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Anthony Bennett: The Big Jump

Published by Jason Gairey on September 8, 2010

A Bennett When asked to describe Anthony Bennett, the first word that comes to mind is monster.

The 6-foot-7, 230 lbs power forward from Brampton, Ontario illustrated this monstrous comparison in a game against China at the FIBA U17 World Championship held earlier this summer in Germany where he scored 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting and a whopping 14 rebounds after suffering a concussion the night before.

This incredible performance by the 16-year-old gave Canada an opportunity to play in the semi-final game en route to their impressive Bronze medal performance.

His character, however is different from is physical specimen. When he is off the floor, he is charismatic, outgoing and can always be seen smiling.

This smiling visage all changes when he’s on the floor, however. When it’s time to play basketball he understands that it’s not always fun and games, it’s business, nothing personal.

This is a character trait that is needed when you have your heart set on the bigger playing field, especially since his physical traits are already pointing him in the direction of the pros.

“Anthony is a spectacular talent,” Canada’s Cadet Team head coach, Roy Rana said. “This summer he showed that for us. Although he was pretty banged up that performance against China was by far the best one if the tournament.”

This summer, something in Anthony Bennett clicked. Whether it was maturity or whether it was just him, recognizing his own potential. He knew that his normally subdued and polite attitude off the floor could not be carried with him on the floor. He had to allow his inner beast to come out when playing.

Team Takeover Canada (TTC) is the AAU squad the friendly giant has played on for a few years now. Traveling to the U.S for the past few summers exposed his game and gave him an opportunity to continue his high school career south of the border.

Bennett is one of the many kids opting for the prep school route, and in his case, it was a no brainer. The Brampton native could have stayed and dominated the high school scene but his dreams where bigger. With his physical stature, TTC head coach Mike George decided that competing south of the border was the ticket for Anthony.

“Being able to compete and develop at a high level was key for Anthony,” George said. “On top of that, academically, being in that smaller classroom environment was what was needed for him to excel with his schooling.”

The power forward landed at an up and coming prep school, Mountain State Academy in West Virginia. It is there where he would get a taste of high level prep competition.

“In the beginning, I was worried and thinking about missing everyone back home, but having some of my boys there, made it easier,” Bennett said. “The experience was good playing against some of the top players down there. It was better than I thought.”

While down there he played alongside fellow Canadians and AAU teammates, Jabs Newby (attending Eastern Kentucky), Johnathan Alexander, Martin Dixon Green and Kofi Mensah. A Canadian presence was available and Bennett would strive at Mountain State as a primary front court player and a rebounding machine.

Bennett felt that he really needed to step up his game, and started becoming more of an offensive force, something he showed from time to time during the 2009-10 season. Coming back for the summer, and becoming a shoe-in for Canada’s U17 Cadet Team helped him gain that confidence to be dominant.

“His emergence of consistant perimeter and transition play was a huge factor for us winning bronze,” Rana said.

As the teams most consistent inside presence, he showed that his strongly built physique and athleticism wouldn’t go unnoticed along with his other talents such as his hands and a slowly working perimeter game.

”He is obviously athletic, and gets in the lanes well. To add to it, he’s even developing a jumper,” George said.

A shift in schools would be taking in affect as well. Due to financial problems, Mountain State would close its doors. With Bennett getting a strong buzz over the summer, and already putting in work, Coach George was able to open doors for him to continue his academics and hoops dreams south of the border.

Bennett will now be honing his play at premier prep program Findlay Prep alongside TTC family member, Naz Long who transferred from Montrose Christian Academy.

Findlay Prep, located in Nevada, is also led by one of the top point guards in the U.S. for the class of 2011, fellow Canadian, Myck Kabongo, continuing the Canadian Content that has been very successful in Las Vegas.

The summer of 2010 has been pretty good for Bennett; he captured a bronze medal at the FIBA U17 Championship, continued his success on the AAU circuit, found a new school and even rose his stock high enough to raise the eyebrows amongst many mid-major and high-major NCAA D1 schools such as Connecticut, Cincinnati, Xavier, UNLV and West Virginia

“This year my goal is to work harder on my game, get my perimeter game up and hit the weight room hard,” Bennett said.

With two more years of prep school to go, Bennett’s monstrous ability will only increase.

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