High Point senior guard Trae Benham knew his playing time was going to decrease this season. The Panthers’ improved depth meant that he went from starting 36 games in 2023-24 to starting one this season. His minutes were nearly cut in half (from 27.5 to 14.9).
And Benham was not the only player who accepted a smaller role. All season, the Panthers (29-5 overall, 14-2 conference) talked about being willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The objective was two Big South conference championships and the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
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High Point (a private university in High Point, North Carolina) won the regular season conference title by three games to check the first box, but trailed Winthrop 39-29 at halftime of the Big South Tournament championship game. The Panthers then scored 52 points after the break, winning the second half by 22 and the game by 12.
It’s been a long time coming
This game will go down as one of the best games in program history 🤞#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl pic.twitter.com/xx6kcyVK5g
— HPU Men's Basketball (@HPUMBB) March 14, 2025
“I’m happy for our guys,” head coach Alan Huss said following the March 9 victory. “We talked about the progression of team … going from ‘coach fed’ to ‘player led.’ In the last 60 days or so, we’ve progressed into that space. Today at halftime we were in a bad place. Instead of me ranting and raving at halftime, I walked into a group that was self-policing. They were talking about the processes that needed to be corrected and they were leading themselves to a space we needed to get to.”
Benham came off the bench to play 20 minutes and contribute eight points, 10 rebounds and two steals in the championship game. His best game of the season came Feb. 26, when he matched a season-high 17 points and added three rebounds and three steals as High Point wrapped up the regular-season championship.
After that game, he explained to the media that it was his faith in God that allowed him to have such a selfless mindset.
“The thing that has helped us so much is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said. “I give Him all the glory because it’s Him that’s the leader, and He is the one that shows … all the guys on the team how to properly sacrifice their own ego for the betterment of something bigger than themselves.”
Benham’s college career began at Lipscomb, a Christian university in Nashville. He went there because he wanted to play but barely found himself on the floor early in his freshman season. With his identity wrapped up in basketball, Benham felt lost. It was then, at one of the lowest points of his life, that God got hold of his heart. On Nov. 23, 2021, Benham gave his life to Christ.
Earlier this month, Benham and teammate Chase Johnston shared their testimonies at HopeCity Church. They talked about struggling with identity earlier in their careers, and the importance of being around like-minded people as well as ministering to those who don’t know Jesus.
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“The most powerful love of all is sacrificial love,” Benham said during the service. “And so when I’m thinking about myself, then I’m not living according to what God wants us to live. But when I’m thinking of others, I want to give them what the Lord has for them.”
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Johnston played at Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast before transferring to High Point for his fifth and final season. He has started all but one game for the Panthers this season and leads the team with 70 3-pointers.
While Johnston said he grew up in a Christian home, it was a conversation with his brother in the middle of 2023 that led him to fully surrender his life to the Lord. He was challenged by his brother to live out his faith instead of just wearing a cross necklace or wristband with a Christian message.
“For all the years of my life leading up to these 9 months I thought I was following the Lord in the way I lived but in reality my actions showed that I was just a Fan of God, who would just go through the motions,” Johnston wrote in an Instagram post describing his transformation. “The Lord truly taught me in my encounter with Him that there is NO in between. You are either ALL IN or ALL OUT.”
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In the video included in the post, Johnston was asked to share some advice for students. He encouraged them to give up control of their lives and let God take care of the rest.
“Just give back to God what is already His and let Christ live through you, because you’ll see a miraculous change in your life that you’ve never seen,” he said.
Led by these two faith-driven seniors, the No. 13-seeded Panthers face the No. 4-seeded Purdue Boilermakers in the Midwest Region at 12:40 p.m. ET on Thursday. The game will be broadcast on TruTV, and the winner faces Clemson or McNeese State on Saturday.
>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<
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