ESPN.com · Mar 16, 2021
Ranking 2021 NCAA tournament coaches as players, 1-68
Tony Bennett's five fellow NBA alumni coaching in the 2021 NCAA tournament can only hope Bennett has started a trend.
When his Virginia Cavaliers became college basketball's most recent national champions in April 2019, the ex-Charlotte Hornet Bennett became just the fifth person to both play minutes in a meaningful NBA game and also coach a Division I men's basketball champion, joining Kevin Ollie (UConn), Billy Donovan (Florida), John Thompson (Georgetown) and Al McGuire (Marquette). (If you'd like to expand the definition, Kansas' title-winning coach Larry Brown played for three franchises in the ABA during his playing career, including the Denver Nuggets).
