Malachi Bennett
Instagram: 3ennett__
Twitter: 3ennetthooper
6’3, 170lbs.
c/o 2025
Code Academy, Canada
Bennett is fierce, attacks the lane, heads downhill in a hurry, and is a punishing scoring machine. He excels in getting out into transition and uses his blistering speed against an opposing defense. He can finish with either hand with laser precision. He said he considers himself a “linebacker” on the court and he controls and reads the court, always making sure he communicates well. This kid is a coach’s dream. A kid who just loves to play the game. He can absolutely take constructive criticism/feedback from his coaches and he can quickly make any changes asked of him. He is a scrappy Guard whose strengths are definitely perimeter defense and slashing.
Last season Malachi averaged 10.2 points, 2.1 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals while shooting 51% from the floor. Last season, his team finished 4-1 in the Team Takeover Memorial Day Takeover. Although they didn’t win the whole tournament, it showed him and his teammates that they could hang with anybody. His goals going into this upcoming season are to increase all his averages in all categories, expand his game even more with his shooting from 3 point land and never foul out of a game. Last school season, he found himself coming off the bench, but he realized that he needed to calm down and only focus on what HE could control. Once he did that, he was inserted into the starting lineup.
Playing AAU for Toronto DC United, his goals are to win as many tournaments as possible, improve his confidence, and truly uplift his teammates when things aren’t going their way during a game. Finally, he wants to work his absolute hardest to generate interest from college scouts and coaches by working hard on all facets of his game, to make him the best all around threat he can be.
One thing that stood out to me about him was his ability to quickly turn defense into offense. He said “For me it’s hard to explain, but I get an unreal feeling getting a steal, block or any type of defensive stop and immediately scoring. It just energizes both myself and my teammates and gives us momentum.” When things aren’t going well during a game, he has the ability to take a deep breath and quickly analyze why? He fully understands that playing the “blame game” and allowing frustration to set in, only makes it worse. He has learned to become a coach on the floor and help his teammates if he sees them getting angry or frustrated. Team first!
When asked what a coach can expect from him, he said “100% effort and intensity on both sides of the ball throughout the entire game.” He does things as a Guard that most Guards don’t really like to do, like setting pins downs, off ball screens or even sacrificing his own body. He plays with great sportsmanship and holds himself and his teammates to a very high standard, and that includes the language they use off the court, respect for their teachers and focusing on grades and not just basketball. This kid is a student first and then a basketball player. He graduated with honors, a 3.9 GPA, won the French Academic Award and won Athlete of the Year.
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