Wright State senior sidelined by surgery, could miss opener

Wright State’s Grant Benzinger soars in for a layup in Saturday’s loss to Valparaiso. TIM ZECHAR / CONTRIBUTED

Wright State’s Grant Benzinger soars in for a layup in Saturday’s loss to Valparaiso. TIM ZECHAR / CONTRIBUTED

Grant Benzinger will play a key role in the success of Wright State basketball this season, but the senior from Cincinnati might not be ready to play when the Raiders open at Loyola on Nov. 10.

Benzinger underwent hernia surgery this week to repair a nagging injury that apparently flared up on a goodwill trip to China this summer.

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“They’re telling us he’s out six weeks which takes us right to the first game,” Raiders head coach Scott Nagy said after practice Wednesday. “Obviously he’s not going to just walk in back in there and be in shape and do all of the things right away.”

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Benzinger has started 72 of the 97 games he’s played in three seasons at Wright State. He enters his senior season eight points shy of 1,000 for his career.

“He’s a huge piece of the puzzle here,” Nagy added. “We expect Grant to have a great year.”

Nagy said his team was a little “beat up” after the first two weeks of preseason practice, and the coach thinks he might know one of the reasons for that problem.

“Sometimes I wonder if we’re not here too much,” Nagy said. “I’m a little concerned by that. We need to get some guys healthy and this is going to drag on into the season a little bit and we’re already thin as it is.”

The Raiders have an exhibition game against Wayne State on Nov. 3.

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