Rod Benson
{{short description|American basketball player (born 1984)}}
{{Infobox NBA biography
| name = Rod Benson
| image = Rod Benson Pacers 2009.jpg
| caption = Benson with the Indiana Pacers in 2009
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1984|10|10}}
| birth_place = Fairfield, California
| nationality = American
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 10
| weight_lbs = 235
| highschool = Torrey Pines
(San Diego, California)
| college = California (2002–2006)
| draft_year = 2006
| career_start = 2006
| career_end = 2018
| career_position = Power forward / center
| years1 = 2006–2007
| team1 = Austin Toros
| years2 = 2007–2008
| team2 = Dakota Wizards
| years3 = 2008
| team3 = SLUC Nancy
| years4 = 2008–2009
| team4 = Dakota Wizards
| years5 = 2009–2010
| team5 = Reno Bighorns
| years6 = 2010
| team6 = Atléticos de San Germán
| years7 = 2010–2012
| team7 = Wonju Dongbu Promy
| years8 = 2012–2013
| team8 = Changwon LG Sakers
| years9 = 2013–2014
| team9 = Ulsan Mobis Phoebus
| years10 = 2014–2015
| team10 = Bank of Taiwan
| years11 = 2015
| team11 = GlobalPort Batang Pier
| years12 = 2015
| team12 = Indios de San Francisco
| years13 = 2015–2018
| team13 = Wonju DB Promy
| awards =
- Korean League Champion (2013, 2014)
- Korean League All-Star (2012–2014)
- Korean League Import Player of the Year (2012)
- NBA D-League Player of the Week
- NBA D-League All Star (2007)
}}
Rodrique Zsorryon Benson (born October 10, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He works as a blog writer and an artist.
Career
=High school=
Benson attended Torrey Pines High School, and averaged 14 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks while leading the basketball team to a 25–4 record in his senior year. He was named first team all-league and second team All-CIF San Diego Section. He was rated the No. 3 center on the West Coast by TheInsiders.com. He also played three years of varsity volleyball, earning first team league honors in 2002.Cal Bears (2008). [http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/benson_rod00.html Rod Benson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229081223/http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/benson_rod00.html |date=2007-12-29 }}. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
=College career=
Benson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and majored in political science. After a huge improvement in his basketball from his sophomore to his junior year, Benson's senior year was marred by heel and knee injuries, which forced him to miss 11 games, impacting his future career heavily.
=Professional career=
In the summer of 2006, Benson played for the Sacramento Kings Summer League team. He was noticed by many NBA scouts, but was never offered a contract by any team.
When Benson left California, he started the 2006–2007 NBDL year with the Austin Toros. He had a game high of eight points on November 25, but averaged 2.4 points per game and was released by the team on January 3, 2007.
He was subsequently signed by the Dakota Wizards on January 9, 2007. In one of his first contests with the Wizards, he scored 17 points in 17 minutes. He ended the year with an average of 10.8 PPG. On March 17, 2007, he scored a personal high 27 points in a 126–100 win over the Arkansas Rimrockers. After training with the NBA's New Jersey Nets during the summer of 2007, Benson was re-signed by the Wizards for the 2007–2008 season and recorded averages of 13.6 points and a league best 12.1 rebounds per game.{{cite news | last=Babiarz | first=Lou | title=WIZARDS: Plenty of local flavor on All-D-League team | date=April 7, 2008 | publisher=The Bismarck Tribune | url=http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/04/07/news/sports/local/152803.txt | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120730202036/http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/04/07/news/sports/local/152803.txt | archivedate=July 30, 2012 }}
On August 25, 2008, he was signed by defending French Pro-A league champion SLUC Nancy. He requested and was granted a release on December 12, 2008. Soon after, he signed a deal with the NBDL's Dakota Wizards, his former D-League team.
