'West Virginia boy' Benjamin glad to have chosen pro hoops

As a young man playing basketball at Dunbar Junior High and thenlater for South Charleston and West Virginia State, Joe Benjamin hada pretty clear idea what his future looked like.

And it did not look anything like it has turned out so far.

"No, not at all," he said. "I'm a West Virginia boy and I thoughtI would be doing something in West Virginia."

During his senior year in college that changed - drastically.

This week he visited home before embarking on his fifth year ofplaying professional basketball in Denmark.

Always a solid performer on the basketball court, Benjamin wasnever a star.

As a senior at South Charleston, he averaged 10.6 points a gameand was named to the All-Mountain State Athletic Conference firstteam.

The 6-foot-6 Benjamin redshirted his first year of college. As asenior he averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds.

Still, then West Virginia State assistant coach Cornelius Jacksonsaw something in Benjamin that he thought would be attractive toEuropean professional teams.

"All through my college career I didn't think about playingprofessional basketball," Benjamin said. "Everybody thought I wouldgo into the corporate world."

Benjamin graduated with a degree in communications.

What Jackson saw, however, was Benjamin's work ethic, hisdedication to fundamentals, and that he was simply a winner.

He helped the Black Eagles to a state tournament runner-up finishhis senior year.

In his first year in a Yellow Jackets uniform, the team won theWest Virginia Conference crown.

They won back-to-back tournament championships his junior andsenior seasons.

"Coach Jackson set me down and talked to me about (playingbasketball professionally)," Benjamin said. "I went to a couple oftryout camps."

Then West Virginia State teammate Tony Cornett signed with a teamin Iceland.

"His dad told his agent about me and he called," Benjamin said."Ever since then I was locked into Denmark."

Yes, Denmark.

The self-proclaimed "West Virginia boy" headed to Scandinavia.

"I had to report August 12, 2007," Benjamin recalled. "I waspicked up at the airport by the (general manager) and teampresident."

Though he said he would come to learn that 90 to 95 percent ofthe Danish also speak English as a second language, those two peoplewere not among them.

"They couldn't speak English very well, but body language andhand signs did pretty well," Benjamin said.

They drove him to his apartment, showed him a refrigerator fullof food and handed him an envelope with his first month's salary.

"It was all in Danish kroner," Benjamin said. "I didn't know howmuch it was, I didn't have a bank account, I didn't speak Danish, Iwas pretty much lost when they left me."

Then came a real disappointment.

"I turned on the television and there were no channels in Englishand that hurt," he said.

He started team workouts the next day with no guarantee he wouldmake the team.

"Basically the first 30 days are a tryout," Benjamin said, "eventhough you are under contract."

He had to get used to international rules.

"My first game I had to guard a guy 7-6," Benjamin recalled."There a ball laying on the rim is in play."

The only goaltending occurs when a player hits the net while anopponent is shooting a lay-up or hitting the backboard and making itshake during a shot attempt.

Rule interpretation is also different.

"I got called for traveling a lot," he said. "A lot of the samemoves you do in the (United States) you can't do in Denmark."

There was the style of play.

"It is totally different, the Danish game is very physical,"Benjamin said. "It was very rough, my first year I had a lot of cutsand bruises but I adjusted."

Now he's a seasoned veteran.

"I won't be considered an American anymore," Benjamin said. "Ibecome more expensive."

European leagues limit the number of American players each teamcan have. The limit in the Denmark league is two per team.

Starting this season, Benjamin will no longer count against thatlimit.

That is important with the possibility of several NBA playersturning to the European leagues if the current labor issues wipe outthe NBA season.

"A lot of the guys are worried about their jobs," he said.

Benjamin equates the league with falling somewhere between "ClassAA and Class AAA" minor league baseball.

Though the salary numbers are also minor league compared to theNBA, they are nothing to be sneezed at either.

Without getting into his specific salary, Benjamin put his rookiepay in the $70,000 range.

Veterans with similar experience generally make $90-115,000 fornine months.

"By West Virginia standards it would be paying well," Benjaminsaid. "But not by European standards."

He pointed out that 40 percent of his salary each month goes totaxes. His first year another five percent went to pay a finder'sfee to his agent, who also got a 10 percent commission.

"There are also fines," said Benjamin, whose apartment is paidfor by the team, but he's responsible for the utilities, Internetand other amenities. "If I get a technical it costs me one-third ofa month's pay."

So what does the future hold for Benjamin?

"I plan on playing two or three more years," said the 28-year-old. "I really want to use my degree."

He plans to pursue a master's degree while in Denmark, where his40 percent tax pays for free education.

Broadcasting or coaching are options.

"I've done a little (broadcast commentary) with the networkhere," Benjamin said. "And they've offered me a job coaching withthe national team."

Will the young man who though he would never leave West Virginiaever return for good?

"Who knows?" Benjamin said.

One thing he has definitely learned is that the future isimpossible to predict.