Former Indiana basketball standout, Kent Benson, challenged and encouraged the student athletes last week as the NCCAA National Basketball Championship tournament kicked off at Grace College. The March 14. 2018, edition of the Warsaw, Ind., Times-Union reported on his speech to student-athletes at the opening banquet. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Benson Speaks At NCCAA Banquet
Grace College hosted the NCCAA National Basketball Championship banquet at Warsaw Community Church Tuesday night, welcoming all 16 teams that will compete in the four-day tournament.
The event featured a meal, awards and a keynote speaker with deep roots in Indiana and basketball alone.
Kent Benson, a New Castle native, spoke to the student-athletes about what helped him achieve his dreams and gave the young men and women a challenge on how to be great.
Benson has a long list of accomplishments from his youth days to adult years. He won the 1973 Indiana Mr. Basketball for New Castle High School. He was a member of the 1976 undefeated and national champion Indiana Hoosiers, and he scored over 1,700 career points.
In the 1977 NBA draft, Benson was selected as the first-overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks and played 11 seasons in the league with four different teams.
The father of four and grandfather to seven started out his speech by reading from Ecclesiastes 9:10, “whatever thy hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Benson mentioned this verse to show how people need to use their abilities as best as they can and to not waste them.
The two-time NCAA All-American listed six things that has helped him in his quest for excellence, not only on the basketball court, but in the game of life.
“You as tremendous athletes have an awesome responsibility to use your God-given talents and abilities to glorify God,” he said.
Click here to read the complete article.