen Edwards was unstoppable. He led his Purdue to a complete comeback in the final minutes of the game, creating a 7-0 series which brought back No.3 seed in the game.

With 68 seconds to go, Edwards who had fantastic 42 points, buried his 10th three of the game, which was too much for Bennett who couldn’t believe what is going on on the floor.

“He made me rip my play card in half,” Bennett said.

Only this time, luck was on Cavs’ side, and all the unfortunate defeats in the past came back. Purdue decided to protect their three-point lead, 70-67, with a foul. It turned out to be a mistake.

Ty Jerome was on the line with 5.8 seconds to go. He made the first attempt, missing the second one. Mamadi Diakite at first tipped off the ball, which ended in Kihei Clark’s possession and later scored a buzzer-beating basket to tie the contest.

“You gotta be ready, last shot, make it a good one. And don’t be nervous. I let it go. It went in,” Diakite stated after the match.

Edwards didn’t have a strength to continue pulling his team in the overtime, and the Most Outstanding Player of this tournament missed a three, and later lost the ball in the crucial moments, which sealed the fate of his team.

On the other side, that sparked a massive celebration of the Cavaliers.

“Nobody understands what we went through last year. Nobody does,” Jerome stated after the game. “We stayed together as a team, even got closer. Going to the Final Four after that is unbelievable.”

Jerome didn’t miss a chance to praise Edwards and his performance, saying that his team couldn’t handle Purdue’s guard in one-on-one situations.

“He had a performance of the ages,” Jerome said.

In 2016, Virginia reached the Elite Eight stage, and that was Tony Bennett’s best record at the NCAA tournament. He did have a few ACC titles, but nothing big when it counts.

Now, they will have a chance to prove all the critics wrong. The Cavaliers are often disputed, underestimated and considered less valuable than other programmes, despite their fantastic record over the last decade.

Their next opponents will be the winners from the Auburn vs Kentucky matchup. Bennett has one week to prepare his players for what is the biggest games of their lives. And if they win that one, then they will have a chance to go down in history books forever.