(WLUK) — Tony Bennett is back in basketball.
The Green Bay Preble High School and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate is working as an NBA draft advisor for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team announced the hire on Wednesday.
“We’re thrilled and honored to welcome Tony as an advisor to the Lakers basketball operations department,” team president Rob Pelinka said in a news release. “As we refine and build out our NBA draft and scouting processes, we could think of no better basketball mind than Tony Bennett to have as a resource. Tony’s track record of forming culture, with high-character, high-skill and high-IQ players is revered and respected across all basketball circles. Tony will be an incredible asset to our basketball leadership, to our scouts and to our draft department as a whole. We are truly excited.”
“When Rob and I began talking, what stood out to me was the chance to help out such a storied organization,” Bennett said. “The Lakers carry a tradition that speaks for itself, so to be connected to it and assist Rob and the Lakers in any way I can is exciting.”
Bennett coached at the University of Virginia from 2009-24. He is the school’s all-time winningest coach and led the Cavaliers to the 2019 NCAA championship. He cited the college basketball landscape — including name, image and likeness money and unlimited transfers — in his surprising retirement announcement.
Bennett previously coached Washington State and was an assistant under his father, Dick, at Wisconsin.
Tony Bennett played in the NBA for for the Charlotte Hornets from 1992-95.