Horizon League Basketball: Early Player of the Year Candidates

Grant Benzinger –Wright State

In determining a POY list, it was really hard to overlook the best player from the league’s first-place team. Wright State has been a surprise this year in the Horizon League and, up until their loss to Northern Kentucky, they were alone atop the standings. The Raiders possess many pieces but all of them do their part to help the team win. They do, however, have a player who is putting up pretty good numbers in the scoring and rebounding department and makes Wright State go.

Benzinger is averaging just under 15 points a game while finding a way to score in a variety of ways. Benzinger shoots 90% from the free throw line and just under 40% from the three-point line. All of this is while chipping in about five rebounds per contest. Benzinger is a volume shooter, however, and has had a few off nights which have brought his overall field goal percentage down.

Don’t let that take away from the fact that Benzinger is one of the better scorers in the league. Wright State is going to ride Benzinger for the rest of the year to help them get the clutch baskets and win games.

When paired up against the three heavyweights on this list, it appears Benzinger is a long shot to win the award, which at this point he probably is. However, it should be known that often voters will favor the best players from the best teams, even if their numbers do not seem to rival the actual best player in each league. If Wright State keeps winning, Benzinger has just as good of a chance as his three counterparts to win this award.

Next: Biggest injuries of the college basketball season so far

Horizon League Basketball has been exciting so far this year, especially with so little margin for error among the top spots. These four players are going to continue their huge seasons and try and stake their claim as the Horizon League Player of the Year.