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Kay's winding path leads to PSU-Brandywine

05/12/2017, 1:30pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Ben Kay (above) was hired as Penn State-Brandywine's head coach last week. (Photo courtesy West Chester Athletics)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Ben Kay knows he didn’t take the easiest route towards being a college coach.

As a senior at Harriton High School exactly 10 years ago, the recently-named head coach at Penn State-Brandywine had the option to attend several Division III schools, whose hoops coaches were recruiting the stocky 6-foot-1 forward with a handy 3-point shot to be part of their programs.

Instead, Kay went to Drexel, where any thoughts of walking on for then-head coach Bruiser Flint were quickly squashed.

“When I heard Bruiser makes you run like 15 suicides in a row all under 30 seconds, I knew I didn’t have a shot,” he laughed.

Instead, his entrance into college basketball came in the form of James Clark, an assistant for Drexel’s women’s basketball team. Clark had noticed Kay from his frequent trips to the gym for pick-up, and offered the freshman a chance to be a practice player for the women’s team.

Not sensing much downside, Kay agreed. His introduction to head coach Denise Dillion was the first step in what Kay said “ended up being one of the greatest relationships that I’ve formed in basketball.

“I always wanted to be a college head coach and just coach college basketball in general, and when I had the opportunity to work with Drexel women’s team, that helped me broaden my horizons a little bit and helped me focus in on that goal,” Kay continued. “Working with Denise was an amazing experience towards that, and learning from her helped me get to where I am today.”

In addition to working with the women’s team for the entirety of his undergraduate stay at Drexel, Kay satisfied his hoops hunger by attending local high school games, keeping himself in the know in regards to prospects at various levels.

That paid off when, as he was finishing up his undergrad degree in 2012, Kay was offered a role as an assistant coach under Jamie Chadwin at D-III Immaculata. When Chadwin left for SCH Academy the following year, Kay stayed on at the Delaware County school for two seasons under Terrence Stewart; in 2015, Kay joined Damien Blair’s staff at D-II West Chester, where he’s finishing up his masters’ degree in public administration and sports management.

Now he’s taking over his own program for the first time, as he was named head coach at Penn State-Brandywine last week.

A member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), PSU-Brandywine plays in the PSUAC, comprised of 14 Penn State branch campuses spread around the state.

Last year, the Nittany Lions went 6-19 overall, with a 5-11 mark in league play.

“My first priority is just changing the culture here and bringing in the right type of student-athlete,” Kay said. “I want to bring kids here that first and foremost want to graduate with a Penn State degree...and then second, I just want to bring in some good basketball players so we can win games.”

On his staff, Kay has brought on former Harriton high school head coach Jesse Rappaport, as well as N’aim Crenshaw, who played at Saint Joseph’s from 1998-2002, as his assistant coaches.

Though he watches a lot of local hoops, naming specifically Drexel and St. Joe’s men’s programs as two teams he pays careful attention to, Kay came up with a team from a little further away in regards to a potential style match.

“I obviously loved shooting 3s, shooting’s a big part of what I do and how I play when I was growing up, so I definitely value shooters and want to try to push the tempo,” he said. “I see my team playing very similar to West Virginia and the way Bob Huggins does things, his teams are gritty and tough, they like to press, they play up-tempo but they also play smart and a half-court style of basketball when they need to.”

Ultimately, though, don’t expect Kay’s teams to play exactly like anybody else’s. He cited a number of heavy influences, from Dillon to his former high school coach, Clyde Jones and all three head coaches he worked under, as well as St. Joe’s Phil Martelli and more.

It’s a group that’s representative of the route Kay took to get to where he is: not quite the Turnpike, more like Lincoln Drive.

“My path is a little bit different from a lot of people,” Kay said. “I just tried to put myself around great people, and when I looked up, I finally got to where I wanted to be.”


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