Virginia’s Tony Bennett knows where the blame lies in teary-eyed retirement shocker

The NIL era has claimed another legendary coach.

Virginia’s Tony Bennett officially announced his retirement Friday — 20 days before the Cavaliers’ season begins — and, in a teary-eyed press conference, pointed at the reformed NCAA landscape in which players are now paid and can move programs without penalty.

“I realized I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program in the current environment. If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be all-in. You have to give everything. If you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men,” the 55-year-old said. “That’s what made me step away.

“I think it’s right for student athletes to receive revenue, but the game in college athletics is not in a healthy spot. It’s not. And there needs to be change, it’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way — that’s who I am and that’s how it was — and my staff has buoyed me along to get to this point but there needs to be change, it’s going to be a closer to a professional model.”

He called for restrictions on the salary pool for players, transfer regulations and limits on agent involvement, among other issues with the state of the game.

Virginia’s Tony Bennett suddenly retires right before season in college basketball stunner

Bennett, who signed an extension in June that would’ve kept him coaching the Cavaliers through 2030, guided his players to 10 NCAA tournament appearances — winning it all in 2019 — while adding six ACC regular-season title and two conference tournament championships over 15 seasons.

This came after a three-year stint at Washington State in which he went 69-33 from 2006-09, twice making the NCAA tournament.

Still, his track record of success — a 433-169 career record and two Naismith Coach of the Year honors — was unable to help him navigate the still rough NIL terrain.

St. John’s non-conference schedule comes together with Pitino family clash set

“Will I miss the game? Do I love the game? Absolutely,” he said. “But I don’t think I’m equipped in this new way to coach and it’s a disservice if you keep doing that. I’m very sure that this is the right step. I wish I could’ve gone longer. I really do. But it was time.”

UVA athletic director Carla Williams told reporters that Ron Sanchez would helm the team as the interim coach this season, with a national coaching search to follow.

Williams will be tasked with finding a coach who can make the most of a game heavily reliant on paying players and working the transfer portal — 1,960 Division players entered it in the latest cycle, per On3 — but the new reality isn’t something she’s taking lightly.

“When people like Tony Bennett exit men’s basketball, exit our industry for something that has nothing to do with teaching or coaching,” she said, “then shame on all of us.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR STARTING LINEUP NEWSLETTER

Bennett is the latest big-name college coach to cite the new way of doing business as a reason for leaving the game.

Alabama’s Nick Saban, a college football icon, and former Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim both pointed to the NIL as at least part of the reason for their departures.

Boeheim, who recored 1,015 wins over a legendary 47-year career spent entirely with the Orange, offered a warning in the wake of Bennett’s retirement news, which broke Thursday.

“We lost one of our great coaches solely because of the landscape that is college basketball,” he told Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman . “Our leadership has to stop focusing on how much money we can make and find a way to get the student athletes on board with an answer for NIL.”

Bennett, however, won’t be part of that solution — he’s found his own answers.

“I’m a square peg in a round hole,” he said. “It’s what it is. And that’s the hard part to admit. But it’s OK. Because when you tell the truth, there’s freedom in that.”

For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/