Saturday, October 20, 2012

30 for 30: BENJI - The True Story of a Dream Cut Short - ESPN Documentary


30 for 30: BENJI - The True Story of a Dream Cut Short - Documentary - Official Trailer


Back in 1984...Ben Wilson was 17-yrs-old and labeled the Nation's #1 High School Basketball Prospect. "Benji" was a "naturally-gifted/good-spirited" student-athlete from Chicago's fabled South Side — nicknamed "Magic Johnson w/ a Jump Shot!"

Ben led Simeon High to the State Championship w/ a 30-1 record; which led to an invitation to attend the "prestigious" Nike "All-American"camp. His skills, versatility and feel for the game led many college recruiters & head coaches to label Wilson the overall Top Player in the Nation; receiving scholarship offers from Illinois, DePaul & Indiana.


"Benji" ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary films. Directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah.

Unfortunately, during his senior year, the once-promising career of Ben "Benji" Wilson was abruptly and tragically cut short. After convincing his childhood friend and future-NBA star: Nick Anderson, to transfer to his school, the "highly-anticipated" pairing never happened.


A bright future cut short by dark tragedy
While walking to school w/ his girlfriend, a confrontation occurred after Wilson bumped into two, young freshmen (Billy Moore and Omar Dixon) from another high school. As the beef escalated, 'Moore brandished a .22 caliber gun and attempted to rob Wilson but after resisting, Dixon convinced Moore to shoot him instead.' – a witness told theKONGBLOG™ Rep

Benji was fatally and senselessly shot in the chest — leaving him slumped against a metal fence in the streets. After being rushed to the hospital, this condition became grave and his family made the pain-staking decision to remove him life support.


Benjamin "Benji" Wilson Jr. | 6' 9" 240 lb | PG/SG | Simeon High School

Although it was difficult to project just how good he would have been, former-Chicago players and top coaches from across the country described him as, 'Magic Johnson w/ a jump shot and Kevin Garnett w/ a better handle & perimeter game.'

In his 1985 High School Recruiting Class, he was projected to be a better ball-player than Glen Rice, Sean Elliott, Danny Ferry, Pervis Ellison, Rod Strickland — all the aforementioned players garnered college-hype & proceeded to have successful NBA careers.


Simeon Career Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
University of Memphis
2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall / NBA All-Star & 2011 NBA MVP




Current NBA Dream Team/Chicago Bulls' Superstar — D-Rose went to the same high school as B-Wil and he wore No. 25 in honor of Ben "Benji" Wilson. The school also has a painting on their basketball gymnasium wall as a memorandum of a high school legend.





"One out of every five black men die before they reach the age of twenty-five.

That was Benji's number. Benji was the first in Chicago history to ever be named top high school player in the nation, right before he was gunned down.
But you know what? Benji's not dead: Benji's spirit lives on in every jump shot.
Remember: Shoot over brothas, not at them." — Nike Ad during the 1997 NBA Playoffs

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