June 30, 2009

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Oakland University's Keith Benson became one of 14 collegiate big men to be invited to Amar'e Stoudemire Skills Academy from Sunday, June 28-Tuesday, June 30, announced by head coach Greg Kampe. Benson, a native of Farmington Hills, Mich., is one of five mid-major players selected for this camp.

"Being invited to this camp is a great opportunity for Keith," said assistant coach Darren Sorenson. "It allows him to showcase his talent with some of the top big men in the country. It also lets people see the quality of players we have here at Oakland University."

The goal of the Skills Academies is to instill the fundamentals into the next generation of top players. Each academy focuses on strength and conditioning and skill development. In addition to the on-court instruction the players also get to hear from the NBA athlete and the coaches on life lessons and what it takes to make it at the next level.

Joining Benson at the academy will be Cole Aldrich (Kansas), Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech), Denis Clemente (Kansas State), Dwayne Collins (University of Miami), Yancy Gates (Cincinnati), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Jerome Jordan (Tulsa), Jeremy Lin (Harvard), Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Jerome Randle (California), Larry Sanders (Virginia Commonwealth), Calvin Stoudemire (LeMoyne-Owen College) and Tony Woods (Wake Forest).

The rising junior scored 14.3 points per game and grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game last season. He broke the single-season school record with 87 blocks and also holds the all-time record with 127. Benson also finished fourth in the nation with a .622 field goal percentage and was named to the All-Summit League second team.

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