.jpg) Benson in 1976 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-12-27)December 27, 1954 (age 70) New Castle, Indiana, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Chrysler (New Castle, Indiana) |
| College | Indiana (1973–1977) |
| NBA draft | 1977: 1st round,1st overall pick |
| Selected by theMilwaukee Bucks | |
| Playing career | 1977–1989 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 54 |
| Career history | |
| 1977–1980 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1980–1986 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1986–1987 | Utah Jazz |
| 1987–1988 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1988–1989 | Vismara Cantù |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 6,168 (9.1 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,881 (5.7 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,203 (1.8 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Michael Kent Benson (born December 27, 1954) is an American former professionalbasketball player. He was a two-timeAll-American for theIndiana Hoosiers, winning the1976 Helms Foundation Player of the Year and helping lead the Hoosiers to the1976 NCAA championship with a perfect 32–0 record, with Benson being named the1976 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Benson was the No. 1 overall pick of the1977 NBA draft by theMilwaukee Bucks, playing 11 seasons in the NBA for Milwaukee (1977–1980), theDetroit Pistons (1980–1986),Utah Jazz (1986–1987) andCleveland Cavaliers (1988).
Kent Benson attendedNew Castle Chrysler High School, located inNew Castle, Indiana.[1] He was named "Indiana Mr. Basketball" in 1973.[2] He scored 1,496 points and had 1,585 rebounds in three varsity seasons playing for coach Cecil Tague.[3][4]
Benson chose to attendIndiana University, located inBloomington, Indiana, playingcollege basketball for CoachBobby Knight.[5] As a freshman, Benson averaged 9.3 points per game, while shooting 50.4 percent.[6] He helped lead Indiana to theCCAT Championship,[7] and to a 23–5 record and aBig Ten title.
In his sophomore season (1974–1975), Benson helped lead the Hoosiers to an undefeated conference record (18–0) and on to anElite Eight appearance, where they lost their only game of the season toKentucky 92–90, despite 33 points and 23 rebounds from Benson.[8] Helping lead the team to a 31–1 record on the season, Benson averaged 15 points and 8.9 rebounds a game.
With seniorsQuinn Buckner andScott May, he helped lead Indiana to the1976 national championship in a 1975–1976 season where the Hoosiers won every game they played, finishing 32–0.[9] Benson was voted the 1976NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player. The 1976 Indiana team is the most recent team to complete an undefeated campaign in Division I.[5] Benson averaged 17.3 points and 8.8 rebounds a game on the season with his college season high of 57.8 percent from the field.[6] He scored his career high of 38 points againstMichigan State.[10]
In the1976 NCAA tournament, Benson scored 20 points with 13 rebounds against St. John's in the 90–70 regional quarterfinal win; He scored 15 points and had five rebounds in the 74–69 sweet sixteen win over Alabama; In the Regional Final, he scored 18 points with 9 rebounds in the 65–56 win over Marquette; In the Final Four semi-final 65–51 victory against UCLA, Benson had 16 points and 9 rebounds; In the National Championship, he scored 25 points with 9 rebounds in the Hoosiers' 86–68 victory over Michigan.[11]
Of the undefeated1975–76 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team, Benson said, “If the team wins, everybody wins. Coach Knight knew the potential that could be with that team. He molded us and made us a team.”[12]
After the perfect season during his junior year, "Benny" became the lone star for Indiana after May and Buckner both left after their senior years for the next level. He averaged 19.8 points and 10.4 rebounds a game his senior season.[6] He led them to a 16–11 record, but Indiana received no post season appearance. Benson was named the Big Ten's 1977 Player of the Year, while also receiving All-American honors for the second straight season.[6][13]
Kent Benson ended his college career with 1,740 points (15.3) and 1,031 (9.0) rebounds, a 71.5% free throw and 53.6% field goal percentage.[6]
After graduating fromIndiana University in 1977, Benson was the number one overall draft pick of the1977 NBA draft by theMilwaukee Bucks.[6]
