Mamadi Diakite’s shot to drive extra time in opposition to Purdue within the 2019 Elite Eight — arrange by a wacky collection of bounces and a heads-up go following a missed free throw — is the distinction between Bennett being often called a university basketball legend and one of many sport’s most infamous chokers. The Cavaliers in the end defeated the Boilermakers and went on to win the nationwide championship the next week. However had Diakite missed that shot, Bennett’s profession arc would’ve been ceaselessly altered.
As an alternative of being remembered as a champion, Bennett could be remembered for UVA’s historic loss the earlier 12 months to UMBC, when the Cavaliers grew to become the primary crew to ever lose to a No. 16 seed as a No. 1 seed within the NCAA Match. Virginia did not simply lose that sport, both. It obtained demolished. UMBC beat the Cavaliers by 20 factors. And Virginia wasn’t simply any No. 1 seed. It was the No. 1 general crew within the bracket, thought-about by many the favourite to win all of it.
It was probably the most humiliating defeats within the historical past of sports activities, and for those who take out 2019, the remainder of Bennett’s match document is not an entire lot higher. He had no further Last 4 appearances and just one further Elite Eight, by which UVA blew a late 15-point result in Tenth-seeded Syracuse in 2016. Then after 2019, Bennett by no means received one other postseason sport in three match appearances. Two of these losses had been to No. 13 seeds and the third was a First 4 no-show by which Virginia scored 42 factors.
In fact, it is not honest to cut back Bennett’s physique of labor to his crew’s fates in probably the most random postseason format in all of American sports activities. The insanity of March is what makes the NCAA Match so particular, however let’s face it: it is a single-elimination bracket that consists of 68 groups. To win it, it’s a must to win six win-or-go-home matchups in a row. Simply to make the Last 4, it’s a must to win 4 of them. It is extraordinarily tough and lots of coaches — even among the nice ones — by no means do it.
That might be the narrative surrounding Bennett had it not been for 2019. Not that he was among the best expertise builders within the sport. Not that he persistently made his groups nationally related with rosters that paled compared to what ACC rivals comparable to Duke and North Carolina boasted on a yearly foundation. Not that he turned numerous three-star recruits into authentic NBA prospects. It will be that he all the time choked in March. That he by no means actually received something related. That he was the man who misplaced to a No. 16 seed.
Simply ask Purdue’s Matt Painter about how tough that label is to shed. Paradoxically, on this alternate actuality by which Diakite’s shot missed, Painter may also be perceived in a a lot totally different mild. He’d have a number of Last Fours on his resume and maybe the Boilermakers would have received that 2019 title. Like Bennett, his specialty is taking underrated recruits and creating them into successful gamers. But with no nationwide championship, he is nonetheless recognized by many for Purdue’s match shortcomings.
So whereas the school basketball world provides Bennett his well-deserved flowers, let’s take a second to acknowledge the significance of perspective. Bennett is not a legend as a result of the ball bounced his crew’s approach in some shut video games one 12 months. He is a legend as a result of he constructed and sustained a tradition of excellence that made UVA probably the most dominant forces in faculty hoops for the higher a part of a decade.
