Hapoel Tel Aviv big man Ben Bentil arrived in Israel on Thursday morning flashing a huge smile as he was welcomed by the local media who were able to hear the Providence Friar’s first words in the Holy Land about joining the Reds and their goals for the upcoming campaign both in the local league and the EuroCup.
“It feels great,” Bentil began. “It’s a long flight, but trying to settle in and see how the environment is going and how everybody is, just heading in. I’m excited to be here.”
“When they [Hapoel Tel Aviv] called me they told me about the plan, the idea of trying to put a really good team together, they wanted me to be part of it and I wanted to be part of that family, so there was no question about it.”

Ben Bentil – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman
It shouldn’t be taken for granted that foreigners are coming to Israel to ply their trade and while there is concern, Bentil is also super excited to be in Israel, “That safety part is still a really big concern of mine. Me and my family really thought about it and still my mom is not really a fan of it, but at the end of the day I’m a man and when they gave me the call of trying to do something big and make something happen, history, I wanted to be a part of it.”
“With that group of guys, the coaches staff and everything, the fan base was also amazing, it made the decision a little bit easier. But obviously whatever is going on is still on my mind and it’s something that is going to be on my mind for a while, but what can you do, every day you got to move on.”
As for the goals set by management, Bentil knows what’s expected, “Obviously the goal for every team is to win championships and every guy on the team this year have all been winners before. Everybody’s mindset is to win so that’s the main goal, but my personal goal is to be healthy, if we are a healthy team the rest will take care of itself.”

Ben Bentil – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman
Hapoel made waved this offseason by signing former NBA lockdown defender Patrick Beverley and that’s something that will be able to help the squad play the best basketball that they can Bentil explained.
“It’s great to have that veteran leadership in the lockeroom with someone who put in his time, I’m a vet myself so it’s all good with all of this experience. I’m willing to learn from him, just trying to improve as a team and as a player myself, we all have one goal, but it’s a great opportunity for all of us to get together and play together.”
There’s no question that Bentil has been briefed on the rivalry with Maccabi Tel Aviv and ensured everyone what his favorite color is, “I’ve heard. Some of the fans were on my social media about it, and everybody that also knows me knows that my favorite color is red and white.”

Ben Bentil – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman
Before making his final decision to come to Israel, Bentil reached out to former teammates, those who have played in the Holy Land as well as Head Coach Stefanos Dedas.
“Yes, I don’t know if you all know, but Xavier Munford is a very close friend of mine, we live in the same neighborhood, John Holland who was an ex-teammate is a very close friend of mine, so I definitely talked to a lot of the guys here. I have very close friends that were playing for Maccabi, so for me it was more about the safety issue, I never really talked about the team. I played in Europe so many times, I played for big teams, I just wanted the safety part to I talked to the guys about the situation that is going on and the everyday life.”
0 Comments