♪♪♪
-[Kalin Bennett:] Growin' up, a lot of people
didn't even know I had autism.
I just started tellin' people,
like, last year.
Cuz I was like, "You know what?
I don't know why people not
knowin' about me."
Like, everything just exploded.
Fast forward to my senior year,
I just signed with a D1 college.
I'm humbled, honored. But at the same time,
I mean, I'm still Kalin.
♪♪♪
-[Julian Sullinger:] I want you to look at this segment, too.
You roll out, and I'mma tell you,
you already know what I'mma tell you about this one.
- I shoulda dunked that.
- Yeah?
- I shoulda, I shoulda dunked that.
- Yeah. I tell you this all the time.
When you go in, when you do your five-on-five
or five-on-0, you tear the rim down right here.
- Yes, sir.
All these college didn't even know
I had autism until I said it.
Kent State, I wanted to come here cuz of
the culture and the basketball and the people.
I had to make that known because
I don't want people to, like, think I'm just,
like, given something because of something I have.
- I recruited him becuase I thought
there was a chance for him to be
a really good baskeball player.
The fact the he has autism is the
story for him, but at the same time,
he's a basketball player who's tryin' to figure out
how to be the best college player he can be.
- The offers and everything I have,
I completely earned.
I mean a lotta people did not
expect me to be here.
♪♪♪
I was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas.
I went to high school at
Little Rock Christian Academy.
When people hear "autism", they don't understand.
Like sometimes, they feel like that's an insult.
That's not what it means at all.
That means maybe they're somebody
who does things differently, somebody who
has a higher IQ, maybe they're somebody
who has, like, sensory overload.
You never know what that person is goin' through
in the inside. Cuz it - autism, to me, also is an
inside struggle. Not a lotta people understand it
becuase they only see it from the outside.
- I didn't find out officially that
Kalin had autism until he was about two.
He wasn't focusing on me. No sound at all,
not even a cry. And didn't want to be touched
at that young age.
- [Kalin:] I didn't walk until I was four,
and I didn't talk until I was seven.
- Doctors, they told me that it was a bunch of "nevers".
Never walk. Never talk. Wouldn't go to regular school
with regular children.
- If you say "can't" in front of her, she's gonna
make sure she's either gonna prove you wrong, or
she's gonna shut you down once you say that word.
- I'm sittin' up there lookin' like, "Yes, he will."
"Mrs. Bennett, you need to just come to grips."
So I gripped my purse, and I left out.
- My mom had a file about, like, my test results,
you know, evaluations. And so, like, I was looking at
the first test score, which is super low,
then a recent score, which is super high,
and I just broke down cryin'. Cuz I was like,
"Look where I came from and look where I am now."
♪♪♪
- I made sure to celebrate an early birthday
with the people that's in Arkansas, cuz, like, I'm
not gonna have most of the people here.
All I ever wanted in my life was
all my family in one room.
[Cheering and applause]
- This is just a, just a opportunity to just
thank all of you. Like, I know this is celebrating me,
but this is a chance for me to thank all of you.
Because there's no way that I would be here without
every single one of you. There's no way.
- [Kalin:] We're getting ready to move to Ohio today.
We packed up the car, my mom's coming, and
we about to move out.
- I'm asking that you would strengthen all four
of my grandbabies, God. Give them the strength to
be able to make this trip, God. In the name of Jesus
we pray, amen.
- Group hug.
- [Sonja:] Love y'all!
♪♪♪
- It's a thousand miles away from most of my family.
I have no idea who these people are. The only
people I know is my teammates and my coach.
Like, there's no one here. I'm excited because, like,
there might not be, like, as many as distractions
to me as there would be in Arkansas. I think it's
good for me to be in, like, a whole new surrounding,
whole new place, and, like, a whole new culture.
I'm excited.
- The biggest thing that, that drew me to him
was his enthusiasm. Always positive. Always
bringin' tremendous energy, and when you see that
in a player that, that really excites you as a coach
cuz you know they're a great teammate.
- A year or two after I just start talkin',
I was, like, watching a game. I was just like,
"Dad, I wanna play basketball."
- And I was like, " I don't think so."
