Duquesne head coach Dan Burt has named Eddie Benton, Jr. an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program. Benton, native of Manchester in Pittsburgh’s North Side, comes to the Bluff after serving as an assistant women’s basketball coach for one season at Saint Francis University. At SFU, he helped the Red Flash to their first-ever berth in the Women’s Basketball Invitational.

"Eddie brings our program a `grinder’ mentality that shapes everything he does on the basketball court and in the office, said Burt. "He is clearly a very hardworking coach with strong experiences previously as a college head coach and as a professional player. Eddie has a bright future with us here at Duquesne."

Prior to his stint in Loretto, Benton was head women’s coach at La Roche College where he led the Lady Redhawks to back-to-back Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championships and NCAA Division III Tournament berths. In his eight years at the helm, Benton’s teams won 108 games. In 2012, Benton was named the AMCC Coach of the Year award.

Before coaching on the women’s side, Benton served as a men’s assistant coach at Robert Morris for three years under Mark Schmidt after spending two years as an assistant coach with the men’s program at La Roche.

As a player, Benton was a standout guard at the University of Vermont. The Catamounts all-time leading scorer and 2006 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, Benton was the winner of the 1996 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award given to the nation’s top basketball player less than six feet tall. Benton’s 2,474 points is second all-time in the America East Conference. He graduated as the school’s career leader in 15 different offensive categories including scoring average – 23.8 points per game. Benton’s number 10 was retired by Vermont in 2000. After graduating with his degree in sociology, he played professionally in the CBA with the Grand Rapids Hoops. After the CBA, Benton continued his playing career overseas in Israel, Holland and Venezuela.

In high school, Benton was named to the 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous Five team and was also All-City League performer. During his junior year, he led Commodores to the 1991 City League and PIAA Championship. During his senior year, Benton was selected to the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic where he won the three point shootout.

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