NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Delaware of last decade

3. Ben Bentil – Providence

An underrated prospect from Wilmington, Bentil is a 6’8 power forward who was ranked in the Top 100 by some recruiting boards and landed at Providence in 2014. A talented big man, he entered the Friars’ starting lineup a third of the way through his freshman year and remained an important part of the rotation until his departure. He played just two seasons at Providence, partly because of how successful those years were for him.

With other players securing most of the minutes in the frontcourt, Bentil played a role as a freshman but was much more influential during his second season of college ball. As a sophomore, he had some truly dynamic performances, including a 42-point, 12-rebound affair at Marquette and a 38-point game in a conference tournament win over Butler. That sophomore season saw him average 21.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

A member of the All-Big East First Team, Bentil lead the conference in points, field goals, and free throws, while also racking up a decent number of rebounds and blocks. He really emerged as a star for the Friars, also racking up 40 total points across two NCAA Tournament games to finish his career.

A second-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics, he only briefly appeared in the NBA and has spent much of his professional career overseas in Europe. He was a major part of Providence’s push back into relevance just under a decade ago.