Baylor to hire Ron Sanchez as associate head coach

On Friday, Baylor announced the hire of Ron Sanchez as the team’s associate head coach. Sanchez served as Virginia‘s interim head coach last season after Tony Bennett unexpectedly retired in October.

“Ron is a tremendous fit for our program, and we are excited to welcome him to Waco,” Drew said. “He has built and coached champions throughout his career in a variety of roles, doing it alongside legendary names like Dick and Tony Bennett. Spending nearly three decades pouring into athletes and helping them reach their dreams, Ron will be a great steward of our Culture of JOY.”

Under Sanchez’s guidance, Virginia posted a 15-17 overall record last season, along with an 8-12 mark in conference play. Before being named the interim head coach, Sanchez was Virginia’s associate HC in the 2023-24 season.

Last year at Virginia isn’t Sanchez’s only collegiate head coaching experience. He also was the head coach at Charlotte from 2018-23. In his five seasons with the program, Sanchez amassed a 72-78 record.

He had his best year at the helm in the 2022-23 campaign. The 49ers posted a 22-14 record and won the College Basketball Invitational.

Sanchez also has assistant coaching experience at Washington State (2003-09) and Indiana (2001-03). Sanchez’s latest stint at Virginia wasn’t his first. He was an assistant coach for the Cavaliers from 2009-18.

In his first stint with the program, Ron Sanchez helped the Cavaliers win 212 games, three ACC regular-season championships, two ACC tournament titles. Moreover, Virginia made six NCAA tournament appearances. The Cavaliers were a No. 1 seed in three of those appearances.

During his final season in Charlottesville, Virginia was named the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in 35 years en route to a 31-3 record. In turn, the program won its first NCAA title the following year in 2019. Now, Sanchez will look to help Baylor find similar success.

With the addition of Sanchez, Baylor’s 2025-26 coaching staff consists of head coach Scott Drew, assistant coach Jared Nuness, assistant coach Tweety Carter, assistant coach Steve Henson and assistant coach Melvin Hunt. The staff also includes Ty Beard, Jason Smith and Gabe Awbrey.

Baylor is coming off a down season, in which it went 20-15 and 10-10 in conference play. The Bears won their first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament but fell in the Round of 32 for the fourth consecutive season.