Asu’s Bennett To Turn Pro

Mario Bennett, whose knee injuries limited his career at Arizona State to 87 games over four seasons, passed up his final year of eligibility and declared himself eligible for the NBA draft.

Bennett, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound center who set a Pac-10 record with 115 blocks this season, said he decided after leading the Sun Devils to their first NCAA regional semifinal game in 20 years that he had accomplished what he could in college.

Bennett, who averaged 18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.5 blocks last season and had 219 dunks (2.5 a game) in his career, is a natural power forward.

Bennett tore his left anterior cruciate ligament during a summer pickup game in 1992, and redshirted the next season.

Then he hurt the rebuilt tendon in another pickup game the summer of 1993 and sat out the first six games of the 1993-94 season.