The Arkansas Hawks, the little boys, they just
kept tryin' to, you know, bring him in. And then
I had to stop myself, because
I was gonna put limits on him.
I thought about social skills, because we were
his only friends.
♪♪♪
- I was bullied because I wouldn't
understand stuff. It took me a minute to figure out,
like, this person is not my friend.
I'd be gettin' bullied, but I'd be laughin'. I didn't
understand, like, "Hey, Kalin you're being bullied."
They would call him the R word.
They were really just bein'
really, really mean to him.
One day, I went into his room, and
he had, like, a belt around his neck, and he said
"I'm just—I was just playin',"
but his throat was sore.
- I said, "Mama, I, I don't like havin' autism."
I said more blunt words.
- I just took the hinges off the door. That was
him tired of being bullied.
- And then she grabbed me in my face, she said,
"Do not hate it. Embrace it. Do you really think
that you're the person you are now, just because
of one little thing?"
I was like, "No, ma'am." She said,
"Be proud of who you are."
♪♪♪
- [Kalin:] I just had my first week of practice.
[Shoes squeaking]
-A lotta you guys today, there was
a noticeable execution improvement
today. Noticeable from just one day.
Great job.
- Team on three. One, two, three...
- [Together:] Team!
Awesome.
- Sometimes I just eat by myself.
Cuz I don't know a lot of people here.
I'm still trying to get to know everybody.
The biggest transition is bein' able to
just be yourself, just keep doin' things that
I'm supposed to do. You gotta find your
own circle. The circle just won't come to you.
- I'm tryin' to recruit the best, you know,
basketball players with high character that would
represent Kent State the best way they can,
and I saw that in Kalin.
- Baskeball is his thing,
but his platform is autism.
He said, "People already know about it."
He said, "I want them to accept us."
The autism program, Miss Gina, I met her.
I was like, "You have an autism program?"
She said, "Yeah, it's, like, top ten in the country."
I said, "You know what?
I can do something with this."
- I go, "So, what are your goals?"
He goes, "Well, I want to come to college,
get an education."
He goes, "Number two, I wanna play b-ball.
And number three, cuz I wanna spread
autism awareness and help others like me."
I went—just blew me away.
- I was like, "Okay, I guess I'm gonna like it here."
I know, like, there's gonna be days, like,
I'm gonna be tired. I'm gonna hate the world.
But I want those days.
- I had heard a whole lot of "can'ts" in my life.
"Can't" puts a period on it, and after that, nobody tries.
- Those are days that's gonna push you,
and those are days that you think back on
and be like, "Hey, I was in pain, but it was
a day that I also got better."
And I have dreams, I have goals, and I'mma
do whatever I can to work towards those goals.
♪♪♪
- I love, I love the people that I'm around,
but there's just times where I gotta be in
my own little world or else my mind goes crazy.
Cuz I haven't, like, given my brain a break.
Or, like, I'm so into what I'm doin' that
I forget, like, as much as I want to hoop,
I gotta take care of myself first and foremost,
before anybody else.
A lotta of times, after games,
or, like, if I'm in a large crowd of people,
I'll be like, "You go on ahead."
I'm still tensed up, still gettin' myself back together
before I even walk out that door.
See, that's sensory overload.
I say, "The bullets are flying and there's a lot going on."
And I, I didn't use the word "sensory overload".
And he's lookin' around saying,
"What's goin' on here?" I'm gonna tell you that
that happens to a lot of players, okay? Not just Kalin,
but obviously with Kalin,
there's a reason it's happening.
He processes some things differently.
We have to physically show him what to do.
- I need to watch this person, and see
if they do it right or wrong. And if they do it wrong,
I know what not to do. If they do it right,
I do the same exact thing.
- There's a lot more similarities to
the other guys on the roster
than there are differences.
- In the MAC, you gotta, you gotta have
a bunch of guys that can play
at the high, major level
or you're not winning like we have here.
So, he's gonna have to adjust to the physicality,
the speed, the intensity. And that's just—that’s
all part of anybody comin' into this program.
- Everything has been turned up ten times higher.
The speed? Ten times higher. Attention to detail,
that's probably, like, the biggest transition.
I'm still havin' a hard time with that,
just takin' something and bein' able to just
get that maintained in my mind.
