Bentick enters his 14th season on staff at St. Francis and his second as Associate Head Coach. He has helped guide the Terriers to 11 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament appearances during his tenure. Bentick has 19 years of Division I basketball experience under his belt, including four seasons as a standout point guard at Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) member Canisius College.
The New York City native is recognized widely as one of the top up and coming coaches and works specifically with the Terriers’ backcourt players. Additionally, he plays a significant role in the development of offensive and defensive strategies, scouting of opponents, and on-court coaching.
Bentick played an integral role in the Terriers last two national postseason appearances. In 2018-19, St. Francis earned a postseason berth into the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) after a 17-win campaign. St. Francis notched eight non-conference wins in 2018-19, just one shy of the program and conference record set by the Terriers in 2013-14.
Bentick helped the Terriers to 23 victories in 2014-15 as they claimed the NEC Regular Season Title and earned a trip to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the first time since 1963.
Additionally, Bentick has played a significant role in player development. In 2014-15, Brent Jones became St. Francis’ all-time leader in assists. 11 players under Bentick’s tutelage have received All-NEC distinction in Akeem Bennett, Rickey Cadell, Jalen Cannon, Yunus Hopkinson, Tyreek Jewell, Chris Hooper, Rasheem Dunn, Glenn Sanabria, Jalen Jordan, Chauncey Hawkins, and Deniz Celen. Also, Bennett and Amdy Fall (twice) earned NEC Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Further, Bentick coached six players that were named to the NEC All-Rookie Team in Stefan Perunicic, Jalen Cannon, Wayne Martin, Rasheem Dunn, Jalen Jordan, and Rob Higgins. He also coached nine 1,000-point scorers in Jamaal Womack, Perunicic, Cadell, Akeem Johnson, Ben Mockford, Jones, Cannon, Sanabria, and Hawkins. Cadell graduated as the program’s all-time leading scorer until Cannon surpassed his mark in 2014-15. Cannon finished his career as the Terriers’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder in the common era. He was also the 11th leading rebounder in the country in 2014-15, and the squad finished 14th in the nation in the category that year.
Before making his way to Remsen Street, Bentick served one year at Le Moyne College (2006-07) as an assistant coach under head coach Steve Evans. Before his arrival at Le Moyne, Bentick spent two seasons coaching at his alma mater, Canisius (2004-06) as an assistant coach under former Griffs head coach Mike MacDonald.
Before embarking on his coaching career, Bentick earned four letters on the Canisius Golden Griffin men’s basketball team (1997-01) and played in 104 career games. In his senior year he finished 15th in the MAAC in scoring (13.6 ppg) and fifth in assists (4.03 apg). That year, Bentick was named to the All-MAAC Third Team and was tabbed to the MAAC All-Tournament Team. Bentick led the Griffs to their last MAAC Championship contest, a run that included a 26-point effort and game-winning bucket in the semifinals against Niagara.
Bentick ranks 48th on Canisius’ all-time scoring list with 840 points and at the time of his graduation was fourth on the Golden Griffins career assists list with 354 handouts. That total currently puts him seventh on the all-time list. Following his graduation, he received honorable mention honors on the Canisius College Post-1970’s All-Century Team. Additionally, he was a finalist for the 1998 NCAA Sports Person of the Year Award.
Prior to playing at Canisius, Bentick prepped at A. Phillip Randolph High School, where he was a three-year letter winner in basketball under Ted Dorsett.
Bentick received both bachelor’s in Business Management and Marketing (2001) and Master’s in Sports Administration (2006) from Canisius College.
