Indiana Basketball: All-time starting live under head coach Bob Knight

Center – Kent Benson (1973-1977)

Benson was a teammate of Scott May and was one of the best big men in college basketball history. The big man is also an Indiana native who grew up dreaming about playing for Indiana. He was able to accomplish that dream after scoring 1,500 points and 1,500 rebounds in his high school career. That earned Benson Indiana Mr. Basketball award and no one knew at the time how much his commitment to the hometown team over other national offers would mean to coach Knight but they all soon found out.

Few people remember that the 1974-1975 season also saw the Hoosiers enter the tournament undefeated but were beaten by Kentucky in the Elite Eight; it was in that game that Benson had his breakout. He scored 33 points and had 22 rebounds in the close loss. The next season was the undefeated season that saw Benson and his teammates win a National Championship.

The big man was a third option on that team and even though he was the third option he still was one of the best players in the country and earned the 1976 most valuable player of the NCAA tournament. His senior season was the best season that the big man had but it was also one of the worst seasons that coach Knight had. The big man averaged a double double that season and took home some individual hardware.

The senior season saw Benson earn the Big Ten Player of the Year and a first team All-America nod. That year also solidified the big man as the first overall pick in the NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. His talent in college did not translate to the NBA and he never did much in the NBA but he will always have his 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in college. Benson was so steady for coach Knight and moved unlike many big men of his era in College.