Trainer keeps men’s hoops healthy

Sean Labar 
Contributing Writer

During a typical VCU men’s basketball game, most fans are focused on the skill of the opponent or how effective head coach Shaka Smart’s havoc defense will be on a given night.

But there are men and women working endless hours behind the scenes to ensure the Rams have a mentally sharp and physically strong team to put on the court. One of those men is Eddie Benion, the assistant athletic director for sports medicine at VCU.

Benion’s primary responsibility is to monitor the health of the men’s basketball team and assist the players with injuries, but he also coordinates all of the services carried out in the department of sports medicine. He has known his entire life that he wanted to help athletes, but initially thought he would have to become a doctor to do so.

“Literally I didn’t know that the field existed,” Benion said. “I knew that when you watched a game and you saw someone go out there and take care of the athlete and I wanted to do that, but I didn’t know that was an athletic trainer.”

After working six years at Alabama A&M University and another six at Cleveland State University, Benion found a home in Richmond four years ago and hasn’t looked back. Coincidently, his first year was 2010-11, when VCU reached the Final Four for the first time in school history.

“The run for the Final Four was the greatest experience I’ve probably ever had in regards to my profession,” Benion said. “There were several games within that season that were just ridiculous.”

Over the last four years, Benion has become an integral part of the Rams’ staff. He says developing open communication with the players is vital to achieving success in his job.

“For the role that I have to play here at VCU, it is imperative to have a close relationship with the players,” Benion said. “These are young men who don’t know how to take care of themselves from the medical component, so you are there to manage that and to instruct them on how they will have to manage it in years to come.”

If a player gets hurt in a game or practice, it is Benion’s responsibility to get him healthy enough to compete again. If the injury requires surgery, he will send the player to a physician.

But ultimately, it is Benion’s job to decide if a player is ready to take the court after missing time with an injury, and that isn’t always the easiest decision.

“You probably have second guesses all the time,” Benion said.  “But typically, the experience of the job allows you to be able to say I made the right call.”

Just like any player or coach, Benion has certain things he has to do to prepare for a game. He is responsible for setting up the visitors’ locker room and making sure that they have the proper amenities, as well as checking on the health of VCU’s players and ensuring they are ready for tip-off.

And yes, he has a pre-game ritual. But only for games played on Saturdays.

“I will make sure the team has doughnuts available to them,” Benion said. “They will eat them prior to shoot around. I have been doing Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but we may have to change it up because we found another doughnuts that we really like. But I’m not going to change it up mid-season, you can’t do that.”

Superstitious or not, Benion says good intentions rest at the center of his Saturday ritual.

“Initially, I instilled it because I wanted guys to come in early for treatments leading up to the game,” Benion said. “A way of conning the young men into coming was to provide them doughnuts.”