Answered Prayers: Besides hard work, Eagles star Benham says he knows what really helped him attain success---PART 1
C Jemal Horton
CONCORD – The shooting drills made him better.
Trae Benham knows that.
The countless hours on the basketball court – Benham shooting and his dad, Jason, rebounding – made his jump shot as smooth as a Beethoven movement, and they helped him earn playing time and respect on one of the best high school teams in the state.
But the prayers, Benham’s quick to remind you, are what gave him solace and a reason to believe his ultimate dreams would come true.
Those dreams?
They were the same ones every aspiring hoopster has: to play at the Division I level one day, to be the recruit all the college coaches covet, to be making plays while a rabid Dickie V. screams how awesome he is – “with a Capital A!” – over the airwaves.
And the dreams dominated Benham’s thoughts.
“Every night before I went to bed, I always thought about that: ‘I want this! I want this! I want this!’” recalled Benham, now a senior at Concord Academy.
“There’s something about me that if I want something, I’m going all out to get it. I’ve just had that in my mind ever since I was young. I would envision myself playing in the NCAA tournament. I’d envision myself becoming a much bigger and stronger and overall more athletic basketball player. That pushed me to work out a lot.”
But a kid like Benham also wasn’t going to rely solely on shooting drills or trainers or dreams.
And so he prayed.
A lot.
He’d pray before he went to bed each night. Every time he finished firing up shots on his family’s outdoor hoop, every time he left the YMCA exhausted but wanting to shoot more, after every game he played at Concord Academy – he huddled with his father, Jason, and they said a prayer about those dreams.
Eventually, it finally happened. After being courted by nearly 50 colleges, Benham signed a National Letter of Intent with Lipscomb University in Tennessee about three months ago.
He worked hard for it all to come to fruition, but that wasn’t the only reason it happened. He’s certain of it.
“My dad and I would pray after our workouts every day to get me a Division I scholarship,” said Benham. “Once that started happening, we’d pray for the right school. Now that that’s happened, we’re praying that our team will be the best it’s ever been and we’re going to make multiple NCAA tournaments. Prayer has just made a huge difference in my life.”
Basketball is his favorite sport
These days, Benham is a household name in Cabarrus County basketball circles. He’s the star player for Concord Academy, averaging nearly 23 points and more than eight rebounds per game as a 6-foot-4 guard.
For a while, Benham thought his path to sports greatness would be on the baseball diamond. That’s been the family business. His father played baseball at Liberty University and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, reaching double-A ball, and later spending time in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. His uncle, David, also played at Liberty and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox before going on a minor league journey.
Benham played baseball as a little boy, but by the time he turned 10 years old, he knew what he really wanted to do. So he traded in his spikes for sneakers and hit the gym hard.
“Basketball is a much faster-paced game than baseball, so basketball was always much more exciting to me,” Benham said. “I took basketball really seriously and started working on my game a lot.
“(My dad) was very supportive. He’s been my most supportive person ever. He rebounds for me, like, every day. His favorite sport is basketball also. He was just a lot better at baseball, that’s why he stuck with it. So he was absolutely stoked that (basketball was) the route I wanted to go.”
Benham became a standout in many of the youth leagues he played in, knocking down 3-pointers at a much higher rate than kids his age. But after a while, it finally became time for him to test his wares against stronger competition.
Until then, he’d always been home-schooled. But for eighth grade, he enrolled at Concord Academy.
“That’s when it started taking off,” Benham said. “I became a much better player.”
C Jemal Horton
CONCORD – The shooting drills made him better.
Trae Benham knows that.
The countless hours on the basketball court – Benham shooting and his dad, Jason, rebounding – made his jump shot as smooth as a Beethoven movement, and they helped him earn playing time and respect on one of the best high school teams in the state.
But the prayers, Benham’s quick to remind you, are what gave him solace and a reason to believe his ultimate dreams would come true.
Those dreams?
They were the same ones every aspiring hoopster has: to play at the Division I level one day, to be the recruit all the college coaches covet, to be making plays while a rabid Dickie V. screams how awesome he is – “with a Capital A!” – over the airwaves.
And the dreams dominated Benham’s thoughts.
“Every night before I went to bed, I always thought about that: ‘I want this! I want this! I want this!’” recalled Benham, now a senior at Concord Academy.
“There’s something about me that if I want something, I’m going all out to get it. I’ve just had that in my mind ever since I was young. I would envision myself playing in the NCAA tournament. I’d envision myself becoming a much bigger and stronger and overall more athletic basketball player. That pushed me to work out a lot.”
But a kid like Benham also wasn’t going to rely solely on shooting drills or trainers or dreams.
And so he prayed.
A lot.
He’d pray before he went to bed each night. Every time he finished firing up shots on his family’s outdoor hoop, every time he left the YMCA exhausted but wanting to shoot more, after every game he played at Concord Academy – he huddled with his father, Jason, and they said a prayer about those dreams.
Eventually, it finally happened. After being courted by nearly 50 colleges, Benham signed a National Letter of Intent with Lipscomb University in Tennessee about three months ago.
He worked hard for it all to come to fruition, but that wasn’t the only reason it happened. He’s certain of it.
“My dad and I would pray after our workouts every day to get me a Division I scholarship,” said Benham. “Once that started happening, we’d pray for the right school. Now that that’s happened, we’re praying that our team will be the best it’s ever been and we’re going to make multiple NCAA tournaments. Prayer has just made a huge difference in my life.”
Basketball is his favorite sport
These days, Benham is a household name in Cabarrus County basketball circles. He’s the star player for Concord Academy, averaging nearly 23 points and more than eight rebounds per game as a 6-foot-4 guard.
For a while, Benham thought his path to sports greatness would be on the baseball diamond. That’s been the family business. His father played baseball at Liberty University and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, reaching double-A ball, and later spending time in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. His uncle, David, also played at Liberty and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox before going on a minor league journey.
Benham played baseball as a little boy, but by the time he turned 10 years old, he knew what he really wanted to do. So he traded in his spikes for sneakers and hit the gym hard.
“Basketball is a much faster-paced game than baseball, so basketball was always much more exciting to me,” Benham said. “I took basketball really seriously and started working on my game a lot.
“(My dad) was very supportive. He’s been my most supportive person ever. He rebounds for me, like, every day. His favorite sport is basketball also. He was just a lot better at baseball, that’s why he stuck with it. So he was absolutely stoked that (basketball was) the route I wanted to go.”
Benham became a standout in many of the youth leagues he played in, knocking down 3-pointers at a much higher rate than kids his age. But after a while, it finally became time for him to test his wares against stronger competition.
Until then, he’d always been home-schooled. But for eighth grade, he enrolled at Concord Academy.
“That’s when it started taking off,” Benham said. “I became a much better player.”
