Ben "fort" Knox

Cooley · January 16, 2008

Had a chance to catch UNT signee Ben Knox tonight in Arlington. (Against Ft Worth Christian) First of all, their games are not at Arlington Prep Academy but at Workman Middle School; about 5 miles away. Anyway, I was able to make it over there in time for player introductions.

Ben is legitimately 6-10 with a slim frame. I was initially impressed when I saw him walking and chewing gum at the same time. Ben had a nice 1st quarter with 8 points and 3 rebounds. His coach took him out with 1:20 remaining in the first and didn’t return until the 2nd half. Ben only had 1 foul.

Ft Worth Christian’s tallest man appeared to be about 6-2, maybe 6-3. Ben finished the night (unofficially) with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 9 blocks and 1 steal. Now before anyone get too excited about the 9 blocks, I felt that the much smaller FW players didn’t respect Ben enough by continueing to drive right into his outstretched arms.

Ben was later benched with 3:00 remaining in the 3rd after fumbling away an ally up pass from PG Nick Russell out of bounds. He did return in the 4th to pad his numbers.

In Summary

As we expected, Ben is a project! He has some skills but is too weak to compete at the D1 level; anytime soon. Often times tonight he couldn’t establish himself down low because the smaller Ft Worth players would push him out from under the basket.

He will easily be our 13th man at the end of the bench. (Despite the huge hole we will have in the middle next year. I didn’t see enough skills for him to be anything but a 5. It would be in everyone’s best interest for him to red-shirt if at all possible. Whether or not Ben is able to contribute will depend on his ability to work extremely hard, gain weight (30 pounds) and strength. Otherwise, this will be a wasted scholarship.

Guys, I wish I could sugar coat my opinion but I can’t. Honestly, I don’t think the kid would start for half of the high schools I have seen so far this year. (Albeit 5A & 4A publics). I saw Justin Howerton twice in HS. I didn’t feel that he would contribute until at least his junior year. Howerton was more developed. JJ must be targeting Nick Russell. (Who should be playing at Duncanville instead of against the Ft Worth Christians of the world)

Hopefully I will be wrong. Besides, Michael Jordan was once cut from his HS team.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Cooley

SUMG · January 16, 2008

As always thanks for the scouting that you do for the rest of us.

Your opinions are always appreciated buddy.

NT80 · January 16, 2008

I know we need height, and you can't coach it, but couldn't we find a skinny 6-10 Juco that wasn't such a project to give a ship to? Just disappointed that it seems a way-too-early offer here. Hope we're way wrong.

chrisfisher · January 16, 2008

I know we need height, and you can't coach it, but couldn't we find a skinny 6-10 Juco that wasn't such a project to give a ship to? Just disappointed that it seems a way-too-early offer here. Hope we're way wrong.

That begs the question, why did JJ offer so early? It doesn't sound like anyone will be beating down this kid's door. Why not wait and see what else come along??

UNTLifer · January 16, 2008

Is this the HS version of the preying mantas?

CMJ · January 16, 2008

Well, maybe after redshirting and practicing for acouple of years he may be a contributor eventually. Doesn't sound promising though. :unsure:

foutsrouts · January 16, 2008

Depressing evaluation. Hopefully he has been afflicted with the 24 month flu and is just beginning the process of recovery. Fifty pounds can come on pretty quickly after that kind of thing.