Alex Schwartz, Georgetown Recruiting, Miami Recruiting, North Carolina State Recruiting, Providence Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, St. Joseph's Recruiting, Temple Recruiting

CATCHING UP WITH BEN BENTIL

by Alex Schwartz

GALLOWAY, N.J. – Ben Bentil of St. Andrew’s (DE) is a player who is not particularly focused on his recruitment.

The class of 2014 power forward, originally from Ghana, lets a couple people close to him handle much of that that aspect of his life.

“I kind of don’t know . . . I don’t pay much attention to that,” Bentil said while at Live In AC of who has offered him. “I pay more attention to my academics, so whatever it is with college stuff is up to [St. Andrew’s coach Terrell Myers] and my mom.”

Myers said that Bentil has offers from Providence, Georgetown, St. Joe’s, Rutgers, Temple, and North Carolina State, plus interest from Miami.

Bentil, who has no favorites, said there are no schools that he speaks with the most.

“No, I’m still open,” Bentil said. “I got one more year, so I’m still open, trying to see my chances.”

The 6-foot-8, 225-pounder said he has had the chance to check out a few college campuses so far.

“I haven’t taken no official visits,” Bentil said, “but I went up to BC and I went up to Georgetown to hang out because I wanted somewhere to work out.”

He went on to add, “I’ve been to St. Joe’s because I used to live right around the street. So, I played with the boys sometimes. I’ve been around Villanova too because it’s around the street and people go up there to play. All the college players were at one time high school players, so we were all friends. So, I still go up there to play.”

Bentil said that he is looking to get out on a few more visits to some schools in the near future, but has none actually scheduled yet.

“Not yet, I’m planning on visiting Georgetown and Miami and Providence,” Bentil said. “Those are three that I’m probably going to visit.”

The rising senior also spent some time discussing just what it is that he is looking for when it comes to his future college.

“First of all, I just really [want] great academics. Studying is one of my big priorities, so that’s what I want to look at first,” Bentil said. And then second, I just want to be on a team that will just let me play, let me play my game. A team that will let you play through mistakes, teach you how to learn through your mistakes and just get you better.”

When he says “my game,” Bentil talked about just what way he plays when he steps out on the court.

“Defensive player, that’s how most of the coaches know me,” Bentil said. “The offense will take care of itself most of the time. Every sport I play, that’s what they said, defense first.”

Location will not be a factor in Bentil’s recruitment and he does not yet have a timetable for a commitment.

“I don’t know. It’s all up to my mother,” Bentil explained. “I got to talk to her first and I don’t want to commit basically [just because] of basketball. I just want to commit [because] of looking at the academic stuff. I’m still unsure, I wanted to major in business management, but I’m still kind of unsure if I want to do that.”

Bentil, who said he has a 3.4 GPA, went on to explain why business management is a major that appeals to him.

“Since I was growing up I’ve always wanted to be a person that tried to invest in something and make a lot of profit out of it,” Bentil said. “So I think business management if kind of a [road] to go and it can help me in the future after basketball is over.”

The talented frontcourt prospect went to shed some more light on his game. He started by saying that defense is his main strength and went on to add, “The offense takes care of itself, but right now, as of this summer, I’ve kind of tried to work on my jump shot a lot, which has improved.

“I’ve always been able to shoot, but I didn’t shoot a lot. So now my coach was like, ‘Just shoot it. Get in the rhythm of shooting it.’ And I see it’s working and so I got to improve on that and then just keep going to the basket.”

Bentil also touched on the aspect of his game that he does not feel is quite as far along as the rest of his arsenal.

“I’d say the biggest weakness is—every player has a weakness—I would say the biggest weakness is kind of knowing when to take a shot and when not to,” Bentil said. “I just, sometimes I get really indecisive, but I’m working on it. I grew up a lot up from that.”

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