I guess I hadn’t paid close enough attention to the development of Keith Benson, Oakland’s 6-11 redshirt junior center.
I hadn’t seen Benson up close since he prepped at Detroit Country Day in high school, but my memory is quite vivid: He was awful.
But, those days are gone. Benson is officially a beast for the Grizzlies and appears to be on his way to the first round of the NBA draft.
Witness his recent performance against Cole Aldrich, the junior big man at Kansas who is projected to go in the top 10 of the draft. Benson scored 20 points on 13 shots and made all six of his free throws. He also added six boards and four blocks.
Aldrich could only manage four points on 10 shots with nine rebounds.
Through six games, Benson is doing his thing in the Summit League: 18 pts, 11 rebound and four blocks per game. He is shooting 56 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the line.
NBAdraft.net has Benson going late in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft.
3 Comments
December 1, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I have been to my fair share of OU games the past two years and he at least a 2nd rounder and very well possibly a late 1st rounder.
December 10, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I say check him out this year. From 07 to 08 yr he improved a little. But from 08 to now, I’ll admit I am very impressed! Kito(Keith Benson) is really bringing it. He’s had the potential, but now he has the effort to fill it in.
January 6, 2010 at 1:30 pm
[...] a few in-state players – UM’s Deshawn Sims and Manny Harris come to mind, along with Oakland’s Keith Benson. It’s the big question on everyone’s mind: Are they good enough for the [...]