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USF Career Years: 1947-1948
Birthdate: December 31, 1921
Hometown: Findlay, OH
John Benington was born on December 31, 1921 in Findlay, OH and attended his local high school. After military service in World War II, he attended USF on an athletic scholarship. He played basketball for the Dons under the Hall of Fame Head Coach Pete Newell for the 1947 and 1948 seasons. He was captain of the winning 1949 NIT championship squad, and graduated that year.
After college, Benington became the Assistant Basketball Coach at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI, from 1950 to 1956 under Head Coach Pete Newell, who had left USF for Michigan State in 1950. The Michigan State Spartans had a 54-38 record with Benington as Assistant to Newell and then to Fordy Anderson.
In 1956 he was hired as Head Coach by Drake University in Des Moines, and the Bulldogs were 21-28 in two seasons. Benington left Drake in 1958 to Head Coach at Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, MO. Under his coaching, the Billikens had a record of 118-71, and appeared in four NIT tournaments and also in the 1961 NIT Finals, where they lost to Providence. He returned to Michigan State as Head Coach for the Spartans from 1965 to 1969 with a 54-38 record.
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