Oakland's Benson Drawing Attention from NBA Scouts

From NBAdraft.net

NBA Draft: Stock Watch - Risers

Keith Benson
Oakland University, Junior
C - 6'11", 225lbs

Keith Benson has been one the most productive center prospects in the country thus far. Through 8 games, Benson is averaging 17.3 ppg, 10.6 rpg, and 3.9 blocks per.

Benson made scouts take notice with his dominance of Cole Aldrich in Oakland’s match up with Kansas the day before Thanksgiving.

Benson blocked 2 of Aldrich’s first 3 shots, affecting the preseason All American with his length and shot blocking and outplayed him throughout the game, despite Kansas running away with it. Aldrich finished with just 4pts (2-10 fg), 9reb and 3blk while Benson went for 20pts, 6reb, and 4blk.

Far from a complete player, some scouts wonder if he can ever put the necessary weight on to merit a first round selection. Right now Benson struggles to hold position in the block, however some scouts point to the fact that he has never had a proper training regiment and that Oakland likely is not up to the level of top division one schools in weight training.

Due to his incomplete skills and body, Benson is a guy who, like Jerome Jordan of Tulsa, would benefit by returning for his senior year.

But if he did decide to go this year, he is a player who could get together with a top trainer (like Tim Grover or Joe Abunassar) once the season ends and potentially put on 15-20 pounds. You will remember Grover worked with NBA veteran Steven Hunter before the 2001 draft transforming the young post player's body and helping him to become a first rounder (15th overall after many felt he was a 2nd rounder).

Regardless, Benson is a player on the rise who stepped up big in what will likely be his biggest individual match up all season (Aldrich).

OU Grizzlies Receive Tourney Invite

Oakland University for the second time in three years has lost in the conference tournament championship game, this time it was a veteran North Dakota State team who denied the Grizzlies a seed in the Big Dance.

Despite the loss, this was OU's most successful season in Division I posting a record of 22 wins and 12 losses. The Golden Grizzlies were rewarded for that record when they recieved and accepted an invite over the weekend to the inaugural CollegeInsider.com tourney. OU will host Kent State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the O’Rena in the first round of the tournament.

Coach Kampe explains the CollegeInsider.com tourney:
“It’s a tournament for the mid-majors,” Kampe said. “It looks toward teams that had really good years, but didn’t get in the NIT or NCAA (tournament). They are deserving, but didn’t get in. A lot of times the NIT will look the other way when it comes to mid-majors because it wants to make money. This tournament is not about making money. It’s about rewarding student athletes at the mid-major level. It’s really a great concept and I’m really excited to be part of it.”

Kent State (19-14) finished tied for third place in the MAC and will have its streak of 20-win seasons on the line against Oakland Tuesday.

Kangas's 39 Carries OU over IPFW

From OUgrizzlies.com

Senior Erik Kangas scored a career-high 39 points, going 8-for-13 from long range, junior Johnathon Jones scored 20 points with eight assists, and sophomore Will Hudson finished with a career-high 16 points with nine rebounds to lead Oakland University (11-9, 4-3) past IPFW (7-11, 2-5) in Summit League men's basketball action on Saturday inside the War Memorial Coliseum.

"It's a good win for us and one that we had to have if we were going to stay in this race," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "He (Erik Kangas) really had it going tonight. The thing that I like is he was really looking for it. We put a few things in for him, and he really liked the new things we put in for him."

Oakland will host a pair of Summit League games this weekend inside the Athletics Center O'Rena. The Grizzlies will take on IUPUI this Thursday night at 7 p.m. and Western Illinois on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Golden Grizzlies-Jaguars game will be regionally televised on FSN Detroit.

Greg Kampe Wins 400th Game

From ougrizzlies.com

Redshirt sophomore Keith Benson scored a career-high 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots, and senior Erik Kangas finished with a season-high 19 points, to lead Oakland University (4-5, 1-1 Summit) past UMKC (3-6, 0-1 Summit), 84-78, in men's basketball action on Thursday night in Municipal Auditorium. The win gives head coach Greg Kampe his 400th of his career.

"This is an unbelievable win for us," said Kampe. "From what we went through on Tuesday night and knowing the importance of tonight's game, to get in a 0-2 hole would just kill us. These kids deserve a lot of credit. I told them it was one of the gutsiest performances that I have ever been associated with."

After the Kangaroos' Dane Brumagin made a pair of free throws to give UMKC its first lead, 77-76, with just 1:11 remaining in the game, Oakland called a timeout. Kangas, who was 2-for-10 from behind the arc, was called upon one last time and he found the bottom of the net on a big 3-pointer to give the Golden Grizzlies the lead again, 79-77, with just 52 ticks on the clock.

"I was thinking every shot feels good and I'm going to make it sooner than later," said Kangas. "Coach was calling out my name so I knew that I had to knock it down."

