It’s not just his looks, although that’s what you see first.
“Yeah, I was clean-shaven when I came in here,” Bennett said with a laugh as he gave a tweak of his jazzman’s goatee that’s complemented by a pencil-thin moustache across his upper lip. “This has just kind of grown over the years.”
You also notice his shoulders look bulkier and he seems to fill out his No. 0 jersey a little more.
I asked him about that at the postgame press conference — “You look like you’ve bulked up” — and it drew a laugh from some in the crowd, as well as his 7-foot-1 teammate Amaël L’Etang, who sat next to him.
“You think so?” Bennett said with a grin.
In private later, he was more serious about his resculpting: “I was in the weight room. I put on like 11 or 12 pounds.”
“All muscle?” he was asked.
“Oh yeah,” he said as he rubbed his belly. “No fat on here!”
If you watched him on the court Monday, you saw he was still the defensive pest he’s always been.
That was his rep when he transferred here after a freshman season at Merrimack, where he led the nation with 99 steals.
Credit: David Jablonski
He was the same way at Trinity Prep School in Winter Park, Florida, outside Orlando. His coach there, Eric Schneider, called him “a one-man press.”
Now he’s more offensive-minded, which is something this newly-cobbled Flyers team can use. He led UD with 20 points Monday and now has scored an even 1,000 points in his college career.
The scoring capability always has been there — he set records in high school with 2,147 career points — but it’s been overshadowed by his up-in-your-grill defense.
While all these above changes are evident, that’s not the most noteworthy transformation that’s taken place with him.
In recent years, people always point to Obi Toppin and DaRon Holmes II — now both in the NBA — as the poster boys of Dayton Flyers’ development.
But Bennett has blossomed here just as much, just not in the above-the-rim stratosphere of the other two, especially Toppin.
You see Bennett’s metamorphosis in the way he carries himself on the court. And in the way his coaches talk about him, and his new teammates look up to him, even though, at 5-foot-10, he is the smallest player on the team.
But as has always been the case, Bennett never comes up short on the court and this year that may be truer than ever.
He is the undisputed leader of this team and that too is what is needed.
Anthony Grant and his coaches appear to have put together a talented group of previously unlinked players in record time.
In this era of the revolving door transfer portal, players often are here one season and gone the next. Buy-in, teamwork and chemistry can be hard to come by on the fly.
That’s where Bennett comes in. He helps set the tone and underscore the expectations.
“He is a great leader,’ L’Etang said. “He’s been here for a lot of years. He talks a lot — in a good way, for sure — in the locker room and during time outs. He shows the way by example on the court. It’s just great to have a guy like that.”
Grant was just as complimentary after the game:
“I’m just really proud of him. That’s what you want to see, a guy in his third year, knowing the system; knowing what’s expected; knowing what we want.
“To see him step into that leadership role … he’s ready for it. I think he’s excited about it, and we’re excited to have him out there.”
Bennett said he relishes the role:
“Of course I like it. I’m the point guard, that’s what I do. I’m getting a lot of opportunities now and I want to take full advantage of them.”
No one summed it up better Monday night than Canisius coach Jim Christian, who has been around the game a good while. He was an assistant on Herb Sendek’s staff at Miami three decades ago.
He’s been a head coach 21 years, a span that includes stops at Kent State, TCU, Ohio University, Boston College and now Canisius.
“He’s phenomenal,” Christian said of Bennett as he stood outside of the visitors’ dressing room. “He can hurt you in so many ways. He shoots threes. He creates foul pressure and puts unbelievable pressure on the ball.
“He’s just relentless.
“He’s probably one of the elite point guards in the country.”
‘It’s all about winning’
Last season Bennett played in all 34 games, started 33 and was second on the team in assists, steals and three-point accuracy. He was third in scoring (11.6) and minutes played (31 per game.)
He scored a career-high 30 points — thanks to eight three-pointers — against Florida Atlantic in the opening round of the NIT.
At season’s end though he wasn’t voted onto any of the Atlantic 10 All-Conference teams, a snub he admits he’ll use as fuel this season:
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
“Those kind of (all-conference) rankings, I see them, but I don’t see them. At the end of the day, it’s all about winning.”
Even so, he admitted: “I always play with a chip on my shoulder.”
Since he was a youngster playing some of his first AAU ball, he’s taken that approach. Often it’s been forced on him by people who overlooked him, underrated him or thought because he was smaller, he could be bullied.
His dad, Corey, once told me about an opposing player — the hotshot on a local AAU team Javon faced when his team went to Melbourne, Florida — who got so angry at his son’s constant pickpocket defense that he finally lowered a shoulder and bulled into Javon.
In the fall, Javon broke his wrist.
In high school a frustrated opponent got so fed up, he let loose with an elbow that caught Bennett in the face and that’s why his nose now looks like an easy drive down a curvy road.
When Bennett came out of high school, most Division I programs doubted him and he said he got just three low-level offers.
He chose Merrimack, a Massachusetts school making the jump from Division II to Division I. He ended up being named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year.
Although Merrimack won the conference tournament, it didn’t get the automatic NCAA tournament bid because it wasn’t yet a full-fledged D-I member.
Fairleigh Dickinson went, won a First Four game at UD Arena and then upset Purdue.
That snub was disheartening, and Bennett entered the portal to prove that he could play at a higher level of Division I ball.
UD was lucky he came here. Malachi Smith, the starting point guard, was lost for the season with an injury just seven minutes into the opener. Bennett took over and helped the Flyers reach the NCAA Tournament.
‘That’s why I love it here’
This past offseason he admitted he flirted with the transfer portal, as well.
He had ended last season on a high note and that would garner interest. But after talking to his family and the Flyers coaches and doing some private soul searching, he decided to stay.
He said he saw some of the players UD was bringing in and realized, as the most tenured Flyer, he’d have a chance to lead them.
And Monday night that’s just what he did.
He scored UD’s first four points, and eight of the first 13. He led all scorers at the half with16 points.
He also let the Golden Griffins know they were going to be in for a long night. He forced the first of their 19 turnovers, stealing the ball from Bryan Ndjonga and converting it into a fast break lay-up.
“They put a lot of pressure on the ball and took us out of everything we tried to do,” Christian said. “They did an unbelievable job of taking advantage of our mistakes. Their pressure was relentless. In the second half, they just wore us down.”
Afterward Grant commended Bennett for “getting us started offensively” and “getting us going defensively.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Bennett said it’s been a story of growth for him:
“I just kind of waited my turn, picking up bits and pieces each year and trying to get better in the offseason. Coach Grant and the coaching staff have great confidence in me and have supported me in my journey.
“To be in this position now; playing in this beautiful arena; with fans and a community that have our back; and with Coach Grant, he’s great and he’s brought in guys who want to work and be part of a team, that’s why I love it here.
“Right now, I’m just living the dream.”
And with that a big smile appeared between that pencil-thin moumostache and those bulked up shoulders.
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