We had the chance to catch up with former NC State guard Cam Bennerman who played for the Wolfpack from 2002-03 through the 2005-06 season to talk about his time in Raleigh, the program, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Bennerman did something few players for the Wolfpack have been able to do in the program’s history: he was part of a team that went to the NCAA tournament four years in a row. NC State has only had five stretches where they went to the tournament four consecutive years. Four of those five came as part of five-year consecutive appearance streaks. Jim Valvano took NC State to five straight tournaments from 1985 - 1989. Herb Sendek led the Pack to the tournament from 2002 - 2006. Mark Gottfried rounds out the coaches who were able to do that with appearances from 2012 - 2015.
During his time at NC State, Bennerman finished with career averages of 7.4 ppg, 2.3 rbs, and 1.1 asts. He shot 47.1% from the field and was a career 36.2% three-point shooter. His stats don’t really tell the full story of his career, though. Bennerman came to NC State ranked as the number-84 recruit in the country. However, he joined a team with a lot of talent ahead of him.
The Greensboro native joined a team that had Julius Hodge, Scooter Sherill, and Cliff Crawford ahead of him at guard. Crawford was a very experienced senior. Scooter Sherill and Julius Hodge were both returning players who averaged double figures the year prior and both were McDonald’s All-Americans.
As a freshman, Bennerman played about 10 minutes per game. He was the seventh man in a seven-man rotation. The following season, as a sophomore, Bennerman was still playing as the 3rd wing behind Hodge and Sherrill. In today’s college basketball landscape, it seems most players who experience this kind of limited playing time would bolt for a new program between their freshman and sophomore years. Not Bennerman. He stuck it out in Raleigh and his efforts paid off. As a Junior, he played the fifth most minutes on the team. He averaged 10 points per game. As a senior, he averaged 14 points per game and landed on the All-ACC 3rd team while helping lead the Pack to another NCAA tournament.
When asked about what kept him in Raleigh and led to his improvement, Bennerman had the following to say: “Vision. Vision for why you're there. Believing in what it is that you have to offer. And... not quitting, being extremely tough.”
It's a pattern, and Bennerman described it very well from freshman year to senior: “It's a pattern that I've experienced in my life of getting involved. Having a vision. Figuring out where it is that you fit. Based on the needs of the team, the needs of the situation, not being so ego-driven to say this is what I want to do.
“You know. You got to— it's a solution-based, problem-solving-based mentality to look at anything, anywhere, any given time to say, 'Okay.' Now, what can I do to make this better?
“And then, quite honestly, I just knew that I loved my teammates.”
Cam continued to talk about his time with the Pack. While at NC State, Bennerman was a part of a team that finished seconnd in the regular season standings. That is the highest finish in the regular season that the Wolfpack has had in the last 35 years. The coach for the Pack at the time was Herb Sendek. If you ask a Wolfpack fan who is old enough to have watched the Sendek years, you’ve got a 50/50 shot on what kind of answer you are going to get. If you ask Bennerman, you’re going to get a very positive answer.
“The success that we achieved was not by mistake, to be totally honest. Those last four years of Coach Sendek's career there at State, he was so strategic in how he set up the schedule. Our practice plans. The details of the practice plans. Putting, you know, putting you under the microscope. You will never know it. You would never know it. But. He would pick a, he would pick a player each practice to put under the microscope. And we wouldn't know it. And it's just, you know, no fouls will be called… The pressure and the heat will be turned up on this particular individual. Strategically. You know? Everything was so strategic… I attribute our level of systematic approach and process on defense and offense, and our level of discipline as a team, to him and the staff. Like I said, it takes so much. But our level of discipline, our system, and our process to success was very sharp. That's why we had the success that we had.”
For fans of Bennerman, one memory may stand out above the rest. During the 2005 - 2006 season, the Pack had a couple of pretty sweet plays in the first half against the Duke Blue Devils, and Bennerman was involved in both. One one play, Bennerman drove the ball and hammered down an impressive dunk against a big time shot blocker in Sheldon Williams. Bennerman went up for the dunk and as Williams went for the block, Bennerman shifted the ball to the left and slammed it down. Later, Bennerman made a steal and passed the ball for a Gavin Grant alley-oop.
