Albert Grindle
The Gazette
Logically speaking, the fact that Black River star basketball player Allan Benson is so quiet and unassuming doesn’t make a lot a sense. His younger sister, Erica, is a spitfire who’s pretty much fearless in social situations, while their parents, Eric and Elaine, aren’t exactly shy, either.
So, could Erica explain why big bro is the way he is?
“Probably because I do most of the talking and he just listens,” she said with a grin. “That’s how it’s always been growing up, because, I don’t know, he’s just laid back. He just doesn’t talk that much.
“Allan’s just never been the one to be the outgoing person.”
Allan, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound newly minted 1,000-point scorer, readily agreed in, ironically enough, the chattiest interview of his four-year career.
“I have no explanation for that. I have no idea,” he said. “I get that every year from a teacher that I’m the quiet one in the class, because when they get Erica two years later they’re completely shocked.’”
Benson’s the type of kid who lives by actions speaking louder than words. Watch him play at 110 mph and it is impossible not to notice his passion. Give him a ball, gym or even his snow-covered driveway with dad’s old backboard and he’ll be happy for hours on end.
That extends to off the court as well — at least on the rare occasions when he isn’t ballin’ — from cooking for his girlfriend while singing a favorite tune to gobbling down Swiss rolls like they’re going out of style. Just don’t expect him to dominate a conversation. He’s not wired that way.
With a never-quit attitude, unbelievable work ethic and willingness to be coached, Benson is without question the heart and soul of a Black River program that is slowly but surely changing its culture two years after snapping a 49-game losing streak.
“He’s been a crucial part of getting this thing turned around and headed in the right direction,” coach Josh Calame said, accentuating the word crucial. “Players like him don’t come around very often, as we all know, and for Black River to be lucky enough to have a kid like him at this point in the program really helped the cause.”
In a lot of ways, Benson’s game is built around a prototypical score-first point guard. The right-hander’s handles are among the best in the 12-team Patriot Athletic Conference, his pull-up jumper is smooth and his twitchy first step allows him to get to the rim and finish acrobatically.
Another irony is Benson idolizes Kevin Durant, a long-armed 6-9 NBA small forward. Dig a little deeper, though, and Benson has a quick, high-arcing jumper like Durant and uses some of his moves to get open, mainly the hop stop, crossover and dribble pull-up. When Durant was hurt last year, Benson analyzed Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, Russell Westbrook.
Like Westbrook, Benson plays like his buzzed, dark blonde hair is on fire. Whether he’s leading the break or flying all over the gym atop the Pirates’ 1-2-2 press, Benson is the key to everything Black River wants to accomplish on both ends of the floor. The most amazing thing is he never appears tired.
The statistics are gaudy: 20.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.7 steals. Don’t confuse Benson with a volume shooter, either, as he connects at 48 percent from the floor and 38 percent from 3-point range.
“You see a lot of kids who have a great offensive game and score a lot of points, they’re usually not the team’s best defender,” Calame said. “He goes just as hard on defense as on offense, and I think that’s what has made him the player that he is. A lot of people don’t realize not only is he scoring all the points for us, every night he’s guarding the other team’s best player.”
Benson joined Richard Jackson (1,330; 1994-98) and Kyle Clark (1,180; 2000-04) as Black River 1,000-point scorers — Bud Halada scored 747 of his 1,256 points at Sullivan before playing one star-studded season at Black River in 1958-59 — on Tuesday in a gutsy overtime loss to Oberlin. Going back to the unassuming trait, Benson was one of the few people in the gym unaware of the accomplishment when he made a free throw in the second quarter.
The near-capacity crowd cheered in approval and all 6-3, 245 pounds of center Curtis Roupe gave Benson a hug at the foul line. It wasn’t until Calame presented a commemorative ball that Benson realized what in the world was going on.
“I had no idea,” said Benson, who talks as fast as he plays. “Curtis came up and gave me a hug and I was like, ‘You usually don’t give me a hug. After a free throw you usually just give me a handshake.’ So, I was pretty shocked. I turned around and saw a basketball, and Coach Calame gave me the basketball and I was like, ‘Ya, I know what this is about.’ ”
What haven’t complemented Benson’s personal successes are victories, as the Pirates are 13-53 with him as starting point guard. To his credit and maturity, Benson, who has had three coaches, looks at the big picture.
Some day soon, he genuinely hopes with all his heart Black River basketball becomes something to be proud of. If the Pirates do reach that status, they’ll look back at the dude who steered everything in the right direction.
His name: Allan Benson.
“People are starting to think of this school not as much of a football school anymore,” said Benson, an All-Ohio wide receiver. “We’re trying to get rid of that where we want people to start playing basketball.
“I try myself to get these young guys to start loving the game of basketball, which they are. They’re starting to look up to me, and I hear them starting to like basketball and saying, ‘Ya, I want to be the next Allan Benson, blah, blah blah.’ I like it. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
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Benson plays with unbridled passion, but don’t expect him to brag
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