It's just movin' on and makin' sure
I do it again.
- There you go, that's how every rep should look
♪♪♪
Kalin, every rep like that! Every rep.
As a coach, there are certain things that
you feel like you can teach, and there are
certain things that, you know, either you have
or you don't have.
- He's very hard to guard one-on-one.
He can score over either shoulder.
He's got a soft touch, but he's also got power.
Somethin' that's different with Kalin,
you look at him, you think he'll be a rim-level guy.
He actually has really good burst and athletic ability.
- He's working every day. He's seeing
small improvements every day. And if he can
continue to do that, you know, day after day
we'll see great things out of him.
- I wanna be on the AP Top 10.
I wanna win MAC Player of the Year.
I wanna be like Zion, win every single
award known to man somehow.
I can achieve those goals.
There's no doubt in my mind
that I can achieve them.
It's just a matter of me havin' to work.
[Crowd cheering]
- [Announcer:] Kalin Bennett!
- The first two of Kalin Bennett's career.
[Bell ringing]
- I just look at him, and I just smile,
and he's like, "Whatchu lookin’ at, Mama?"
You know? I'm so proud of all 6' 11'' of that kid.
Sure, I have autism, but I embraced it.
I embrace who I am.
It don't matter who you are.
Everybody has greatness inside of them,
and I wanna use mine to inspire people,
make people smile, and be able to just show like,
"Hey, my name's Kalin Bennett, and I'm here.
You're never alone."
♪♪♪
- All right, guys, let's get into the film room.
♪♪♪
(laughing)
- Good job this week.
Any questions for anyone?
♪♪♪
- Yeah, Coach, you got a question?
- Oh!
[Applauding]
- Kalin's back there in the back.
- Oh, yeah. Aw, man.
It's good to be here, man.
♪♪♪
I went through a whole bunch of stuff.
I got diagnosed with ADHD, ADD when I was a kid.
And a lot of people was telling me
I couldn't do this either.
Like they was like, "Yo, you too small. You this, you that."
And even when I got to college,
it was like, "Yo, you'll never be a pro.
You'll never play in NBA."
And I done played 14 years, right?
You always gonna have to keep provin’ yourself
and keep workin’ to get better.
♪♪♪
Let's go on the court, man,
let's see where you all play at. Let's go check it out.
- All right, bet. Let's go.
♪♪♪
Mi casa, su casa.
♪♪♪
- Your story, dawg. All the stuff you've been through
at such a young age, to be able to be where you at now?
That's everything, man. It inspires everybody.
Young guys and girls will be able to grind to work for stuff.
But you inspire people's parents that got kids
that don't know yet.
- That was the crazy part. I ain't even expect that.
- It's natural, man. You bein' you,
that's the best part about it.
♪♪♪
A quote from your mom: "there is no can't,"
made me have the idea that I would bring some shoes, right.
You gonna write it on the shoes,
You gonna write it up for me— - Oh, come on now.
- And you gonna pick the shoes,
and I'mma wear 'em tomorrow in the game.
- I might—I, I need to make sure I make the best decision then, right?
- Nah, you gonna pick.
[Kalin:] Yooo.
[Tucker:] For sure.
♪♪♪
I’mma say... I’mma say these.
- You gonna write up on those?
- Mhm. Because for one, red’s my favorite color.
- Mine too! That's crazy.
His story is super relatable to anybody, almost.
Anybody that has struggles in life to try to attain a goal,
to have that type of perseverance,
to be like, "You know, what, I'm still gon' chase my dream
and do what I wanna do."
I think it's amazing.
- I wrote two of 'em. - That's fire.
Never say can't and there's no such thing as can't.
- Oh, that's fire.
Leave your signature on the side so we know who did this.
- I got you.
-Yessir!
Kalin B's, man
♪♪♪
- [Kalin:] The Kalin B’s. - [Tucker:] Right?
- I'll remember that, bro.
- Love, man. Good luck this season.
Keep workin'. Finish finals and then go get buckets.
Go do your thing.
- Yeah, you already know, boy.
- My man, keep pushing. - Appreciate you, bro.
- [Tucker] Yeah, man. For sure.
(hands thumping)
♪♪♪