Affton Hoops Star Benedict Leading With 'Element Of Surprise'

Affton senior basketball star Sean Benedict has seen the look on people’s faces before.

It happens almost every time he plays in a place for the first time, and it’s always the same.

People are surprised, shocked and awed by the 17-year-old Affton native’s remarkable leaping and dunking ability, which they never seem to expect from a gangly white kid from South County.

But Benedict’s been surprising people almost his entire high school career.

And that continued last week at the Lanny Hradek Invitational Tournament at Orchard Farm High School in St. Charles, when Benedict dropped three exhilarating monster dunks that turned a packed house of Orchard Farm fans into screaming Sean Benedict fans begging for him to do another 360 or reverse slam dunk.

“I did hear them screaming,” Benedict said. “And it just makes me feel unbelievable that fans of the other team were screaming for me to do more dunks. It just makes me want to dunk every time.”

Some nights, it seems like Benedict could dunk every time down if he wanted.

That wouldn't be a problem for Benedict’s personal cheering section, composed his devoted mom and dad. They make sure to have a prime seats at every one of Affton’s games, home or away.

“It’s awesome to have that much support and love from my parents,” Benedict said. “Everybody’s parents love them and all, but it is cool to have my mom and dad be the one’s that make it to every game and cheer for me like they do. I love them to death.”

Benedict certainly plays like he appreciates the love.

This season, the four-year varsity player leads the Cougars and ranks among all St. Louis-area leaders in several categories, including scoring (15.1 points per game), rebounding (11.3 rebounds per game), blocked shots (1.9 blocks per game) and shooting percentage (54.1 percent).

In fact, with a 15 points and 11 rebounds a game averages, Benedict is one of only a dozen players in the entire area that averages a double-double, a double-digit average in more than one statistical category.

“It’s that element of surprise that I like the most,” Benedict said. “I’ve been at camps and played against guys (from everywhere), and it’s always the same. I have that element of surprise that they don’t know what I can do. And it surprises them to see me get up and be (as athletic) as they are.”

Not all who see Sean Benedict play are surprised when they see him, though. Some opposing coaches who have faced Affton more than once throughout the last four years know exactly what to expect when the Cougars and their indomitable leader take the floor.

“That Sean Benedict is something else,” Bayless coach Pat Triplett said, after a game against the Cougars this season. “We don’t have anybody that can stop him. He’s just a handful. He’s a great player, and I’ll be glad when he finally graduates so we don’t have to face him anymore.”

Local college scouts and recruiters have also begun to take notice and seem to be making more regular appearances at Affton’s games, now almost every time the Cougars take the floor.

Just last week, scouts from University of Missouri at St. Louis, Lindenwood University, and St. Louis Community College were seen at Affton games taking notes on Benedict’s game.

And since the beginning of last summer, recruiters from several Division III schools have been seen hovering around the Affton High School gym and team practices, each hoping to entice Benedict to pick their school as the one he’ll play his college ball at next year.

“I haven’t decided where I want to go yet,” Benedict said. “But I’ve probably narrowed it down to Webster University here in town, Coe College (IA), Marian University (IN), or Bethel College (KS). Those are the four schools that have been after me the most.”  

This week, Affton has two big games—one at Seckman High School in Arnold on Thursday, and a home game against McCluer South-Berkeley on Friday—which could be just what the Cougars need to jumpstart their playoff push with the MSHSAA districts beginning in just over a month.

“We’ve just got to give it our all,” Benedict said. “We’ve got some tough games coming up, but we think we’ve got a pretty good chance of winning districts. We’ve just got to work hard at practice and play hard as a team, and we should be OK.”