SAN ANTONIO — Four-star Eno Benjamin committed to Arizona State at the Army All-American Bowl on Saturday. Benjamin was the highest-ranked uncommitted running back in the Rivals100 before making his announcement.
After decommitting from Iowa in the fall, ASU, Michigan and Utah were the final teams in the mix for Benjamin, who chose the Sun Devils because of fit and opportunity in the offense.
“They have a good running backs coach that has been in the league that has experience and knows what he’s doing,” he said. “Their offense is a lot of inside zone/outside zone, they have a fullback at times, even use the Wildcat. That’s something that I’ve been used to … I think it’s going to be easy to come right in there and get to it.”
Arizona State had a nice balance between Kalen Ballage and Damario Richard in 2016. Both will return as seniors next season, but Benjamin sees an opportunity to learn from them before he expects the featured back.
“I don’t think that’s always an issue,” he said. “It would be great to take some knowledge from the older guys and add it to your game. Look at the impact that (Albert) Morris has had on Ezekiel Elliott - I think that’s helped make Ezekiel what he is.”
This season, Benjamin took most of the snaps directly for his Wylie East team, but finished with his second consecutive season running for more than 2,600 yards. He joins Arizona State’s recruiting class as their highest-ranked commitment.