Cam remembered the moment: ”You know, my teammates, anybody who's kind of played alongside me and knows me, that play was not very difficult for me. It was an amazing in-game moment. But I mean, I'm running at a guy full speed. I'm a one-leg jumper… I feel very confident in myself that I'm going to finish that. Nine times out of 10. And my teammates see me do that a lot.
As for a favorite memory of his, “That game. I want to say, really, I mean, to piggyback off of that. I think that game. I think that game, because... If you, especially after, I want to say I had that play, and then I had to steal an alley-oop to Gavin. And then I want to say the camera cut to coach K's face and he was just sitting there like, what the hell is going on? And then they cut to Coach Sendek, and he's looking like, what the hell is going on? So it's like there was these moments of... Wow or what it could be. It's those moments where the synchronicity. It's so insane.”
Since leaving NC State, Bennerman has been keeping very busy. He played professional basketball for several years. Eventually, he hung up the sneakers and has been focusing on being an entrepreneur. He currently runs a cafe called The Pines (Cafe 13) in Greensboro, NC that his father started and Cam took over. He also has a clothing company called Brand Dream. The Process is a book project he’s been working on. This book condenses all the knowledge he’s gathered and really tries to provide guidance and knowledge onto the next generation. Bennerman spoke about having a vision. No matter whether it’s one of the for-profit projects he’s involved in or the non-profit he leads, like Dream State University, Bennerman is focused on impacting the community.
He had this to say: “No matter what you're into, we want to tap into that core. Dream and vision of the individual, and if you don't have one, we want to help you out— architect one and architect the dream or, you know, just have that discovery.”
We talked a little about NIL and how it is different for student athletes these days. Bennerman actually did an NIL deal last season with Saniya Rivers. It was a learning experience for him.
“And I learned so much about the new student athlete. I learned so much into the psyche. The thought process trying to really navigate the decision-making, and it's tough. There's so much pressure on them to try to. You know, somebody's telling you, 'Yeah, you gotta, you gotta monetize…
“And I remember asking her, What are you into?... I said, 'Outside of basketball, what else would you like to do?' You know? And she has a creative side. She likes fashion. She told me, 'You know, [I have] aspirations on doing like a Colgate commercial.' It's like… but what I've learned and know to be true…how you can use the game and make things happen for yourself? You can do it. It can be done.
“Whatever you want to do, you can do it. You know, it's an architectural approach that I would take to the student-athlete these days, and really understanding what it is that is at their core and what they're really into and what really motivates them.”
Continuing on about student-athletes, NIL money, and sticking with a program like he did, he said: “For me, with the current student-athlete and all this money being thrown around, Uh, what we don't know... with Bennerman or with Evtimov or Hodge, whoever. They've already had the career. They went through the finish line. We don't know about you. You have tons of potential. But we don't know about you. You know, the money that you're getting with this NIL stuff, realistically speaking,...When they go pro, if they go overseas, they're not getting that. Then I start with that. How does that work with the psyche? Is the game still worth what it was to you? …
“It gets real complicated. Again, if I'm approaching one, if I'm in front of one, I'm going to stay focused on foundational, fundamental principles, life principles… tap into that and just stay focused on the core interests and values and concerns of the player. Their families, stuff like that. And really, you know, that's where my work kind of lies. I'm not really impressed by all the NIL money stuff because it causes more problems than anything, really.”
We talked about the current direction of the program and the new Will Wade era. Bennerman briefly hit on the previous couple of years prior to Wade. “That Coach Keats stuff really drained me, and I'm sure it did for a lot of WPN. That was really draining there at the end. It was just an emotional rollercoaster. So to kind of like, just wipe the slate clean. Get a guy who is extremely motivated. You know, if you dig into his process, what he's been through as a coach, what he's had to overcome. This is the kind of guy who has a point to prove.”
“This is... The DNA of the Pack. Something like that. I like how this sounds. You got something to prove. It ain't just good enough to be in the ACC. It ain't just good enough to win in ‘83 and ‘74. It ain't just good enough. We're here to be progressive, and take this thing serious.”
It was good catching up with the former Wolfpack standout. If you’re in Greensboro and need a place to grab lunch, look up The Pines. You might be on the receiving end of great dish just like that Gavin Grant alley-oop.