On March 4, 2009, he was traded to the Reno Bighorns for Jesse Smith.{{cite news | date= March 6, 2009 | title= Bighorns trade Smith for forward Benson | publisher= The Reno Gazette Journal | url= http://rgj.com/article/20090306/SPORTS10/903060447/1018/SPORTS }}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Benson has played for the Utah Jazz in the Orlando Pro Summer League, and later for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Summer League in 2010.http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2010/6/28/1540775/nba-summer-league-rosters-vegas NBA Summer League Rosters – Vegas
From 2010 to 2014 he played for three different teams in the Korean Basketball League, winning back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014 with the Ulsan Mobis Phoebus.{{cite news | date= April 17, 2013 | title= Playoff perfection, Mobis Phoebus crowned 2013 KBL champions | publisher= Basketball Buddha blog | url= http://basketballbuddha.com/playoff-perfection-mobis-phoebus-wins-2013-kbl-championship/ | access-date= February 21, 2015 | archive-date= February 21, 2015 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150221192819/http://basketballbuddha.com/playoff-perfection-mobis-phoebus-wins-2013-kbl-championship/ | url-status= dead }}{{cite news | date= September 22, 2014 | title= KBL Hoops Star Responds to Club Allegations, 'I Didn't get the Proper Respect' | publisher= BUSAN HAPS Magazine | url= http://busanhaps.com/rod-benson-responds-being-cut}} Towards the end of the 2013–2014 season the relationship with the team turned sour and he was cut shortly before the start of the new season under allegations of demanding more money, which Benson himself denied.{{cite news | date= September 22, 2014 | title= KBL Hoops Star Responds to Club Allegations, 'I Didn't get the Proper Respect' | publisher= BUSAN HAPS Magazine | url= http://busanhaps.com/rod-benson-responds-being-cut}}
After three months of preparation in his home state of California, Benson was picked up by the team of Bank of Taiwan of the Taiwanese Super Basketball League in December 2014.{{cite news | date= December 26, 2014 | title= Rod Benson inks deal with SBL's Bank of Taiwan | publisher= Basketball Budda blog | url= http://basketballbuddha.com/rod-benson-inks-deal-with-sbls-bank-of-taiwan/ | access-date= February 21, 2015 | archive-date= February 24, 2015 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150224010058/http://basketballbuddha.com/rod-benson-inks-deal-with-sbls-bank-of-taiwan/ | url-status= dead }}
After having played just five games in the SBL, averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds, Benson signed a deal with GlobalPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in early January 2015.{{cite news | date= January 14, 2015 | title= Rod Benson is heading to the Philippines | publisher= Basketball Budda blog | url= http://basketballbuddha.com/rod-benson-is-heading-to-the-philippines/ | access-date= March 27, 2015 | archive-date= April 2, 2015 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091334/http://basketballbuddha.com/rod-benson-is-heading-to-the-philippines/ | url-status= dead }} The team chose him out of a group of four prospects as their import player in hopes of winning the PBA Commissioner's Cup,{{cite news | date= January 13, 2015 | title= GlobalPort taps NBA D-League vet Rod Benson as Commissioner's Cup import | publisher= Interaksyon – The Online News Portal of TV5 | url= http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/globalport-taps-nba-d-league-vet-rod-benson-as-commissioners-cup-import | access-date= 2015-03-27 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150120151225/http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/globalport-taps-nba-d-league-vet-rod-benson-as-commissioners-cup-import | archive-date= 2015-01-20 | url-status= dead }} but Benson exceeded the team's 6'9" height limit and was replaced shortly after.{{cite news | date= January 19, 2015 | title= Michael Dunigan to make PBA return as Ginebra import; GlobalPort's Benson measures over height limit | publisher= Interaksyon – The Online News Portal of TV5 | url= http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/michael-dunigan-to-make-pba-return-as-ginebra-import-globalports-benson-measures-over-height-limit | url-status= dead | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20150120233710/http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/michael-dunigan-to-make-pba-return-as-ginebra-import-globalports-benson-measures-over-height-limit | archivedate= January 20, 2015 }}
