Regardless of what has occurred in the game, whether the Wildcats are rolling along or playing from behind, the Davidson crowd always erupts when Frank Ben-Eze emerges from the bench and makes his way to the scorer's table inside Belk Arena.
Always.
"They do," says the senior Ben-Eze, with a laugh. "I don't know why."
There appear to be multiple factors contributing to the fans' affection toward Ben-Eze, but all seem to stem from him standing tall, both literally and figuratively.
At 6-foot-10, 237 pounds, Ben-Eze (pronounced Ben-easy) is the most imposing Wildcat and physically represents a dimension of strength. His combination of length and rebounding and shot-blocking ability is unique not only for Davidson, but for many of the Wildcats' opponents, too.
"Every time he steps on the court," says Davidson coach Bob McKillop, "he has the capacity to do something powerful for our team."
But beyond his on-court presence, Ben-Eze has also shown strength in his personal life, mostly through perseverance. He has endured five knee surgeries in four years — including an arthroscopic procedure this year — and has lived in the United States, far from his native Nigeria, since he began attending Virginia's Bishop O'Connell High. Though Ben-Eze stays in contact with his family via phone and Skype, his parents have never seen him play a college game.
Meanwhile, the Davidson community has become Ben-Eze's adopted family.
"They want him to succeed," says McKillop. "... He's got a great smile, has gone through so much adversity and has never let that adversity knock the smile off his face."
Ben-Eze, who began playing basketball at the late age of 15, has torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in both knees, once as a senior in high school and then as a Davidson freshman. The second ACL tear came shortly after the first, after he had returned from nine months of rehabilitation, leaving him sidelined for more than 16 months combined. Ben-Eze says the absence of the game for the prolonged period affected him in all aspects of his life.
"You could see it in my academics, some things I could normally do I couldn't do any more because I just wasn't focused any more," he says. "I just felt that 'I'm alone.'"
But Ben-Eze, as he had when he left home at a young age, found a way to focus and move on.
"My faith has kinda put me through it a lot, the belief I have, and the fact that I just feel that things happen, and it's life," he says. "It makes me a stronger person I think."
Ben-Eze hails from Benin City, Nigeria, the same hometown as former Wildcat Andrew Lovedale. The two had met just once when Ben-Eze saw Lovedale on the Davidson campus during a recruiting visit, and the two realized who one another was. McKillop describes the Lovedale/Ben-Eze connection as "incredibly ironic, but incredibly fortuitous." And it was through Lovedale's Kicks for 'Cats Foundation that Ben-Eze last returned home three years ago, helping to deliver shoes to the Nigerian children.
As his final college season opens, Ben-Eze is excited about contributing on a deep Davidson team. He blocked 14 shots and averaged 1.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 6.9 minutes in 27 games last year, and like all Wildcats this season, in order to hold a spot in the rotation, he'll have to produce. But he's motivated by the fact that he feels as healthy as he has in his Davidson career.
And McKillop is glad to have him as an option in the post.
"He's got the ability to energize the home crowd and silence the away crowd," says McKillop. "That's a powerful weapon to have."
