Mike Benton

Mike Benton
Player information
Full name	Michael-Malik Benton
birthday	8th April 1980 (age 40)
place of birth	Covington , Georgia , United States
size	206 cm
position	Power Forward / Center
college	Charleston
Clubs as active
1999–2004 Charleston Cougars ( NCAA ) 2004–2005 Columbus Riverdragons 2005 Cocodrilos de Caracas 2005 Rome Gladiators (SEBL) 2005–2006 Büyük Koleji Ankara 2006 Marietta Storm ( WBA ) 2006 KCC Egis 2007 Skyliners Frankfurt 2007–2008 TBB Trier 2008–2009 Pınar Karşıyaka 2009 Antranik Beirut 2009–2010 Ilisiakos Athens 2010 Conyers Court Kings (WBA) 2010 Black Monopoly (SEBL) 2010 BK Dnipro-Azot 000 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 000 0 000 0

Michael Malik "Mike" Benton (born April 8, 1980 in Covington , Georgia ) is a retired American basketball player . Benton, who played in the front court with a weight of almost 2 ½ hundredweight , was active in the German basketball league and the Türkiye Basketbol Ligi for a long time in addition to many shorter stints in his home country, Asia and Europe . After a commitment in the first half of 2007 with the Skyliners from Frankfurt , Benton was the best shot blocker of this season for the TBB from Trier in the 2007/08 BBL season.

Career

In 1999, Benton moved from Newton County High School in his hometown to College in Charleston , where he played for the Cougars College Team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Cougars had previously qualified for the national finals three times in a row and were a successful team in the Southern Conference . Although the Cougars remained the best or one of the best teams in the South Division of this Conference in Benton's time in all seasons until 2004, they did not qualify for the national championship finals. After Benton had seen little use time in his first season for the Cougars, he suspended the 2000/01 season. In the following three seasons Benton proved his strength in collecting rebounds and was twice the best in this category within his team.

After the end of his college season, Benton tried as a professional in the 2004/05 season on the then National Basketball Development League called "D-League" to gain a contract in the highest endowed NBA . With the Riverdragons from Columbus in his home state Georgia, he lost the final game for the championship against Asheville Altitude . In the D-League he was the best shot blocker and statistically had the best defensive rating of all players. However, the award for best defender of the season went to his teammate Derrick Zimmerman . He then played in Venezuela and a few games in the SEBL Summer Basketball League for the Rome Gladiators in Georgia.

After it had not worked out with one contract in the NBA, Benton moved to Europe in the Turkish league to Büyük Koleji from the capital Ankara for the 2005/06 season . As the bottom of the table in the previous season, the club had only managed to stay up by increasing the league. With the help of Benton, who was the best player in this category in the Turkish league with 10.8 rebounds per game, this time the direct relegation succeeded, but for financial reasons the club gave back the license after the season. In the European summer break 2006 Benton played again in Georgia in the WBA for the Storm from Marietta . The following season 2006/07 he began in the Korean Basketball League at KCC Egis from Jeonju .

In January 2007, Benton was then obliged by the German first division club Frankfurt Skyliners, but they did not reach a place for the play-offs for the championship at the end of the season. At the beginning of the following season he was then taken under contract by the league competitor TBB Trier. Benton was again able to distinguish itself as the best shot blocker of a season, but the team only reached the penultimate place in the table at the end of the season. The sporting descent could only be avoided by purchasing a wild card for the following season. However, Benton moved for the following season 2008/09 back to the Turkish league to Pınar Karşıyaka from Izmir , who just missed the play-off places for the final round at the end of the season.

In 2009 Benton was active for Antranik in Beirut, Lebanon , and then switched to the Greek A1 Ethniki for Ilisiakos from Athens , who only barely managed to stay in the league at the end of the season. In the summer break of 2010, Benton was again registered in the WBA for the Conyers Court Kings from Decatur and won the championship of the SEBL Summer Basketball League with Black Monopoly . At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, Benton had a brief engagement in the Basketball Superliga Ukraine at Dnipro-Azot from Dniprodzerzhynsk . After this engagement ended, Benton was no longer professionally active.

Web links

• easyCredit BBL - Mike Benton - player profile on the easyCredit Basketball-Bundesliga website
• Mike Benton Stats - College of Charleston Cougars - College playtime stats on statsheet.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2009-10 College of Charleston Men's Basketball Media Guide - Records. (PDF (10.8 MB)) (No longer available online.) College of Charleston , October 21, 2009, p. 59 , archived from the original on July 23, 2014 ; accessed on January 19, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ 2004–05 D-League Season Summary. Basketball-Reference.com, accessed on January 19, 2013 (English, seasonal statistics). 
3. ↑ Player Profile - Mike Benton. (PDF (123 KB)) (No longer available online.) NBA Development League , 2006, archived from the original on November 14, 2012 ; accessed on January 19, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ SEBL 2004–2005 - Men's Basketball: Rome Gladiators blast Jazz in Finals. USBasket.com, August 16, 2005, accessed January 19, 2013 . 
5. ↑ Mike Benton - Turkish Basketball League Player: 2005-2006 Regular Season. TBLStat.net, accessed on January 19, 2013 (English, season statistics 2005/06). 
6. ↑ Black Monopoly captures 2010 SEBL Title, 105-101 in Overtime! USBasket.com, August 8, 2010, accessed January 19, 2013 .