Two minutes into his very first game as a professional, Benson elbowedLos Angeles Lakers centerKareem Abdul-Jabbar in the abdomen, and Abdul-Jabbar gave Benson a concussion with a retaliatory punch.[14] Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand in the incident and was out for two months; otherwise, he could have potentially been suspended by the NBA.[15] Meanwhile, Benson missed only one contest and was back in action four days later against Chicago, playing 24 minutes. On April 6, 1979, Benson scored a career high 28 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, recorded 5 assists, blocked 3 shots, and stole the ball 3 times while helping lead the Bucks to a 140–131 victory over theUtah Jazz.[16][17]
Benson spent eleven seasons in theNBA with Milwaukee (1977–1980), Detroit (1980–1986), Utah (1986–1987) and Cleveland (1988). He averaged 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in 680 regular season games. He wore jersey #54 for his entire career.[6]
Benson never quite lived up to the potential of a number one NBA draft pick. Twice in his career, he was traded for a player that helped his former team get "over the hump" and contend for an NBA title. In 1980, the Bucks traded him to theDetroit Pistons forBob Lanier, who would help the Bucks to consecutiveEastern Conference finals appearances in 1983 and 1984. In 1986, the Pistons traded him along withKelly Tripucka to theUtah Jazz forAdrian Dantley, who would help lead the Pistons to the Eastern Conference finals in 1987 and the NBA Finals in 1988.
Benson played in Italy following his two-game tenure with Cleveland in 1988. He played one year in Italy before retiring. “I had prepared myself [to leave the sport,]" he said. “I had an opportunity to stay and play in Italy for five more years. I actually walked away with two years left to go on my contract and just felt it was time to move on. Basketball was good to me and I was good to it, but I was ready to move on.”[18]
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | Milwaukee | 69 | 18.7 | .465 | .000 | .652 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 7.7 | |
| 1978–79 | Milwaukee | 82 | 26.0 | .518 | .000 | .735 | 7.1 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 12.3 | |
| 1979–80 | Milwaukee | 56 | 24.8 | .494 | .000 | .680 | 5.9 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 8.8 | |
| 1979–80 | Detroit | 17 | 29.5 | .460 | .250 | .750 | 7.1 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 12.1 | |
| 1980–81 | Detroit | 59 | 33.2 | .473 | .000 | .772 | 6.8 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 15.7 | |
| 1981–82 | Detroit | 75 | 72 | 32.9 | .505 | .273 | .804 | 8.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 12.5 |
| 1982–83 | Detroit | 21 | 15 | 28.5 | .467 | .000 | .760 | 7.4 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 9.9 |
| 1983–84 | Detroit | 82 | 58 | 21.1 | .550 | .000 | .822 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 7.1 |
| 1984–85 | Detroit | 72 | 35 | 19.5 | .506 | .000 | .809 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 6.6 |
| 1985–86 | Detroit | 72 | 51 | 18.7 | .484 | .500 | .795 | 5.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 6.5 |
| 1986–87 | Utah | 73 | 2 | 12.3 | .443 | .286 | .810 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 4.5 |
| 1987–88 | Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 6.0 | 1.000 | .000 | .500 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Career | 680 | 233 | 23.1 | .493 | .206 | .757 | 5.7 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 9.1 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | Milwaukee | 9 | 11.4 | .478 | .000 | .545 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.1 | |
| 1983–84 | Detroit | 5 | 25.8 | .432 | .000 | .600 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 7.6 | |
| 1984–85 | Detroit | 9 | 1 | 15.8 | .543 | .000 | .867 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 7.0 |
| 1985–86 | Detroit | 4 | 0 | 13.8 | .400 | .000 | .000 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| 1986–87 | Utah | 2 | 0 | 1.5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Career | 29 | 1 | 14.9 | .483 | .000 | .694 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 4.7 | |
After the NBA, Benson worked for Kruse International, doing car auction commentary and The College Network, after working in life insurance and estate planning for 14 years.[19][18]
Benson has four daughters, Andrea, Ashley, Elizabeth and Gennie. Ashley played volleyball atIndiana University, where she was an All-American. She then became an assistant volleyball coach. Gennie played volleyball atVincennes University.[20][21]
and Basketball Reference