Former Crispus Attucks basketball standout Harold Bennett dies in shooting
When Ethan Brittain-Watts received a text Wednesday night that one of his favorite former basketball teammates died, he dropped his phone.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Watts said. “My mom was asleep and I was going to tell her the news, then I just started bawling. Just crying, man. You’re never prepared for a moment like that.”
Harold Bennett, 22, died Wednesday night in a shooting on the city's southeast side. Just before 8 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 5100 block of Emerson Village Drive on a report of a person shot. Two adult males were listed in serious but stable condition according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. A third man, identified by the Marion County Coroner’s Office Thursday as Bennett, was pronounced dead on arrival Wednesday night at Community South Hospital by medical staff.
Bennett, a 2019 graduate of Crispus Attucks, was a standout guard for the Tigers. As a senior, the 6-foot Bennett averaged 21.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game and was named to the large school senior all-state team by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. Bennett scored more than 40 points three times that season, leading Attucks to a 20-9 record and a Class 3A semistate appearance, falling 72-69 to state champion Silver Creek.
Crispus Attucks coach Chris Hawkins, going into his seventh season with the Tigers, said Bennett, Sincere McMahon and Nike Sibande are the three best players he has coached in his tenure. McMahon is now at Winthrop and Sibande at Pitt.
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“One of our coaches (Karl Hardister) called him ‘Hot N’ Ready,’” Hawkins said. “That was kind of his nickname. He was one of those kids who probably could have been an Indiana All-Star. He was just an unbelievable scorer and always played his hardest. You just wish he was playing somewhere in college … kind of a ‘what if?’ situation. He graduated high school and went to college, but there’s always the ‘What ifs?’”
Bennett played two years at Attucks after transferring from Southport, where he saw playing time on Southport’s memorable semistate team in 2015-16. After his sophomore year at Southport, Bennett transferred to Attucks and averaged 12.9 points and 5.2 assists on a team that went 20-5 and won a sectional title a year after winning a Class 3A state title.
“He was a kid that really enjoyed playing basketball and working on his craft,” Hawkins said. “He had unlimited potential, but he also helped other players get better, too, even if it was the 10th, 11th or 12th players. He was always cheering. It was almost like having another coach on the floor with Harold.”
Brittain-Watts, who is from Indianapolis but attended high school at Culver Academy, got to know Bennett though his Indy Heat travel team in 16U and 17U. Brittain-Watts, a junior guard at Boston University, remembered the late-night NBA2K games with Bennett and another teammate, former Zionsville and Purdue guard Isaiah Thompson.
“He always had a great smile and vibe and energy about him,” Brittain-Watts said. “He was a guy that didn’t play a ton on our team, but he was always the first one up to give someone a high-five and bring that joy on and off the court. That’s the type of person he was. We all knew what kind of player he was. He could go out and score 20 or 25 points, but on that team he was more focused on bringing a positive energy.”
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That team included several future college players such as Trayce Jackson-Davis, Keion Brooks Jr., Brittain-Watts, Thompson, John-Michael Mulloy, Jalen Windham and Simon Banks. That group qualified for the Peach Jam both years.
“He was such a hard worker for us,” said Cathedral coach Jason Delaney, who coached that group. “We honestly didn’t know if he could play at that level. But Thompson got hurt and he ended up starting for us and did everything we asked of him. At Attucks he scored a ton of points, but he stepped up defensively for us and never complained about it. He just went out and did his job.”
Delaney, like Brittain-Watts, struggled to come to grips with the news of Bennett’s death.
“It’s so sad that this is how it ends for him,” Delaney said. “He should be playing college basketball. It’s just so senseless. He’s gone and over what?”
Bennett signed to play junior college basketball with Southwestern Illinois College. He played in four games during the 2019-20 season, averaging 4.8 points.
Investigators said they do not believe the shooting was a random act. No other details have been released. Anyone with information about the incident should contact detective Erika Jones at the IMPD homicide office at 317-327-3475 or email her at Erika.Jones@indy.gov. Call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 to remain anonymous.
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Hawkins said he last saw Bennett at Crispus Attucks’ graduation May 23. He talked to him about returning for an alumni game Hawkins was planning.
“You try to remember the good times,” Hawkins said. “I coached him in eighth and ninth grade in AAU and those two years at Attucks. You wish he was still playing somewhere because then maybe we’re not talking about this situation and he’s in college living his dream. I know there are a lot of people feeling down about it. I’ve heard from Nike and some others. It’s going to be hard.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at 317-444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Harold Bennett, ex-Crispus Attucks basketball star dies in shooting
