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15 in 40: The Need for Bentil

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The countdown continues of Friarbasketball.com’s annual “15 in 40″ series, as Kevin Farrahar examines the potential impact of freshman power forward Ben Bentil. 

The “15 in 40″ series is a collection of 15 story lines in the 40 days leading up to the 2014-15 season. 

15 in 40: #12 – The Need for Bentil

We might as well get used to it. Until conference play hits we’re going to hear questions about how Providence can possibly replace Bryce Cotton. While Friar fans are hopeful Kris Dunn can emerge as the leader of the backcourt, questions about PC’s ability to replace their other all-league performer from a season ago are seemingly less vexing.

Kadeem Batts is gone and most are under the assumption that a committee of forwards will make up for Batts’ production. The 5th year senior was productive last season, despite the feeling by some that he had a down year. In league play Batts was top 20 in scoring, second in rebounding. He also was the only player in the Big East to average over three offensive rebounds per game (3.4), and while he was typically grounded defensively, Batts still finished 5th in blocked shots in the Big East as well.

You won’t get an argument from here that Batts’ numbers are replaceable (the committee will combine to cover PC statistically), but there was a physical element that the 6’9, 250 pound Batts brought that wasn’t reflected in a box score — the screens that freed Cotton for so many open looks and the body that took poundings from more physical post players.

The logical choice to take on some of the dirty work that Batts left behind might be freshman Ben Bentil.

I had the opportunity to watch Bentil during the open practice PC held this summer when welcoming youngsters to the Ed Cooley Basketball Camp, and Bentil caught the eye as much as any player that afternoon.

If there’s anyone who looks physically ready for the interior battles it’s the chiseled Bentil. Rarely has Providence had a freshman big man who simply looked this imposing, yet what could separate Bentil, a high school soccer player, is his tremendous quickness. He gets up and down the floor unbelievably well for a freshman at 6’8, 230 pounds.

He was playing at a shade under a million miles an hour on that afternoon, but the game will slow in time, and he could very well step right in as a freshman and take on some of the less glamorous of Batts’ responsibilities — and turn into one of the best big men in the Big East before long.

CBS’s Jon Rothstein floated the idea of Bentil being in the mix for Big East Rookie of the Year. That may be a touch of hyperbole considering the elite freshmen coming into the conference and the projected depth of PC’s frontcourt, but he certainly has the athletic ability to keep his head above water as a freshman.

There’s just one hurdle: the NCAA Clearinghouse has not yet given Bentil the green light to play this season.

PC’s athletic department relayed to me on Wednesday afternoon that the school’s Compliance Department is “still working with the NCAA Clearinghouse.”

The issue most likely stems from Bentil’s transition to the United States. A Ghana native, Bentil came to America at 15 years old and went to the Haverford School (PA) before transferring to a terrific academic institution in St. Andrew’s (DE), where it was reported last summer that Bentil was a 3.4 student heading into his final year.

Bentil missed a majority of the St. Andrew’s season last year when the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association deemed him as a 5th year senior because of classes he took in Ghana prior to his freshman year in the US.

From Delaware Online last year, “(St. Andrew’s head coach Terrell) Myers said Bentil attended a school in Ghana from May to July before his freshman year. But without sufficient documentation to prove that claim, the DIAA has interpreted that to count as a full year. Myers said St. Andrew’s is working to prove Bentil attended school in Ghana for only three months, in hopes that the DIAA could reconsider its ruling before the season ends.”

When Bentil did play last season he was a factor. He had a 31 point night early in the season and then went off for 25 points and 16 rebounds against the #1 team in the state. His AAU team came out on top over former PC recruit Abdul Malik Abu last summer, with Bentil scoring 18 to Abu’s 15.

This is a player that was ranked as high as #31 nationally by Rivals during his junior season.

As we learned with Cotton and Batts, so much of how a player turns out is what he puts in, but Bentil certainly has a solid foundation to build on.

And he’s part of a 2014 class that should only further cement the foundation that Cooley is building in Providence.

Twitter: Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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