Dean Vander Plas and his wife Mary have University of Virginia equipment in their closets, and the collection of sports memorabilia in their Minneapolis home includes an UVA pennant and photos taken on a historic night at US Bank Stadium In this arena in downtown Minneapolis, the Cavaliers won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in April 2019, and the Vander Plases were among the thousands of fans that Tony Bennett’s team made the Final Four cheer. Still, a little renovation is in order as the weekend approaches.
« I’m flipping all the pictures, » said Dean Vander Plas with a laugh on Monday evening. « I’ll take them down. They’ll go back up sometime, but we’re bleeding green this week. »
Bennett’s not going to hold that against his former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay teammate. Vander Plas’s younger son, Ben, will start the first round of the NCAA tournament for Ohio University, UVA’s opponent, on Saturday.
The Wahoos (18-6), who ranked 4th in the West Region meet the Bobcats with 13 seeds (16-7) at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. TruTV will be televised at 7.15pm. Game.
Ben Vander Plas, who played for his father at Ripon High School in Wisconsin, averages 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds, and the 6-foot-8 Redshirt junior leads Ohio for steals and blocked shots. He’s runner-up on the assists. « His father was a great team-mate, » said Bennett. « So physical and so hard, and as I watch Ben play I’m starting to see some similarities. He’s really having a good year. »
The younger Vander Plas’s full first name is Bennett, and that’s no accident. It’s a tribute to Dick and Anne Bennett and their three children: Tony, Kathi and Amy.
Dean Vander Plas is like Tony Bennett in the Green Bay Athletic Hall of Fame. As teammates, they helped the Phoenix get the program’s first NCAA tournament seat in 1991. Her head coach was Dick Bennett.
The younger Bennett was a sharp-shooting security guard who led the phoenix in the standings. The 6-foot-5 Vander Plas, who later had a close friendly match for the Green Bay Packers, protected his smaller teammate on the pitch and helped free Bennett for many of those shots.
« He used to have Jack Salt- Screens ceased, « said Bennett. “Dean was so wide and so hard. He really could play and always said, « If someone gives you a hard time, get them in my way. »
There are many connections in this UVA Ohio matchup. When Ben Vander Plas, who grew up in Ripon, Wisconsin, was in first grade, his teammates at the Fox Valley Skillz included a towheaded second grader named Sam Hauser.
That’s the same Sam Hauser who is now called Fifth year senior, Virginia tops the rankings and was named to the All-ACC first team that month.
Hauser was then living in Winneconne, Wisconsin, where his father, Dave, was the head boyfriend for basketball at the local high school.
« Dave was a fucking trainer, » said Dean Vander Plas. Ripon and Winneconne were in the same league, « so we played them twice a year. In a year when we both had really, very good teams, we played them three times. »
Neither Sam Hauser nor Ben Vander Plas remember their time together on the Fox Valley Skillz travel team – « It’s been a long time, » Ben said with a laugh – but they regularly played against each other at the AAU Ball as they got older – and they’ve kept in touch over the years / p>
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After the NCAA tournament field was announced on Sunday night, they exchanged messages and wished each other the best of luck.
Ohio, who entered the Mid-American Conference tournament as the No. 5 seed, defeated No. 4-Seed Kent State, No. 1-Seed Toledo, and No. 2-Seed Buffalo to secure the MAC’s automatic bid to the NCAAs.
The Bobcats drove from Cleveland to Indianapolis on Sunday and during the Reise, Ben Vander Plas made some posts on social media about the team’s MAC championship. Hauser stepped in and congratulated, and he and Vander Plas speculated on what seeds UVA and Ohio were likely to receive.
« We said, » It would be crazy if we matched, « recalled Ben Vander Plas. In That night, when the field was announced, « I got texts from a number of people, including my father, and Sam texted me again, » said Vander Plas. « There are definitely a lot of connections there. »
His brother Sam is the operations manager for the men’s basketball program in Green Bay, which also includes Tony Bennett’s nephew Lucas Stieber.
When Tony and Laurel Bennett married in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1996, Dean and Mary were Vander Plas Among the guests at the wedding.
Bennett was just as determined as a Green Bay player as he was as a coach, said Dean Vander Plas. « He’s always been precise and his work schedule leads to a desired outcome, be it his change of faith, his relationships About his family or his relationship with his father.
« I had two sons who played for me [at Ripon High] and I know it’s difficult all around. But there was no doubt that Tony deserved it all. It’s an interesting talent that he has and I see the same skill in him as a coach. It was never excessive [ostentatious or loud]. He just always had a plan.
« He was a good teammate. That’s the other thing. I felt like a decent leader, but I wasn’t the player he was. But I had skills and he knew how to use that. “
Vander Plas laughed. « I got in people’s way and he made me look good by putting down a few shots. I had to be very successful and people think I was a decent player at Green Bay and that’s because that I’ve played with some pretty good players under an amazing coach. «
Before Ben Vander Plas entered high school, he attended a UVA basketball camp at the John Paul Jones Arena one summer. His father accompanied him to Charlottesville.
« Such a great family, » said Bennett. “That was a fun time to have her in our camp.”
When he was a boy, Ben Vander Plas said, “Really the only person who called me Bennett was my mother. But we now have another Ben on our team [in Ohio], Ben Roderick, so my coaches and a lot of my teammates call me Bennett again. It’s starting to come out. «
He’s followed the Wahoos a long way over the years. » My family is kind of a Virginia fan by default because my dad is connected to Tony, « said Ben Vander Plas, » and then obviously, as Sam changed. I’ve seen some of their games this year and kept up with them. «
Reuniting with Hauser on such a big stage is » special, « said Ben Vander Plas. » This will definitely be something I will remember forever. It’s going to be cool and I’m looking forward to fighting him out there. «
» My son will be very happy, « said Dean Vander Plas, » but if they don’t win, at least I know the Bennett family has achieved some success. « It will be a bright spot no matter what . «
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Ref: https://news.virginia.edu