In early June 2015 Benson was signed by the Dominican National League's Indios de San Francisco de Macorís.{{cite news | date= June 1, 2015 | title= Rodrique Benson (ex Bank of Taiwan) is a newcomer at Indios de San Francisco | publisher= EUROBASKET NEWS | url= http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican%20Republic/news/405775/Rodrique-Benson-(ex-Bank-of-Taiwan)-is-a-newcomer-at-Indios-de-San-Francisco | access-date= June 5, 2015 | archive-date= March 4, 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080236/http://www.latinbasket.com/Dominican%20Republic/news/405775/Rodrique-Benson-(ex-Bank-of-Taiwan)-is-a-newcomer-at-Indios-de-San-Francisco | url-status= dead }} In his first game after the short hiatus he scored 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in 25 minutes.{{cite news | date= June 3, 2015 | title= Indios vs Metros Live Stats | publisher= FIBA | url= http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/DRL/124004/index_en_AU.html}}
Art
After retiring from basketball in 2018, Benson took up several hobbies, including painting fine art.{{Cite web|url=https://rodbensonart.com/pages/about-rod|title=About Rod|website=Art and Apparel by Rod Benson|access-date=2019-02-24|archive-date=2019-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225102942/https://rodbensonart.com/pages/about-rod|url-status=dead}}
Badly shaken in July 2018, after experiencing police brutality in Las Vegas, Benson realized he could use painting to provide himself with a positive outlook.
He has his debut solo show entitled "Neon Black" in September 2018 and received critical acclaim for his efforts.{{cn|date=May 2021}}
Media coverage and blog
Benson writes a personal blog titled Too Much Rod Benson, as well as contributing to the Ball Don't Lie blog on Yahoo! Sports.{{Cn needed|date=June 2025}}
He wrote an autobiographical feature article that was published in SLAM Magazine in April 2008.{{cite news | last=Whitaker | first=Lang | title=Links: Rod Benson is McLovin | date=April 21, 2008 | publisher=Slam Online | url=http://slamonline.com/online/2008/04/the-links-rod-benson-is-mclovin/}} He has also been featured in ESPN The Magazine,{{cite news | last=Westerberg | first=Scott | title=Life With Rod | date=April 8, 2008 | publisher=KFYR-TV Sports | url=http://www.kfyrtv.com/sports_Stories.asp?news=17361 }}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and was profiled on the ESPN television series E:60 by Bill Simmons in April 2008.ESPN (2008). [http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3372824 E:60 – The Sports Guy Visits Rod Benson]{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
He is a columnist for SFGate.{{cite episode |last=Cornish |first=Audie |author-link=Audie Cornish |date=May 28, 2021 |title=The Mental Health Burden Of Sports Press Conferences After Losing |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001378020/the-mental-health-burden-of-sports-press-conferences-after-losing |series=All Things Considered |network=NPR |access-date=2022-12-08 |archive-date=December 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208070251/https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001378020/the-mental-health-burden-of-sports-press-conferences-after-losing |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/author/rod-benson/|title=Rod Benson|website=SFGate|access-date=June 3, 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://rodbensonart.com/about/ Rod Benson Fine Art]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071213232337/http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=rod_benson NBDL player profile]
- [https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie?author=Rod+Benson Ball Don't Lie] – articles by Benson
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/rzb0 Benson's YouTube channel]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071229081223/http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/benson_rod00.html University of California Athletics profile]
- [https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3254/rod-benson ESPN college profile]
- [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1143820/2/index.htm Sports Illustrated piece about Benson's popularity on the internet]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Rod}}
Category:American male bloggers
Category:American expatriate basketball people in France
Category:American expatriate basketball people in South Korea
Category:American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic
Category:Atléticos de San Germán players
Category:Basketball players from Solano County, California
Category:California Golden Bears men's basketball players
Category:Dakota Wizards players
Category:Sportspeople from Fairfield, California
Category:Reno Bighorns players
Category:SLUC Nancy Basket players
Category:Wonju DB Promy players
Category:Changwon LG Sakers players
Category:Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus players
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan