Benson set to announce a decision

[FeatheredCock]

 Benson set to announce a decision


Oct. 17, 2019, | sportstalk

The two horse race for 6-8 Ridge View star Ja’Von Benson is set to end Friday morning. According to Blazers coach Yerrick Stoneman, Benson is set to announce his college choice on Twitter Friday morning. Benson took official visits to USC and the College of Charleston and has been working on his decision between those two for several weeks. He also had offers from Ohio State, Indiana State, Winthrop, SC State, Presbyterian, Upstate, UNC-Wilmington, East Tennessee State and others.

“They’ve been watching me over the years and they’ve said that they believe I would be a great fit,” Benson said of the Gamecocks earlier in the process. “I see a great fit. I love the program.”

Benson also has been impressed with the Cougars and the effort Earl Grant and his staff put into recruiting him. His coach said last week much of Benson’s decision would come down to where he thinks he’ll have the best opportunity to play.

“He can go to College of Charleston and play quicker, not necessarily right away because they’ve got good players too, but you know, it’s going to be tough for him to get that playing time at South Carolina,” Stoneman said. “But in the long run, that might make him a better player because he’s got to compete every day.”

Benson sat out his sophomore season at Ridge View after after transferring from Westwood. Last season he helped the Blazers win their second straight state championship averaging 10 points and 9 rebounds per game. He scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the state championship game victory over Wilson

 

[GeoCocky]

I am guessing that it will be C of C. We have a shortage of scholarships and our offer would have to be conditional, based on how we fare with other recruits (and who leaves early). That would make C of C more attractive, especially since we will have Iriel, Bryant, McCreary and Frink that are similar type players.

Or not. I'm trying to get excited about a class of Seventh Woods, Patrick Iriel, and Ja'Von, but it may take a while. We are at least addressing our need for big men to replace Maik and Henry.

 

[doublea1971]

Or not. I'm trying to get excited about a class of Seventh Woods, Patrick Iriel, and Ja'Von, but it may take a while. We are at least addressing our need for big men to replace Maik and Henry.

Iriel and Benson pass a lot of the "eye test" questions, and I'm super excited to see a couple local talents in the mix for the Gamecocks.  We've had too many leave in recent years, so it's a good sign that Frank is making solid inroads into the Columbia scene.  In my estimation, they're solid additions to a team that should look REALLY good this year/next year.

 

[GeoCocky]

Iriel and Benson pass a lot of the "eye test" questions, and I'm super excited to see a couple local talents in the mix for the Gamecocks.  We've had too many leave in recent years, so it's a good sign that Frank is making solid inroads into the Columbia scene.  In my estimation, they're solid additions to a team that should look REALLY good this year/next year.

The problem with the eye test is that everyone has different eyes, and neither of the new recruits caught the eye of very many coaches at P5 or mid-major schools (Iriel had some decent offers, Benson very few). I'm honestly not that concerned about getting lightly recruited guys just because they're local; I just don't want to fall back into the cycle of making recruiting mistakes who then get cycled out after 1 or 2 years. We've bucked that trend the last couple years, and it's reflecting well on the team quality and chemistry. Frank is a great game coach and his teams generally develop and overachieve, but he's not been an especially good recruiter. Chuck IS a good evaluator and recruiter so I hope these guys pan out.

 

[ConwayGamecock]

A solid get for Coach Martin and staff - it further addresses our needs in the post for 2020-21, along with Iriel. I agree with GeoCocky about player attrition, but a lot of the more recent ones were during span after the program lost a number of players due to off-court legal issues, and had to replace them quickly with transfers, JUCOs, and others the staff hadn't had a lot of time evaluating. So hopefully the staff has been able to evaluate Benson well - he's pretty much in our backyard, so it shouldn't have been too difficult for them to monitor Benson's development.

But the staff also has a better- than decent track record of developing players who actually choose to stay in the program, so hopefully Ja'Von will be another one in 2-3 years......

 

[ShepCock]

The class of Seventh Woods, Patrick Iriel, and Ja'Von Benson.....ALL THREE are from Columbia.

That's huge to me, and something to get very excited about!

 

[GMB2USC23]

The problem with the eye test is that everyone has different eyes, and neither of the new recruits caught the eye of very many coaches at P5 or mid-major schools (Iriel had some decent offers, Benson very few). I'm honestly not that concerned about getting lightly recruited guys just because they're local; I just don't want to fall back into the cycle of making recruiting mistakes who then get cycled out after 1 or 2 years. We've bucked that trend the last couple years, and it's reflecting well on the team quality and chemistry. Frank is a great game coach and his teams generally develop and overachieve, but he's not been an especially good recruiter. Chuck IS a good evaluator and recruiter so I hope these guys pan out.

He is by far the best recruiter we have had for basketball since McGuire, Dozier, Thornwell, Lawson, Silva,  Notice, Bryant, Hannibal, Carrera, Blanton(if he does not hurt his knee), Couisnard. Minaya… LChat and Kacinas, Kotsar and throw in the transfers like Woods and Booker... McCreary, Frink and Leveque look like they will develop into pretty good players with all showing a pretty high ceiling if they get some confidence and things start clicking. Who is the other coach with multiple players drafted into the NBA and an multiple NCAA wins?