Keith Benson

Keith Benson

Benson in 2009 with Oakland.
No. 34 – BC Kalev/Cramo
Position Center / Power forward
League KML
VTB United League
Personal information
Born August 13, 1988
Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 236 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school Detroit Country Day School
(Beverly Hills, Michigan)
College Oakland (2007–2011)
NBA draft 2011 / Round: 2 / Pick: 48th overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Pro career 2011–present
Career history
2011 Dinamo Sassari (Italy)
2012 Sioux Falls Skyforce (D-League)
2012 Golden State Warriors
2012–2013 Erie BayHawks (D-League)
2013 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters (Philippines)
2013 Erie BayHawks (D-League)
2013–2014 Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus)
2014 Shanxi Xinda (China 2nd)
2014–2015 Neptūnas Klaipėda (Lithuania)
2015–present BC Kalev/Cramo (Estonia)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Keith Anderson Benson, Jr. (born August 13, 1988)[1][2] is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for BC Kalev/Cramo in the Korvpalli Meistriliiga. He played college basketball at Oakland University.

A 6-foot-11 center, Benson was a second-round pick (48th overall) in the 2011 NBA Draft, selected by the Atlanta Hawks. He began his professional career with Dinamo Sassari of the Italian league Lega Basket Serie A and the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League (D-League) and signed with the NBA team Golden State Warriors late in his rookie season. Later in 2012, Benson signed with D-League team Erie BayHawks. In 2013, he played with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in the Philippines.

High school

Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Benson attended Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan.[1][3] On the Detroit Country Day basketball team, Benson averaged only 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a senior.[4] Benson initially committed to Fairfield, but changed his mind after a coaching change and committed to Oakland after they offered him a scholarship.[5]

College

After redshirting his first year at Oakland, Benson became a starter for the 2007–08 season. Benson started 20 of the team's 29 games and averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds.[6] He finished the season with 40 blocks—one shy of Oakland's single-season record.[7] However, he was benched prior to the conference tournament because OU's head coach, Greg Kampe, felt Benson was not playing good enough defense.[7]

At the conclusion of his redshirt junior season, Benson received the Lou Henson Award, given to the "mid-major player of the year".[8] Benson was also named the Summit League Player of the Year.[9] Benson declared himself eligible for the 2010 NBA Draft,[10] but withdrew himself after he was unable to work out with NBA teams due to an injured right thumb.[11]

Benson earned a Bachelor of Integrative Studies degree with a minor in art history from Oakland in August 2010, prior to his redshirt senior season.[12] During his senior season in 2010–11, Benson enrolled in master's-level architecture courses in Oakland.[11] In basketball, he set the Summit League's record for career blocks.[13] He broke the record of 317, set by Keith Closs of Central Connecticut State University from 1994–96.[14] Benson was named the Summit League's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season in 2011.

Professional

After being projected as a late-second round pick,[15] Benson was selected with the 18th pick of the second round (48th overall) by the Atlanta Hawks.[16] Benson is the first player ever from Oakland University selected in the NBA Draft.[16] In August 2011 he signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Basket Sassari in Italy's Serie A League, which included an opt-out clause upon the conclusion of the 2011 NBA lockout,[17] but he left the team in October 2011.[18]

Once the lockout ended, Benson played in the Hawks' two preseason games and was waived before the beginning of the regular season.[19]

On January 26, 2012, the Sioux Falls Skyforce acquired Benson out of the D-League player pool.[20]

Benson was signed by the Golden State Warriors on March 24, 2012, to a 10-day contract.

In September 2012, Benson joined the Atlanta Hawks.[21] He was waived by the team on October 11, 2012.[22]

On November 3, 2012, Benson was re-acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[23] However, on November 5, the Skyforce traded him to the Erie BayHawks for Mike Davis.[24] Benson was bought out by the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters of Manila, Philippines.

The Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters [25] selected Benson as an import for the 2013 Philippine Basketball Association's Commissioner's Cup. He was replaced midseason by Donnell Harvey. In March 2013, he returned to the BayHawks. Later that year, he joined Tsmoki-Minsk of Belarus for the 2013–14 season.

