Benn has developed into a star for Niagara.
Jen Reardon of the Philadelphia Daily News provides an update to ex-Villanova player Bilal Benn, who is now an important cog for the Niagara Purple Eagles. Benn is averaging 13.2 points per game this season, which is 2nd on the team. Many times when a player transfers, you never hear from them again, but that’s not the case with Benn.
“He just fills up the stat sheet. He’s averaging three assists per game, three steals per game, which is 12th in the country, and most important, he’s the leading rebounder in the league with nine per game. And he guards everybody and anybody.”
The article goes into detail about Benn’s special relationship with his grandmother, as well as his love for Philadelphia and his ex-’Nova teammates.
…When I was a freshman the one word associated with Bilal was ‘defense’ and it sounds like he is still an ace in that department…I know he was great friends with Dwayne and Dante when he was here and he’s still a frequent visitor to the campus…good to see there are no hard feelings…I thought he played well when we played Niagara earlier this year, and I’ll be rooting for them to make the NCAA Tourney and make some noise, unless they play Villanova of course…
…Oddly enough, I always thought he could have a role on this team and if he were still here there is no doubt in my mind that he and Reggie Redding would be competing for minutes…
February 18, 2009
I’ve seen Bilal play on DirectTV several times. I must say he does look like he is certainly a better player than Reggie Redding. His defense is outstanding and he is more explosive offensively that Reggie. I wish he would have stayed around.