The Kangaroos misfired at the other end on a 3-pointer and missed the tip in which allowed Kangas to grab the rebound and give the ball to junior Johnathon Jones who in turn was followed and sank both free throws. Jones finished the game with 12 points and six assists, while freshman Matt Samuels added a career-high 10 points for the Grizzlies.

UMKC's Brumagin scored a game-high 29 points, 19 of those coming in the first half, and grabbed 10 boards for a double-double. Spencer Johnson had a double-double for the Roos with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Oakland had just nine turnovers in the game, while UMKC shot 39 treys, making 14 of them. OU was also outrebounded by the Kangaroos, 44-36.

Kampe becomes the 33rd active Division I coach to reach 400 wins, joining Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, who reached the plateau last night, and other greats like North Carolina's Roy Williams and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski to name a few.

"I've gone to ougrizzlies.com quit a bit and I had noticed that he got 399, so it was just good to get it on this road trip and get it out of the way," said redshirt senior Dan Waterstradt who ended the game with six points and five rebounds off the bench. "We were just thinking about UMKC and just trying to get after it."

The Golden Grizzlies will host Toledo in their home opener in the Athletics Center O'Rena on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will air on OU's flagship station WDTW (1310 AM) and can also be followed on www.ougrizzlies.com.

Hawkeyes Edge Grizzlies

From ougrizzlies.com

Junior Johnathon Jones had a chance to tie the game with 2:34 remaining, but his jump shot from the top of the key rolled off the rim and Iowa's Anthony Tucker buried three of his 19 points immediately following that to lead the Hawkeyes (4-0) past Oakland University (1-3), 66-57, in men's basketball action on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Jones ended with a game-high 21 points, followed by senior Erik Kangas' 18-point effort.

"I'm very, very disappointed in how the game ended," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "We had the game exactly where we wanted it. Jones made a horrible decision when we had the ball with a chance to take the lead. We ran a set, and he refused the set and turned it down with a 6-6 guy on him and took a jump shot, when he should have taken that ball to the basket and let the referee make a decision, or maybe he makes it. He's great going to the hole and he settles for a jump shot.

"Then we come down and they are about to get a shot clock violation and they throw up some bomb, and (Anthony Tucker) gets an offensive rebound and we foul him. That was a huge play, because now they take it out and get another shot and make a three. We get that rebound, I call timeout, and we run something inside, and hopefully we make a basket. The game went from one point to nine, there was nothing we could do."

OU trailed the entire game and had several chances to take the lead halfway through the second half. Down by one on two occasions, 3-pointers by Kangas went in and out of the basket which would have given the Golden Grizzlies a two-point lead. Oakland shot just 54.5 percent from the free throw line (6-11), compared to Iowa's 66.7 percent (12-18).

The Grizzlies had only seven points from their front court line of sophomore Will Hudson (6), redshirt sophomore Keith Benson (1), freshman Ilija Milutinovic (0) and senior Dan Waterstradt (0). The Hawkeyes scored 24 points in the paint, thanks to 19 points from their big men underneath.

The Hawkeyes had three players in double figures along with Tucker, Jake Kelly had 16 points off the bench and Cyrus Tate scored 11 points. Iowa's bench outscored the Grizzlies 16-5 in the game.

Oakland will continue its long road trip this Tuesday night in Manhattan, Kan., as the Golden Grizzlies face the undefeated Kansas State Wildcats (4-0). Tip is slated for 8:08 p.m. ET and will be regionally televised on FSN Kansas City. The game will also air on OU's flagship station WDTW (1310 AM) with Mario Impemba.

Orange Route Grizzlies

From Associated Press

Jonny Flynn scored 18 points, Arinze Onuaku had 14, and freshman Kris Joseph added 13 to help Syracuse beat Oakland 86-66 on Friday night.

Oakland (1-2), which opens with nine straight road games, fell behind 22-5 in the first 7 minutes and never recovered. Johnathon Jones finished with 16 points, Erik Kangas 15, and Will Hudson 13 for the Golden Grizzlies.

"One of the things we have done well all year is guard, and we didn't do that tonight," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "We did not have any hop in our step at all and that's what we talked about at halftime.

"When you come into a venue like this and you don't have it, you're going to get embarrassed, and we did in the first half. We just didn't have any effort or excitement in our step like we did in our first two games. They're going to beat some basketball teams in here that are great, so we can't think that we are going to compete with our `C' game."

Paul Harris had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and Eric Devendorf finished with 10 points for Syracuse.

The Orange (3-0) used an aggressive man-to-man defense to post a solid comeback victory over Richmond on Tuesday night, and they kept it up against the Golden Grizzlies in a dominating first half.

Syracuse broke to an 11-2 lead in the first four minutes. Harris had four points, set up Devendorf for a 3, and passed to Onuaku for a two-handed slam dunk. Defensively, Syracuse held Oakland to 1-for-7 shooting and the Golden Grizzlies went 0-for-3 on 3-pointers.