Sports
Dick Bennett (Left) and Jack Bennett (Right) admiring the new Bennett Court sign.
Bennett brothers attend honorary celebration
The Pointer
rnech142@uwsp.edu
Brothers Dick and Jack Bennett stood on the newly named Bennett Court on Saturday, Feb. 7, amid a large, supportive home crowd at the Quandt Fieldhouse.
“I know this for a fact, and I daresay that there aren’t too many courts named after brothers, so we’ll share that forever,” Jack said.
At halftime during the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s basketball game against the UW-Superior Yellowjackets, Athletic Director Frank O’Brien introduced the two distinguished ex-coaches. The athletic department unveiled floor plaques that will be placed in the Quandt during renovation this summer.
“There are days in your life that you’ll always remember,” Dick said. “Some are connected with your personal life, particularly marriage and your children, but then after that, it’s this kind of day you just never forget- very special.”
Numerous Pointer basketball alumni that had played under the Bennetts attended the ceremony to celebrate the occasion.
“To be able to spend even a half-hour, whatever it was, with these guys brings back a lot of memories and the fact that they would show up shows you that this was an important part of their lives,” said Dick. The Bennetts had served as coaches at UW-SP during different points in their careers.
Jack, who came to Stevens Point after years coaching at the high school level, said that Stevens Point holds a definitive spot in his heart.
“I don’t want to diminish any of my other experiences, but this is the highlight for me, coaching at UW-Stevens Point,” he said. “The way those teams played those last couple of years, you always dream about grabbing that brass ring and they did it, and they came back and did it again.”
Following in his big brother’s footsteps, Jack said he never would have expected to go as far as he did. He won back-to-back NCAA Division III Championships with the Pointers in 2004 and 2005.
Dick began his own collegiate coaching career at UW-SP and went on to coach for Washington State, UW-Madison and UW-Green Bay.
“When coaches and athletes say that they don’t think about things like this, they’re telling you the truth,” Jack said. “You don’t think about it during your career, but afterwards when you look at the sum of all that has happened, it’s something you are really grateful for.”
