Barret Benson is leaving the Northwestern Wildcats basketball team. That could end up being very good news for the Nebraska basketball team for a number of reasons. First of all, it weakens a conference rival that was an NCAA Tournament team not all that long ago. Secondly, when it comes to trying to rebuild a program that had a much worse season than anyone saw coming, it can't hurt to grab an actual center that can man the middle, both on offense and defense.
Benson has announced he plans to graduate and then transfer elsewhere. That means he will be eligible to play anywhere he'd like starting in the 2019-2020 season.
Nebraska basketball reload needs size
If there was one thing that the Huskers lacked, especially when Isaac Copeland went down with injury this season, it was some real size in the middle of the lineup. Isaiah Roby did his best to fill in at the position of "center" though Tim Miles' program has really played the last few years without a consistent player at that position. While they will be getting a big more size with Dachon Burke officially joining the roster, it couldn't hurt to stockpile size by adding Benson to the mix.
The now-former Northwestern center stands at 6-10 and could bring at least a big body who the Huskers' coach could add to the mix. This is especially the case if the Tim Miles era is going to be coming to a close in the next few days. A new coach would be able to start fresh by offering Benson the chance to compete for the starting center job in Lincoln. That's something Barret Benson never really got in Evanston, thanks to Derek Pardon being "the man in the middle" for Northwestern.
Depth more than a starter?
That's not to say that Benson would automatically crack the starting lineup for the Cornhuskers should he make a move to Lincoln. While he did play in every single one of the Wildcats' games the last two seasons, he started just nine.
In those games, he averaged just two points per game and hauled down three rebounds per contest this season. It's unlikely that if and when the center was added to the roster, he would be guaranteed a starting job after posting those numbers.
On the other hand, there was a time when James Palmer Jr was a bench player for Miami and his career high with the Hurricanes was 13.3 minutes per game. Since coming to Nebraska, he's seen his minutes increase to more than 30 minutes per game. The soon-to-be-departing Nebraska basketball player also forged a resume that had him one of the best players in the Big Ten. Barret Benson not being a starter at Northwestern doesn't guarantee he wouldn't be worth a flier for the Huskers.