Ben Hines is a name that is not likely to ring many bells for Portage County basketball enthusiasts.
His name was never the feature of any headlines.
He never led his team in scoring or rebounding. And he never has been a head coach at any level ... yet.
Allow me to introduce you to Ben Hines, who is a 2003 graduate of Southeast High School.
Despite ending his basketball playing career after his sophomore year, his love for the game never once took time off.
“I would say by the time I was a junior in high school, I knew that I wanted to become a teacher and coach,” said Hines, who is nearing completion of his college degree.
“I recognized that I was not a good enough player,” Hines said. “I do not regret anything. I think when you are young, it is hard to grasp how hard you have to work to be good and that is where I was at. My love for the game never waned, though.”
Immediately after graduating high school, Hines became an assistant for the Pirates. He became a sponge, absorbing absolutely everything he could from the basketball minds that surrounded him.
He spent three years under former Southeast head coaches Bob Dunn and Chris Pratt, constantly picking brains for additional philosophies.
“Ben worked very, very hard to learn the game,” Dunn said. “Having not played his last two years of high school, he had a lot to catch up on, but he did.”
Hines is now a part of the Kent State University men’s basketball team. Still a sponge and still allowing his basketball knowledge to expand as the Golden Flashes’ co-team head manager.
Reading between the lines, Hines’ opportunity with KSU places him in a position to be a coaches’ assistant. He attends about 80 percent of the team’s practices and about 80 percent of the team’s road trips.
“Coaches live such a hectic lifestyle, so my job is to make their lives as easy as possible,” Hines said. “Our other team manager works with the players a lot more, and I still do that as well, but I tend to be in the office a lot more.”
Hines has hopes of translating all of his basketball education provided by his mentors into an opportunity to be a head coach.
“I have always had an interest in the style of the game, the techniques, the reasoning on why things are successful on the basketball court,” Hines said.
He is known for his quiet demeanor, but becomes a different person when he enters the gym.
“I love being in the gym everyday,” he said. “As fun as the games are, the interaction with the players and coaches everyday is what becomes the best.”
That daily interaction has created some memorable friendships for Hines.
“I learned a tremendous amount from both coach Dunn and Pratt. Bob’s track record speaks for itself, and even though Chris is not coaching now, I still think he has a bright future as a coach. I still talk to both of them all of the time. And now, I have already learned so much from the great coaches Kent State has.”
For Division I college basketball, Kent State’s coaching staff is relatively young, but not short on basketball IQ.
KSU head coach Geno Ford, along with assistants Rob Senderoff, Bobby Steinburg and Armon Gates, are Hines’ current basketball encyclopedias to learn from.
“They are great,” Hines said. “All of them. I get along with them all, and I am learning so much from all of them. They give me an opportunity to speak up, too, which really shows what kind of people they are.”
At the same time, Hines has left his own impact on what kind of person he is.
“Ben is incredibly loyal and extremely dedicated,” Dunn said.
One day that will be what a school is getting in their head coach. A loyal, dedicated coach who will teach his players to play the right way.
The name Ben Hines will then be a name that will most certainly be more well-known.
•••
Contact Tom Nader at tnader@recordpub.com
•••
Archived stories by Tom Nader can be found at www.twitter.com/tnader