| No. 5 Wonju Dongbu Promy | |
|---|---|
| Forward-Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | October 10, 1984 |
| Place of birth | Fairfield, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| High school | Torrey Pines |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | California |
| NBA Draft | 2006 / Undrafted |
| Pro career | 2006–present |
| Career history | |
| Austin Toros (2006-07) Dakota Wizards (2006-08) (2008-2009) SLUC Nancy (2008) Reno Bighorns (2009-2010) Wonju Dongbu Promy (2010-12) |
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
| NBA D-League Player of the Week 2007 D-League All Star |
|
| Stats at NBA.com | |
Rodrique Zsorryon Benson (born October 10, 1984 in Fairfield, California, USA) is an American professional basketball player with the Wonju Dongbu Promy of the Korean Basketball League. He is a notable blog writer.
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Benson attended Torrey Pines High School, and averaged 14 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks while leading the basketball team to a 25-4 record in his senior year. He was named first team all-league and second team All-CIF San Diego Section. He was rated the No. 3 center on the West Coast by TheInsiders.com. He also played three years of varsity volleyball, earning first team league honors in 2002.[1]
Benson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and majored in political science. After a huge improvement in his basketball from his sophomore to his junior year, Benson's senior year was marred by heel and knee injuries, which forced him to miss 11 games, impacting his future career heavily.
In the summer of 2006, Benson played for the Sacramento Kings Summer League team. He was noticed by many NBA scouts, but was never offered a contract by any team.
When Benson left California, he started the 2006-2007 NBDL year with the Austin Toros. He had a game high of eight points on November 25, but averaged 2.4 points per game and was released by the team on January 3, 2007.
He was subsequently signed by the Dakota Wizards on January 9, 2007. In one of his first contests with the Wizards, he scored 17 points in 17 minutes. He ended the year with an average of 10.8 PPG. On March 17, 2007, he scored a personal high 27 points in a 126-100 win over the Arkansas Rimrockers. After training with the NBA's New Jersey Nets during the summer of 2007, Benson was re-signed by the Wizards for the 2007-2008 season and recorded averages of 13.6 points and a league best 12.1 rebounds per game.[2]
On August 25, 2008, he was signed by defending French Pro-A league champion SLUC Nancy. He requested and was granted a release on December 12, 2008. Not soon after, he signed a deal with the NBDL's Dakota Wizards, his former D-League team.
On March 4, 2009, he was traded to the Reno Bighorns for Jesse Smith.[3]
Benson will play for the Utah Jazz in the Orlando Pro Summer League, and later for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Summer League in 2010.[4]
He currently plays for the Wonju Dongbu Promy of the Korean Basketball League.
Benson writes a personal blog titled Too Much Rod Benson, as well as contributing to the Ball Don't Lie blog on Yahoo! Sports.
He wrote an autobiographical feature article that was published in SLAM Magazine in April 2008.[5] He has also been featured in ESPN The Magazine,[6] and was profiled on the ESPN television series E:60 by Bill Simmons in April 2008.[7]
Rod Benson is a co-founder of the so-called "Boom Tho Movement", a loose organization devoted to the philosophy of "having fun, being ridiculous, and being yourself". Along with fellow UC-Berkeley student Jason "JGant" Gant, Benson has produced several music videos for YouTube based on the movement. According to Benson, his catchphrase "Boom Tho!" is defined as "an occurrence of an uncommonly good thing." Benson even sells "Boom Tho" memorabilia on his site, and has designed multiple t-shirts adorned with "Boom Tho" logos.
Benson's blogging has actually been viewed in a negative light by some NBA executives, however, who actually call it a "red flag" -- not only because they see him spending time writing and filming instead of working on his game (a notion Benson disputes, citing his 2007-08 NBDL All-Star status), but also because they fear the free-spirited Benson will break the "locker room code" and write candidly about coaches, teammates, & the front office.[8] But Benson maintains that he still has to "keep it real": "What you get is a blog that chronicles the ridiculousness that I call my life, complete with photos, videos, and whatever else may be necessary for you to get the point."[9]