They say senior guard Taine Murray outworks everyone and there he was, 9:33 a.m. the day after his head coach retired, shooting. He started with fakes and dribble pull-ups and then moved on to banging three-pointers.
And the question surfaced — is this something unique, blowing off steam the morning after a seismic shock? Or is this typical?
“I’d say that was a routine thing,” Murray said at Virginia’s media day Oct. 28. “I think it was obviously cool to see Chase and Kyle. I work with them a lot.”
That is Chase Coleman and Kyle Guy, members of the coaching staff and former Virginia players. Coleman offered advice and prodding pressure as Murray shot. Guy walked in at one point, holding a coffee, mostly just observing.
It looked normal. But as Murray found a rhythm with his three-point shots, drilling two, five, 10 in a row, media filtered into John Paul Jones Arena through a nearby hallway. They were massing there for a retirement press conference that would attract national attention.
Despite the growing crowd and mounting tension, Murray kept shooting.
“Even though [the program] is pretty similar,” Murray said at media day. “It’s still a little different without [Tony Bennett] being the face. So, yeah, I think it took a while to just process what was going on.”
That goes, it seems, for all his teammates. Everyone handled it differently, processed the news at separate speeds. A few said the announcement pushed the team together. Senior guard Jalen Warley, on the other hand, left and entered the portal. Some, like Murray, just keep shooting.
They have all had fewer than three weeks to adjust to an altered reality without the venerated coach they came to play for. An impromptu team meeting Oct. 17 delivered the hard truth. The world found out barely an hour later. Faces inscrutable, the players stood in the back corner the next day during the press conference.
Fast forward almost two weeks, and most at media day uttered some version of the word “shocked.” A couple, like redshirt freshman guard Christian Bliss and junior forward Elijah Saunders, made clear they held no resentment toward Bennett.
“It was kind of shocking,” Saunders said. “But I completely understand his reasons. Happy for him. Feel like he made the decision that he felt was best for his career, to retire.”
Understanding, though, does not erase the jolt that rocked the team on the eve of the season. Just like that — after 15 years of stubborn defense and stodgy pace, as interest swirled around an apparent offensive transition, still in the dwindling shimmer of a national title — out the door went Bennett.
In came Interim Coach Ron Sanchez. The continuity, with Sanchez entering his 11th season at Virginia, has smoothed the transition, abruptly as it came. But smooth should not be mistaken for simple.
“It’s definitely been a whirlwind of emotions,” TJ Power, the sophomore forward and Duke transfer, said. “I think, just because of the timing, it’s really hard for us to move on quickly. But I think we’ve done a good job.”
Sanchez shares close relationships with many of the players. He contacted Saunders, a San Diego State transfer, while he was still in the portal — the first member of this coaching staff to do so. He also served last year as a mentor to sophomore forward Blake Buchanan, watching film with him, using the same big-man-whisperer skills he used with Aly Khalifa at Charlotte.
Nothing, the players said at media day, has changed between them and Sanchez. He has navigated the relationship change that comes from switching from assistant coach to head coach by not changing the relationships.
“He’s the same coach,” Bliss said. “I think everyone loves his personality, loves him as a coach. And he hasn’t changed a bit. Still a genuine guy, great person.”
Murray and junior guard Isaac McKneely have helped in the transition, and just in general. Several players pinpointed the pair, stalwarts in a mercurial age, as blossoming leaders. Redshirt freshman center Anthony Robinson highlighted their leadership, and Saunders added that they have helped instill the team’s core on-court principles. The pair led some player meetings after the news struck.
“They've been really helpful in getting us accustomed to the culture here,” Saunders said. “Those are the only two guys that have been here more than one year.”
Murray and McKneely are the team’s only two upperclassmen to have spent their entire careers at Virginia. They represent the link, for a roster containing many players who never played a game for the erstwhile coach, to Bennett.
Bennett had not, at least as of media day, seen the players since his retirement. Perhaps that has eased the jostling after this most startling of preseason detours. The team, with nowhere else to go, looked inward.
“We’ve really come together,” Buchanan said. “I think last week we had a great week of practice. Our energy has been high. I think we just gotta do it as a team. We gotta do it for each other.”
So many uncertainties face Virginia this season. Questions about the new coach, the evolving system, the position of a program slipping from the pinnacle. But one thing, amid the shock and upheaval, is certain.
Murray will be at JPJ, in the morning, shooting. Just like always.
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