Chad Groth and D. Wade
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Northern Arizona Spring Showcase 2012 Highlights
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Ben Howland UCLA
Herb Sendek
Drew Bender commits to RICE UNIVERSITY
Phoenix, AZ – After taking several visits and years of recruitment, Drew Bender finally landed a verbal. Bender, the 2013 6 foot 5 combo guard (Pinnacle High School-Phoenix, AZ) with deep shooting range gave a verbal today to Rice University head coach Ben Braun.
Bender and Braun will be a great fit. Adam Cohen assistant coach on the Rice staff spent recruiting him since day 1. Cohen got to know Bender while at USC as Bender participated in there Elite camps during the summer. Cohen joined Rice back in the summer. Cohen is a solid coach and recruiter that will one day become a head coach.
Bender played club basketball for the Arizona Future and Compton Magic. The Arizona Future is one of the biggest programs in Arizona, going for years. I remember first meeting Ron Bender (dad) and Drew Bender in Kingman, AZ at a gas station while both of us were going to Las Vegas for a basketball tournament. I believe Drew was in the 6th or 7th grade. We exchanged business cards and have been friends ever since and Drew and the Arizona Future teams participate in every Area Codes Basketball event if possible.
During this spring and summer Bender spent a majority of the time playing with Etop Udo Ema and the Compton Magic in such tournaments in Little Rock, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Bender was also selected by Dinos Trigonis to participate in the Pangos All American Camp last June in Long Beach, CA.
This summer Area Codes Basketball ranked Drew Bender the 2nd Best Prospect in 2013 behind his former Compton Magic teammate Jaron Hopkins.
Bender at the Pangos All-American Camp
“Bender is a natural leader, plays hard and loves competition, he steps up in big games and I knew once I watched him play I could help him”, said Udo Ema.
Bender picked Rice University over Princeton, UC Irvine, Drake, Creighton, Northeastern, Northern Arizona, Dartmouth and Air Force.
Drew Bender, Ron Bender (dad) & Kenny Martin (Arizona State)
The best thing about Drew Bender is his grade point average, 3.95 and he is a winner on and off the court and will be successful.
Area Codes Basketball would like to say CONGRATS! to the Bender family.
