Jack Benter, Aaron Fine start Purdue connection with Indiana All-Stars

INDIANAPOLIS — Aaron Fine knew Jack Benter was special nearly a decade ago. The two met as third graders during a weekend AAU basketball tournament, and Fine said his first impression was Benter had the potential to be the “missing piece” any team needs.

Exhibit A?

“We played a team that used to kick our butts, but I remember beating them in the championship game,” Fine said. “It just started something between us.”

Exhibit B?

There were 90 seconds remaining in the first half of the Indiana All-Stars vs. Kentucky game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, and Indiana was ahead 40-31. Benter earned a starting spot, but only recorded five points up to this point.

‘We took it personal.’ No technical difficulty this time as All-Stars beat Kentucky

By halftime, Indiana led Kentucky 50-31 thanks to eight quick points from Benter and a dunk from 2024 IndyStar Mr. Basketball Flory Bidunga of Kokomo. Benter capped off his scoring spree to end the first half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from half court.

The Brownstown Central star and Purdue recruit smiled after the game as he thought back to the celebration with his teammates that ensued at mid-court after he sunk the deep 3.

“I got my first bucket and I just kept going at ’em,” Benter said. “They just kept giving me lanes … Once I hit one or two, the goal just keeps getting bigger.”

Benter finished with 16 points, helping guide Indiana to a 92-89 win against its bordering counterparts.

Indiana All-Stars coach John Peckinpaugh had previously watched some of Benter’s tape but said he gained a whole new level of appreciation for Benter’s talent once he met the Brownstown Central standout. Peckinpaugh described Benter as someone who is intelligent, can make every play and someone who brings a calming presence along with him.

Standing in a closet beside the Indiana locker room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Benter also remembered playing alongside Fine at an AAU tournament as a third grader. In fact, he said those weekend’s games were the first he had played at the AAU level.

Now that their high school careers are officially finished, he and Fine are now set to begin the next chapter of their shared journey.

“He finds me a lot, so hopefully we see that at Purdue,” Benter said. “Indiana basketball is just different. I feel like (Purdue’s) the best culture there is in college basketball. They tell you they’re not promising anything, so you got to go in every day fighting for a spot.”

Although Benter and Fine have already moved onto Purdue campus, the two roommates officially begin working with the Boilermakers on Sunday. Just like Benter said, Fine knows there is perhaps no state that embodies the spirit of basketball more than Indiana, and perhaps no program in the state lives out that truth more than Purdue.

“Indiana is the best basketball state in the nation,” said Fine, the Noblesville guard, who will be a preferred walk-on for Purdue. “Nobody can argue with me, they can try to, but there’s no way Indiana’s not the best… Indiana players have a knack to them. They’re tough, and Purdue’s a tough team.

“We’re coming for the championship. We’re gonna try to get back to where we were last year. Me and Jack and all the other freshman are going to work as hard as we can to help build that culture that’s already so good.”

Ben Davis guard K.J. Windham has not known Benter quite as long as Fine, but he and the Benter have been able to form a friendship during the past two years as Indiana All-Stars teammates.

“We’ve all seen Jack,” Ben Davis guard K.J. Windham added. “… We expect it from him… He’s one of those players that has the ability to go out and get 25, 30, break out for 40 some games if he wants to… He’s a complete package.”

Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at KSmedley@Gannett.com or via X @KyleSmedley_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jack Benter, Aaron Fine start Purdue connection with Indiana All-Stars