28 years later, former St. Joseph star Bennerman graduates from Siena
ALBANY. N.Y. — Former Siena College men’s basketball star Doremus Bennerman graduated on Sunday morning, 28 years after scoring the final points of one of the best careers in Saints history.
Bennerman, 49, walked across the stage to an ovation at MVP Arena and received his bachelor’s degree in sociology. Working from his home in Sweden, Bennerman took four courses online this semester to complete his degree and follow through on a promise to his mother, Gladys, who was in the crowd on Sunday.
“It means a great deal,” said Bennerman a former All-State player at St. Joseph in 1990 and native of Bridgeport. “It was a thing that had to get done. My mom allowed me to chase my dream back in ’94 when I was focused on playing professional basketball. Season after season went by and then life went by. But this is the right time, I guess. It was a perfect opportunity. Siena was great, being patient with me and helping me to get the courses that I needed and then I just had to do the work.”
“I’m glad,” Gladys said. “I’m very proud of him. He’s a very good son. He always does what he says he’s going to do.”
Bennerman said it was the first time he recalled being back at MVP Arena since the high-scoring guard finished his Siena career. That was three name changes ago, when it was still known as Knickerbocker Arena. In his final game there, he scored 33 points against Tulane in a National Invitation Tournament second-round game in front of a sellout crowd of 15,727.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “I’m very comfortable with this place. I drove around it yesterday here. I remember where I used to park. It was great to be back and go down memory lane.”
Bennerman helped Siena reach the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in 1994. After the Saints lost to Villanova in the semifinals, Bennerman scored 51 points in a victory over Kansas State in the third-place game. He scored a tournament record of 174 points over five games, earning him MVP honors. He finished his Siena career with 2,109 points, second in program history only to Marc Brown’s 2,284. He was named the MAAC Player of the Year for the 1993-94 season, when he averaged 26.0 points and 5.5 assists, leading the Saints to a 25-8 record.
Ironically, Bennerman said, it was the NIT run that contributed to him not receiving his degree in 1994. He said he “missed a lot of classes” and probably would have needed to take summer courses, anyway. That went on the back burner as Bennerman had NBA tryouts with the Golden
State Warriors, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.
After the NBA didn’t pan out, Bennerman began playing professionally in Sweden, where he met his wife, Veronica. They have an 8-year-oldson, Trey. They had a flower shop they sold 11⁄2 years ago.
“That freed up some time for me to do this as well,” Bennerman said. “Life didn’t allow me to do it sooner. I guess if you don’t make it happen, it’ll never get done.”
Bennerman, who played 13 professional seasons in Europe, pointed out it also became easier to fulfill the requirements despite being overseas because of the expansion of online learning during the pandemic.
The wheels were set in motion when Bennerman returned to the United States last fall to attend the 90th birthday of his grandmother, who was also at Sunday’s ceremony. Bennerman met with Siena athletic director John D’Argenio about completing his degree, and then worked out a plan with Christiane Farnan, dean of the School of Liberal Arts.
“You know what? It’s great,” said D’Argenio, who prodded Bennerman over the years about finishing his degree. “It’s really exciting, obviously for him and for us as a school and a program to be able to say, ‘You know what, we stay with you through the long haul and work to try to get you to that finish line of a degree.’ ”
Getting his diploma makes Bennerman finally eligible to be inducted into Siena’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Farnan welcomed any student to return, even after a long hiatus, to finish their requirements for a degree. She hugged Bennerman after he received his diploma.
“It’s enormously fulfilling,” Farnan said. “It also says a lot about the fact he wanted to come back to Siena to finish. I also see this as just a really powerful moment for our students to see his perseverance, but also, what a great role model. We always say at Siena College, we provide the education for a lifetime. I can’t think of a greater example of that at his point in time than Doremus coming back because this really was the education for a lifetime for him.”