PRP’s Benson gets a shot as UK walk-on

In Dale Mabrey’s 26 years as Pleasure Ridge Park’s basketball coach, the closest the Panthers have come to having a player sign with the University of Kentucky was when Cats Coach Eddie Sutton offered Andy Penick a scholarship in 1989. Long story short, Sutton got fired before Penick’s senior season, and the Panthers’ all-state guard wound up going to Michigan State. Mabrey thought he was having deja vu earlier this spring when UK Coach Tubby Smith, who had asked PRP’s Kerry Benson (shown at right scoring in the 2006 Sweet Sixteen) to join the Cats as a walk-on, up and moved to Minnesota.

But this story had a happy ending for Benson. New UK Coach Billy Gillispie and assistant Jeremy Cox, who has known PRP assistant Larry Kihnley for years, re-invited Benson to Lexington as a walk-on. “Kerry’s always dreamed of playing for Kentucky,” Mabrey said. “Now he’ll get the chance.”

Benson, a 6-foot-6 perimeter player who had scholarship offers from Iona and Morehead State, averaged 15 points this season, but he suffered a severely dislocated toe on Jan. 30 and was sidelined for three weeks. “He came back after that, but he wasn’t the same player,” Mabrey said. “He kind of hobbled down the floor.”

Mabrey thinks Benson has a chance to develop into a contributor at UK. “He knows he’s in for the long haul, and that he’ll have to out-work a lot of players if he’s ever going to get on the floor,” Mabrey said. “He’s 6-6 with Superman-length arms, he handles the ball well, passes it well, has a nice shot, and can slash to the basket. His potential has barely been tapped.” Benson started as a junior for PRP’s Sweet Sixteen semifinal team, and totaled 29 points and 11 rebounds in the tournament.