Fortune Names Tony Bennett One of Greatest Leaders

Posted on Friday, Apr. 19, 2019, 6:46 pm

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Tony Bennett pumps his fist during the April 13 championship celebration ceremony.

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Bennett’s leadership was no secret to legions of Virginia basketball fans, particularly over the past year in how he handled the doom of March 2018 and the redemption of March 2019.

Now, the whole world is watching.

Fortune Magazine has included Bennett in its “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” list for 2019, quite an honor for anyone in the world of sports, a list that is led by Bill & Melinda Gates.

Bennett, who was cited for rebounding Virginia from a mighty NCAA loss last year to reel in a big win in March Madness this year, came in at No. 48 on the list. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, who led his team to the Super Bowl only to lose to New England, was also on the list.

The two-paragraph blurb on Bennett recognizes how the Cavaliers’ coach handled last year’s upset by UMBC with such humility and grace and used that defeat to fuel this year’s drive to the Final Four and captured UVA’s first basketball national championship in program history.

If you’re a Wahoo fan, you’re more than familiar with how Bennett finds unique ways to inspire and motivate his players, not only before games but before the season and even during the off-season. He consumes books about motivation, and often quotes those books, the Bible, and films or TV shows with positive messages.

Bennett has a poster of “Rocky,” the film character, hanging in his office. The message of the poster is that all the coach and his program wants is a chance for a championship fight, just like Rocky Balboa.

This year, Bennett and the Cavaliers got that chance, and they brought back the trophy to Charlottesville.