Ben Vander Plas leads Ohio’s March Madness upset of Virginia

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last SlideNext Slide

Ben Vander Plas had it rolling Saturday night in the first round of March Madness.

The No. 13 seed Ohio Bobcats guard scored 17 points in a 62-58 over No. 4 seed — and defending national champion — Virginia in West Region action. In one second-half stretch, Vander Plas scored 10 straight Ohio points as it surged to a seven-point lead. 

Here’s more about Vander Plas.  

Ben Vander Plas is an Ohio Bobcats wing 

The junior guard averages 12.8 points per game and hits 34.6% of his 3-pointers. He has started every Bobcats game for the past two seasons. 

Ben Vander Plas is named for the father of Virginia coach Tony Bennett  

Dean Vander Plas and Tony Bennett played for a Wisconsin-Green Bay team that made the NCAA Tournament in 1991. Bennett was the Phoenix’s leading scorer (21.5 ppg) and Vander Plas was No. 3 on the squad (10.5) that lost to Michigan State in the tournament. 

The name “Bennett”? That’s no accident. The elder Vander Plas named his son for Dick Bennett, the coach of that 1991 Green Bay team. 

“Makes me feel old!” Bennett said of facing his friend’s son. “It was like, woah, wait a second! And they named Bennett, Ben’s full name is Bennett, they named him because my father. I am so happy for his success. Watching Ben play, and I like ‘Man! He does some of the things his dad did.’ Dean will get mad at me, but from what I have seen, Ben might be better.” 

The strong connection made rooting interests in this matchup complicated for the Vander Plas family, which attended the 2019 Final Four that Virginia won.

“My family is kind of Virginia fans by default,” Vander Plas said. “Hopefully they will be wearing green for this game.”

Ben Vander Plas and Virginia’s Sam Hauser 

Vander Plas and Virginia player Sam Hauser saw each other plenty as kids. Hauser was a 2016 graduate of Stevens Point (Wis.) High School; Vander Plas is a 2017 Ripon grad.

Ben Vander Plas called his NCAA Tournament halftime buzzer beater 

Vander Plas gave the Bobcats a boost with a 3 at the end of the first half to bring them within 28-27. He had plenty of confidence in it. 

March 20, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Ohio Bobcats forward Ben Vander Plas (5) looks for a pass guarded by Virginia Cavaliers forward Sam Hauser (10) during the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 20, 2021, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

 (Photo: Sam Owens, IndyStar-USA TODAY Sports) Vander Plas outshined inspirational teammate Jason Preston

Coming into the game, Ohio’s Jason Preston was the most talked about Bobcat player. 

If you don’t know it, his story is incredible.

Preston started a single basketball game in high school after mostly being a benchwarmer. He was more of a basketball blogger, covering the Detroit Pistons, than he was a basketball player.

That all changed after he was asked to play in AAU game and started getting noticed. After high school, Preston attended Believe Preparatory Academy in Tennessee. 

From there, Preston made his own highlight reel which was put on Twitter. An Ohio University assistant saw it, and you can guess the rest of that part of the story.

Now Preston, a junior point guard, is coming off a season where he averaged 16.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. 

“Unbelievable player, better person,” Bobcats head coach Jeff Boals said on the truTV broadcast after the game. 

Could the NBA be next for Preston? It’s possible. One NBA scout even called him a “poor man’s LaMelo Ball.”