Photo credit: GW Athletics
By Liam O’Murchu (@Liam_0__)
The last few months have been a blur for Benny Schröder after transferring from Oklahoma. Between entering the portal, deciding where he was going to play basketball for the next few years, and representing his country on the international stage, he’s barely been able to catch his breath.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore wing from Munich, Germany had a reputation before coming to the US thanks to his play in Europe, but was sidelined by injuries and illness during his freshman year in Norman. So after talking with people close to him, he decided it was time to enter the transfer portal. He had an idea of what the portal would be like, but he was taken aback by just how crazy it got.
“The day the transfer portal opened, I was in there.” Schröder said. “I had like 30 to 40 calls. It was really a lot. The first call came 20 minutes after I entered the portal.”
After hours on the phone with people he likely hadn’t heard of a few days previous, Schröder narrowed his options down. He was focused on a school where he knew he’d get on the floor and the coaching staff believed in him. There were a few Atlantic 10 schools that fit this mold, including Davidson, Duquesne, and obviously GW. Outside the A10, Schröder said that Indiana State and Colorado were also in the mix.
What elevated GW from the pack was the opportunity to be in “one of the greatest cities in the world” along with the trust the coaching staff had in him, particularly Zak Boisvert, who he admires for his knowledge of European basketball.
In an era where NIL dominates recruiting conversations, especially in the transfer portal, Schröder said it was something that crossed his mind but didn’t have a huge impact because he is an international player in the US on an F1 student visa. This visa strictly prohibits visa recipients from earning money through NIL deals in the US.
“I have some in Germany, which I can do when I’m back home.” Schröder said. “It played a small role, but I’m not really looking for money. When I’m picking a school, I’m picking a school and not the money.”
The decision to enter the portal was a clear one for Schröder, who struggled on and off the court in Oklahoma, as is typical for a freshman, especially one adjusting to a new country. He tore his meniscus in his final game in Europe and wasn’t cleared to play until October last year. His frustrations were compounded by the caution that Oklahoma took throughout his rehab. Although he recognizes that this was probably the right decision for his long term health, he did not enjoy sitting on the sideline as his teammates prepared for the season.
“I felt like I was ready in August, but I sat out until October.” Schröder said. “So I came back in October which was really hard. I came back two weeks before the season started. I couldn’t play in the scrimmages, I couldn’t play in the Euro tour we had. And then the rotation was kind of set.”
Once he finally broke into the lineup, he got COVID. Once he recovered and thought he figured it out again, he tweaked his ankle. Then he broke back into the lineup and tweaked his ankle once again. All told, Schröder only saw the floor in six games and played only 25 minutes.
As frustrating as it was on the court, Schröder struggled even more off the court. When he thought of playing college basketball in the United States, he thought of his experiences visiting the US with his father, who is a pilot. They visited places like New York, Florida, and Los Angeles. They did not stop in Norman, Oklahoma.
Another important factor is the fact that Schröder exclusively did visits over Zoom and struggled to get a handle on what these campuses were truly like during his initial recruitment. What he really missed was being in a city and it took a year in a rural area to confirm that.
At first Schröder struggled with the language barrier as well. He knew basic English (much better than my German, for what it’s worth!) but told me he struggled connecting with people because he was attempting to keep up with conversations in Oklahoma.
“My English was not great when I came to the US.” Schröder said. “It’s just school English. You don’t really know how to communicate with each other in a real setting. But that’s also helped me [at GW], living in the States for a year, knowing the environment, and knowing how to talk to people. It’s big for me because it was hard for me in Oklahoma.”
But a bevy of injuries was not the worst part of his time in Oklahoma, nor was being 5,223 miles from home and struggling to speak the language.
“The food was…” Schröder said as he winced and giggled. “That was the biggest difference for me.”
Fortunately finding German food in DC hasn’t been an issue for Schröder, who went as far to say that the food he had “was actually kind of good.” Schröder has been embracing the DC lifestyle, spending a lot of time in Georgetown thrifting, going to the Sunday morning flea market, and wandering in and out of shops.
“I like to go shopping.” Schröder said. “I’m a big fashion guy. I’m really big into fashion. I spend all my money on clothes.”
Part of Schröder’s fashion is his tattoos, of which he has three. The first one is a photo of the sun on his left quad, which he said was very much a last minute decision. He went into the tattoo shop with a different idea, which he decided at the last moment he didn’t like. So he did what any teenager would do: text his mom and ask if she had any ideas. Thankfully for Benny, she came through with a solid idea and it’s hard to miss it when he’s in action.
Photo credit: Jason Aigner
But the sun pales in comparison to another tattoo he has on his left forearm. Sitting just below his elbow is a lightning bolt with the number 95 on it, an ode to Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars, which Schröder said was his favorite childhood movie. If there is a cooler tattoo in college basketball than a Lightning McQueen one, I’d love to see it.
The transition into the team has been made easier by what Schröder describes as a close-knit culture where everyone is good friends rather than having cliques or divisions within the team. He attributes this to the recruiting done by Caputo and his staff and the emphasis they put on character in the recruiting process.
“They recruited good guys, not even on the court, just off the court.” Schröder said. “Just players that are good human beings. I’ve played with a lot of bad human beings in my life. Here it’s really cool.”
Whereas many of his teammates were on campus in June, Schröder only arrived in DC late in the summer because he was representing Germany in the U20 FIBA European Championships in Greece. He has represented his country at every youth level, leading the U16 and U18 teams in scoring at their respective European Championships. This summer, he averaged 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, shooting 39.4% from the field and leading Germany to a sixth place finish.
“All my friends played on the team with me and I’ve known them since I was 12 or 13.” Schröder said. “So those are really my friends and just having that great tournament in the summer as the last youth tournament we played was really huge for me.”
Experience like this can only serve to benefit the program as a whole in terms of getting exposure for GW on the international scale and having your players test themselves at the highest levels of the sport. Freshman Zamoku Weluche-Ume also played in the U20 European Championships for Great Britain, although the two never faced each other.
Schröder is one of many players brought in by the coaching staff this offseason that is incredibly versatile and is capable of playing multiple positions. He’s shown his prowess getting to the basket and playing the role of a slasher but the next step is to improve his jump shot, which was a focus this offseason. He trained with Stefan Weissenboeck, a well regarded German shooting coach who has worked with Maxi Kleber, Joe Harris, Daniel Theis, and PJ Tucker, among others.
“His reputation was that of more of a slashing guy with really great size and athleticism, which he has.” GW head coach Chris Caputo said. “But we’ve been most encouraged by his ability to just catch and shoot and make some shots, which I think opens up his game even further.”
For the coaching staff, bringing in a player with Schröder’s skill set and international pedigree was a no-brainer. He’s someone who can make some shots when James Bishop is being smothered by opposing defenders and Caputo is bullish on his defensive potential as well. Schröder is the prototypical recruit for Caputo’s GW team: international, versatile, young, and talented.
As one of 11 newcomers to the program, the outside expectations for Schröder are relatively low, if existent at all. But those inside the program know the issues he can cause opposing defenses and the important role he will play in the Revs’ success this year.
Schröder is back in a city and he is ready to make his mark on college basketball. How is he planning on doing that?
“Winning the A10.”
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