Bennett resigns as basketball coach; Soderberg to take over

A few months after leading the UW men’s basketball team to its best season in history, Dick Bennett announced today, Nov. 30, that he is resigning immediately as head coach.

Bennett coached the Badgers for the past five seasons and for the first three games of the 2000-01 season, compiling a record of 93 wins and 69 losses. Citing the emotional and mental drain of his 36 years as a coach, Bennett said that he has lost the energy to handle all of the varied demands of running a major basketball program.

“I want to go out feeling as I do about the game of basketball, the University of Wisconsin, and the young men I’ve coached during these 36 years,” Bennett said. “I feel that this is the opportune time to step aside, knowing that there are very capable people who are comfortable with the system we have used here. I, for the first time, am at peace with myself and whatever is to follow.”

Athletics Director Pat Richter named Brad Soderberg, formerly the program’s assistant head coach, as acting head coach at the press conference. Soderberg, who played for Bennett at UW-Stevens Point, called his mentor’s departure “the retirement of a basketball genius.”

“It’s a sad day for Wisconsin basketball,” Soderberg said. “In the past 35 years, I can’t think of anybody, male or female, who has had the impact on basketball in our state that Coach Bennett has.”

Bennett coached the Badgers to a school-record 22 wins in both the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons. Last season he guided the Badgers to the school’s first Final Four appearance since 1941. His teams developed a national reputation for hard-nosed defense and intensity, frequently allowing the lowest number of points to their opponents of any team in the Big Ten conference.

Bennett said he contemplated retirement after last season, but was swept up by the excitement of the tournament run and decided to return for another year. However, as the Badgers began their season in November, he said he wasn’t happy with his motivation and effort.

“I just simply was drained,” Bennett said. “I just simply could not keep up, and it began to bother me. I thought it was pretty soon going to be obvious that I just don’t have the drive that I once did.”

Bennett was entering his 25th year as a collegiate head coach, having led teams at UW-Stevens Point and UW-Green Bay before taking the job in Madison in 1995. His career record was 453-258 (.637) and included 24 wins over nationally ranked opponents. His final victory came Nov. 29, a 78-75 overtime win over 13th-ranked Maryland.

Bennett is the only coach in school history to have guided the Badgers to three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Richter said that he regretted seeing Bennett depart, but also was grateful for all his contributions to the program. “Fortunately for us, he’s brought in some very fine young men and assistants whom we believe will carry on the tradition that he has started,” Richter said. He expressed confidence that Soderberg would do an excellent job as the Badgers’ head coach.

Bennett made three NCAA tournament appearances with UW-Green Bay, where he coached from 1986-95. He coached UW-Stevens Point from 1976-86, leading the team to three NAIA tournaments and a national runner-up finish in 1983-84. Before that, he spent 11 years coaching various Wisconsin prep teams.

Bennett and his wife, Anne, are the parents of three grown children: daughters Kathi (who is head women’s basketball coach at Indiana University) and Amy, and son, Tony, who is an assistant with the Badgers staff.

Incoming Chancellor John Wiley expressed his support for Bennett after the announcement. “He’s a wonderful coach and terrific person,” Wiley said. “We’ll be sorry to lose him, but certainly need to respect his decision.”