Pero Vasiljevic
July 23, 2020
Bennett Davison
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 21/11/1975
- Place of Birth: San Francisco, California (USA)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 203
- Weight (KG): 96
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: West Valley (1994-1996) / Arizona (1996-1998)
- NBL DEBUT: 12/11/99
- AGE AT DEBUT: 23
- LAST NBL GAME: 20/03/00
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 24
- NBL History: Melbourne 2000 | Gold Coast 2011 (DNP)
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Davison was born in San Francisco and raised in Sebastopol, California (USA).
He was lightly recruited after his high school career at Analy High School and landed at West Valley College, a community college.
After two strong seasons, Davison attracted the attention of coach Lute Olson at Arizona, and was offered a scholarship with the Wildcats.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Bennett Davison made his NBL debut with the Melbourne Tigers at 23 years of age. He scored 29 points in his first game.
Melbourne would lose Marcus Timmons (to Perth) and replace him with Davison, who would arrive injured and be unable to join the team until six games in. The retirement of Tigers legend Ray Gordon also opened up another roster spot, which Lindsey Gaze would use to sign young and coming big man Pero Vasiljevic (from Canberra). Although Davison (19.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.4 blocks) would fill the hole left by Timmons quite capably, the aging core of the Tigers, including the 30-year-old Mark Bradtke (17.9 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 blocks) and Lanard Copeland (21.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals) and Andrew Gaze (29.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists), who both celebrated their 34th birthdays this season struggled against the league’s best team’s. Despite the disapponting season, no-one who attended the round seven game at Rod Laver Arena will forget the stunning debut of Bennett Davison for the Tigers who also added 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks against defending champions Adelaide.
For those of you who remember. BENNETT DAVIDSON made a impact instantly in the NBL!!! @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/HaCFh1ufg3— RANDOM HOOPS (@HoopsRandom) April 5, 2023
Melbourne finished in fifth place this season and scraped into the playoffs despite not having a winning record (14-14), the team’s worst record since they last failed to make the playoffs in 1988. Melbourne then lost to the Victoria Titans in the Quarterfinals (1-2). Gaze would be selected to the All-NBL first team for a record fifteenth time, the last time he was recognised for the award. This season cemented the decline of the Gaze led Tigers, with the team never finishing higher than fifth again until after the retirement of both Andrew and Lindsey Gaze.
At the end of the season, Gaze and Bradtke also guided the Australian Boomers to a equal best fourth-place finish in Sydney before both retiring from international play.
Davison signed a contract to return to the NBL in 2010 and play with the Gold Coast Blaze but suffered a season ending injury prior to arriving.
Bennett Davison played one season in the NBL. He averaged 19.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3 assists in 25 NBL games.
CAREER RANKINGS:
– 12th in blocks per game.
HIGHLIGHTS:
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 24 | Melbourne | 14-14 (5) | 25 | 1,067.0 | 492 | 232 | 76 | 88 | 144 | 39 | 60 | 83 | 88 | 203 | 413 | 49% | 5 | 15 | 33% | 81 | 117 | 69% | 52% | 50% | 30 | Totals | 25 | 1067 | 492 | 232 | 76 | 88 | 144 | 39 | 60 | 83 | 88 | 203 | 413 | 49.2% | 5 | 15 | 33.3% | 81 | 117 | 69.2% | 53% | 50% | 30 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 24 | Melbourne | 14-14 (5) | 25 | 42.7 | 19.7 | 9.3 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 8.1 | 16.5 | 49% | 0.2 | 0.6 | 33% | 3.2 | 4.7 | 69% | 52% | 50% | 30 | Total | 25 | 42.7 | 19.7 | 9.3 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 8.1 | 16.5 | 49.2% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33.3% | 0.2 | 0.6 | 69.2% | 53% | 50% | 30 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 30 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
|---|
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Turkey - Galatasaray (1998–1999) | Slovenia - Krka (2000–2002) | Italy - Basket Napoli (2002–2004), Virtus Bologna (2004–2005, 2006–2007), Olimpia Milano (2007), Scafati (2008–2009) | Croatia - Cibona (2005–2006) | Greece - Rethymno Aegean (2007–2008) | Mexico - Huracanes (2009–2010) | Venezuela - Toros de Aragua (2010) | Dominican Republic - Huellos del Siglo (2010)
Bennett Davison played professionally for over ten years, and his early overseas stop came with Galatasaray in Turkey during the 1998–1999 season, where he appeared in 20 Turkish Basketball League games and averaged 8.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game while playing alongside Orhun Ene and Patrick Durham.
