Ron Sanchez made his first public appearance as the interim head coach of the Virginia men's basketball program on Wednesday afternoon, answering questions from
program on Wednesday afternoon, answering questions from the media in a Zoom press conference for around 20 minutes. With Sanchez taking over the program in a very unique situation - just six days after Tony Bennett's shocking retirement but exactly two weeks away from opening tipoff of the 2024-2025 UVA basketball season - there were a wide variety of questions thrown at Sanchez in this presser.
As far as the state of college basketball, we all know where it is; it's changing drastically. It's changing quickly, and I think we as coaches and athletic communities have to adapt to it. It's not going to go backwards. I still think that this game is fantastic. It's phenomenal for these young people to be a part of college basketball.
RON SANCHEZ: I'm not sure there are going to be many changes in what we do here. I referenced the Virginia way. In the past, this has been something that has taken years to establish. You know, I talk about Tony's last press conference when he departed, I was also there at his initial press conference. So, you know, the bookends to those in that moment, I realized how much energy has been invested into creating this basketball culture that's at the University of Virginia today.
And when you take over a program that was not performing well, and, you know, the expectations were in one place, and you really come in and you want to create something special, the beauty about that is that all those things already happened here. So for me is, I see every single year that I was at Charlotte, I learned something new that I will most certainly use during my time here.
RON SANCHEZ: The main catalyst was just trying to evolve. The game has changed so much over the last decade and we were just trying to find a way to keep up with those changes and identifying guys that can open up the floor a little bit for us, guys that could shoot the ball from the perimeter, guys with some size and some length. And it was for practical reasons.
Q. I understand you had breakfast this morning with with Coach. O'Connor. Obviously, you've been around this athletic part of this university for a long time. You know about the success that's kind of all around here. How do you plan to tap into those resources, maybe even outside the basketball program, to help you with your transition here?
Q. Hey, Coach, can you just take us through your initial message to the players after the news dropped, and what you wanted to portray to them? I'm assuming, stability, but can you just take us through what the opening message to the group was after the news came? RON SANCHEZ: It doesn't play a role in this at all. My role here as an assistant coach was to be a person that showed up every day to impact the program and to help this program be successful. It wasn't - "well hopefully I can have a different employment opportunity." Right now, the title, it doesn't mean anything. I'm here to serve this institution for however long it is.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ron Sanchez Named Interim Head Coach of UVA BasketballWith Tony Bennett announcing his retirement, Ron Sanchez has been named Virginia men's basketball's interim head coach.
Read more »
Is Ron Sanchez the Heir Apparent to Tony Bennett for UVA Basketball?With Tony Bennett announcing his abrupt retirement from Virginia basketball, is Ron Sanchez in line to be UVA's interim and potentially full-time head coach?
Read more »
Lady Gaga's 'Joker 2' Song Mirrors Aussie TV Show IntroWe will be seated for the national anthem.
Read more »
Ariana Grande Launches ‘Eternal Sunshine’ Live Performance Series With ‘Intro (End of the World)’Ariana Grande has released 'Eternal Sunshine (Slightly Deluxe and Also Live)' featuring live performances of each song plus a live video for 'Intro.'
Read more »
Unsolved Mysteries Volume 5 Episode 3: The True Story Behind The Cattle Mutilation MysteryNetflix&39;s Unsolved Mysteries intro title screen
Read more »
One Cowboy Bebop Episodes Proved Who the Series' Best Character IsCowboy Bebop intro with cast.
Read more »