On August 1, 2014, Benson signed with Banvit in Turkey.[26] On September 20, 2014, he parted ways with Banvit.[27]

On October 31, 2014, he signed with Neptūnas of Lithuania for the rest of the 2014–15 season.[28] On February 27, 2015, he left Neptūnas and signed with BC Kalev/Cramo of Estonia.[29]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Oakland 29 20 13.4 .505 – .667 3.5 0.1 0.2 1.4 5.2
2008–09 Oakland 36 36 27.8 .622 .000 .667 7.8 0.7 0.6 2.4 14.3
2009–10 Oakland 35 35 31.3 .533 .400 .724 10.5 0.8 0.4 3.3 17.3
2010–11 Oakland 35 35 32.4 .547 .391 .643 10.1 1.1 0.8 3.6 17.9

NBA

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Golden State 3 0 3.0 .000 – – 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

NBA D-League

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Sioux Falls 20 19 30.6 .502 .000 .682 7.8 0.5 0.8 1.5 15.2
2012–13 Erie 17 17 24.4 .443 – .607 7.5 1.2 0.4 1.5 10.7

Overseas

Regular season
Year Team League GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12[30] Dinamo Sassari Lega Basket Serie A 4 4 20.5 .500 – .400 5.8 0.0 0.5 0.8 5.5
2012–13[31] Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters PBA 5 5 37.6 .600 – .688 15.8 0.6 1.8 2.4 23.6
2013–14 BC Tsmoki-Minsk BPL, VTB 28 28 24.8 .593 .000 .802 7.2 0.7 0.4 1.1 16.0
EuroChallenge 12 12 24.1 .613 .000 .829 7.3 0.7 0.5 1.6 17.3

Personal

Benson's mother Janice Ellen Hale is a professor of early childhood education at Wayne State University and founding director of the Institute for the Study of the African American Child at Wayne State.[32]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "34 Keith Benson". Oakland University. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Sports Unlimited » PBA Commissioner’s Cup 2013 Imports". Sportsunli.com. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Keith Benson". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ Young, Justin. "Summit Preseason Player of the Year: Keith Benson". Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  5. ↑ Kampe, Paul. "MEN'S BASKETBALL: Dedication makes Keith Benson a pillar of Oakland hoops". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Oakland Basketball Individual Career History BENSON, Keith". Oakland University. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pemberton, Doug. "Hard work pays off for OU's Benson". Oakland Press. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Benson Receives Lou Henson Award as Mid-Major Player of the Year". The Summit League.
  9. ↑ "Men's Basketball Media Guide". The Summit League. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  10. ↑ Snyder, Mark (April 15, 2010). "Oakland's Keith Benson enters NBA draft". Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Kampe, Paul (April 30, 2010). "Thumb injury forces Oakland center Keith Benson to withdraw from NBA Draft". The Oakland Press. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Final undergraduate school and graduate school reports: Summer II, 2010-August 21, 2010" (PDF). Oakland University. December 9, 2010. p. 11. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Oakland Ties League Win Streak Mark with Victory at South Dakota State". The Summit League. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Men's Basketball Record Book". The Summit League. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Keith Benson summary". Draft Express. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Beard, Ron. "U-M's Darius Morris, Oakland's Keith Benson go in Round 2 of NBA draft". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Dinamo Sassari announces Keith Benson". sportando.com. August 18, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Dinamo Sassari officially replaces Keith Benson with Steven Hunter". sportando.com. October 30, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  19. ↑ Cunningham, Michael (December 23, 2011). "Atlanta Hawks: Hawks waive Sy, Wanamaker, Rolle (Update: Benson also released)". Blogs.ajc.com. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Skyforce Acquires Benson". Keloland.Com. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Hawks add James Anderson, Keith Benson, Damion James, Carldell Johnson, Anthony Tolliver to training camp". Inside Hoops. September 27, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Atlanta Hawks waive Keith Benson and Isma'il Muhammad". Inside Hoops. October 11, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Skyforce Announces 2012-13 Training Camp Invitees". NBA. October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Skyforce Acquires Davis From BayHawks". NBA. November 5, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  25. ↑ Baguio, Nico (April 25, 2013). "Numerophilia Talk 'N Text and Ginebra clash in Comm. Cup semis". GMA News Online. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Banvit bags big man Benson". Eurocup.com. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Banvit adds Vladimir Dragicevic, parts ways with Keith Benson". Sportando.com. September 20, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Neptunas lands big man Benson". Euroleague.net. October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Keith Benson replaces Frank Elegar with Kalev/Cramo". Sportando.com. February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Keith Benson stats" (in Italian). legabasket.it. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Keith Benson stats". pba-online.net. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Janice Ellen Hale". Wayne State University College of Education. Retrieved March 8, 2013.

External links