Father's retirement surprised IU women's hoops coach Bennett
By Aaron Sharockman Indiana Daily Student
(U-WIRE) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- When Indiana women's coach Kathi
Bennett woke up Friday morning in a Houston hotel room, her
father Dick was no longer a basketball coach.
It was the first time she could say that.
Ever.
In all 37 years of Kathi's life, Dick has been a basketball coach.
But that all changed when Bennett announced his retirement from
Wisconsin in a press conference Thursday afternoon flanked by his
wife Anne, and Athletic Director Pat Richter.
For Kathi, who heard news from her family Wednesday after IU's
practice, the news was upsetting.
"It's really sad," Bennett said. "I just want him to have peace.
I'm so proud of him for doing what I know he had to do, to stand
up and do that. My heart aches.
"I wish I could be there and that's what is killing me the most."
Bennett, who guided Wisconsin to an NCAA Final Four appearance last
season, is retiring because of a burnout.
"I just simply was drained," said Bennett, who will be replaced by
UW assistant coach Brad Soderberg on an interim basis. "I just simply
could not keep up and it began to bother me. I don't want to go out
cynical."
The 57-year-old Bennett said his health was fine.
Kathi openly acknowledged her father's intense passion for the game of
basketball. In an earlier interview, she remembered one time when his
extreme emotions got to him while coaching at Wisconsin-Green Bay.
"I will never forget the struggles when I was in college and my dad was
taking over the Green Bay program," Bennett said. "It was around
Christmas time, and they were struggling. I was up in the stands,
and I almost got into a fight with someone ... they were screaming
'Bennett you're a bum,' and 'What did we bring you here for?'
"I remember going home after the game, and he was sitting at the table;
pure red, with his veins sticking out, and I remember telling my mom I
thought he was going to die. It was a scary time for our family."
An athletic department official from Butler, which plays in the same
conference as UWGB, recalled Bennett vomiting before many of his games.
Kathi said that his brother Tony will remain on as an assistant under
Soderberg.
"Tony wants to coach," she said. "It's in his heart and it's what he
wants to do. He's got all the qualities my father has, but he's able to
put things behind him faster.
"That's something maybe my father and me can't do."
Soderberg, who was head coach at South Dakota State from 1993-95 before
joining the Wisconsin staff when Bennett became the coach, said he tried
to talk his boss out of retiring.
"But as he told me, he just ran out of gas," Soderberg said.
In April, the Badgers lost to Michigan State 53-41 in the NCAA tournament
semifinals, the team's first NCAA Final Four appearance in 59 years.
Afterward, Bennett spent a week mulling retirement, but decided to return.
"I got caught up like everyone else in the euphoria of the Final Four,"
Bennett said, "and thought maybe I could just roll along ..."
But Bennett said he began to notice he wasn't paying attention to details
and knew then it was time to say good-bye to the game he loved.
Before the Badgers made their unexpected run to the Final Four, Bennett
was the subject of harsh criticism in Wisconsin for his antiquated style
of coaching and perceived shortcomings in recruiting. Unlike many coaches,
Bennett admits he hears criticism and is hurt by it.
In truth, Bennett made the Badgers respectable after decades of ineptitude.
In his five years, Wisconsin went to the NCAA tournament three times, after
just three visits in the previous 97 years. His last two teams are the
winningest in school history.
He has directed the Badgers to 24 victories over top 25 opposition, including
a 78-75 overtime victory against No. 13 Maryland on Wednesday night at the
Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
In the locker room afterward, he gathered his team and told them he was
calling it quits so he could spend time with family, friends and former
players.
"He didn't say much. He just said, 'Guys, I'm stepping back'," senior Andy
Kowske recounted. "We were all shocked. We all just gave coach a hug and
said good luck."
Known throughout the coaching ranks as one of the game's preeminent defensive
coaches, Bennett's Badgers led the Big Ten in scoring defense for four straight
seasons. He has lived in Wisconsin since childhood, and spent 11 years coaching
high school basketball in the state, before moving to Stevens Point in 1976.
Bennett succeeded without superstars, always uniting a roster of role players
into a cohesive unit that could play with the best teams in the country.
"Everyone here realizes we're not the most talented bunch of kids," senior
Mark Vershaw said. "For us to have done what we did, it just shows what a
great teacher he was."
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作者: Theodor (消失的神話) 看板: NCAA
標題: Re: Bennett的女兒為父親退休感到驚訝
時間: Sat Dec 2 22:13:58 2000
原來他們是個籃球世家（雖然也沒幾代啦），作女兒的現在
在印第安那大學女子部執教。
57歲，他的退休實在是太早了。
來波士頓當客座如何（笑）
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