Davison later played in Slovenia with Krka (2000–2002), and in the 2001–2002 EuroLeague season he averaged 11.7 points and 7.5 rebounds across six games, sharing that campaign with teammates such as Jaka Lakovic and Boris Gnjidic.
He then spent multiple seasons in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A, including a stint with Basket Napoli (2002–2004) where he played 36 league games in 2003–2004 and averaged 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 0.5 blocks while shooting 55.3% from the field and 37.1% from three-point range, with teammates that season including Mike Penberthy, Jerome Allen and Oscar Torres.
Davison later moved through further European stops, including Virtus Bologna in Italy and a EuroLeague season with Croatia’s Cibona in 2005–2006 where he averaged 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds across 20 EuroLeague games, playing alongside Scoonie Penn, Davor Kus and Damir Markota.
In Italy’s 2006–2007 season, he split time between Virtus Bologna and AX Armani Exchange Milan, combining for 29 Lega A games at 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, including an 18-game stretch with Virtus (6.3 points, 4.5 rebounds) and an 11-game run with Milan (9.0 points, 5.8 rebounds) while sharing the floor with players such as Travis Best in Bologna and Danilo Gallinari in Milan.
After moving to Greece with Rethymno Aegean in 2007–2008, he later returned to Italy with Scafati in 2008–2009 before finishing with brief stints in Mexico and elsewhere, including Huracanes in the 2009–2010 Mexican LNBP where Eurobasket credits him with five games at 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and he also had 2010 stops with Toros de Aragua in Venezuela and Huellos del Siglo in the Dominican Republic.
COLLEGE
Bennett Davison played two junior-college seasons at West Valley College in Saratoga, California, before transferring to the University of Arizona, where he stepped into Lute Olson’s rotation as a junior and quickly earned a starting role in the frontcourt.
In Davison’s first season at Arizona (1996-97), he appeared in 34 games and made 29 starts, averaging 28.3 minutes, 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 block per game while shooting 122-for-244 from the field (50.0%) and 85-for-125 at the foul line (68.0%).
Midway through the 1996-97 Pac-10 schedule, Arizona’s student newspaper noted Davison at 11.8 points per game and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game at that point of the season, with Olson describing his transition from junior college as aided by West Valley’s high-level program, and the same report detailed that Davison did not join the starting lineup until after producing two near double-doubles against No. 9 New Mexico and No. 5 Utah, after which he led the Wildcats in rebounds over that stretch and sat second on the team in shooting percentage at 52%.
Davison was a starter on the University of Arizona’s 1997 NCAA championship team, a run that ended with the Wildcats winning the national title 84-79 in overtime over Kentucky in the championship game, after also defeating No. 1 seeds Kansas (85-82) and North Carolina during the tournament, with Arizona finishing 25-9 and becoming the only team credited with beating three No. 1 seeds in a single NCAA Tournament run.
As a senior in 1997-98, Davison played 35 games with 32 starts and averaged 24.9 minutes, 7.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game, converting 111-of-188 shots from the floor (59.0%) and 45-of-72 free throws (62.5%).
Across his two Arizona seasons combined, Davison totaled 69 games and 61 starts with 1,831 minutes, 596 points (8.6 per game), 449 rebounds (6.5 per game), 53 assists, 116 steals, and 52 blocks, finishing as a 53.9% shooter from the field (233-for-432) and a 66.0% free-throw shooter (130-for-197).
Davison also produced several notable single-game defensive stat lines during his Arizona tenure, including a six-steal performance against Utah during the 1996 season and a nine-steal game versus Stanford in 1997-98 that stands as a University of Arizona single-game steals record.
AWARDS
- 1x All-NBL Third Team
Related
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