Photo illustration by Travis Rosenau New Ulm High School’s Colton Benson was named the unanimous 2022-23 All-Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year on Saturday.

NEW ULM — New Ulm High School head boys basketball coach Matthew Dennis described his junior forward Colton Benson as the best pure shooter he’s ever coached.

This season, Benson made 116 3-pointers (42.6%) and used that to average 28.6 points per game. That shooting efficiency was just one reason Benson was unanimously selected as the 2022-23 All-Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year as voted on by The Journal’s sports staff.

“He was just consistent all year,” Dennis said. “His low game this season was 18 points — that is a career high for a lot of players. He kept doing it night in and night out. Our coaches just kept talking after games that he just keeps doing it.”

The 6-foot-6 Big South All-Conference forward also broke the 1,000-career point barrier and goes into his senior season with 1,409 points.

The 1,409 career points places him 16th on the City of New Ulm High School career scoring list. He needs 35 more points to become New Ulm High School’s All-Time boys scoring leader.

Benson also tied a state record when he made nine consecutive three-point shots in a 40-point performance against Mankato Loyola.

That 40-point performance also tied the New Ulm High School single-game scoring record of 40 set by Scott Hawkins before Benson netted 41 to set a new school record.

Benson said that scoring his 1,000th career point and setting the single-game scoring record this year were amazing nights for him.

“Honestly getting those accomplishments were nice but also being able to celebrate those with my teammates and coaches who helped me get there was a great experience all around,” he said.

Benson started his first game on varsity as a freshman two years ago.

Even back then when Benson was a 6-foot-2 ninth-grader, Dennis saw something special in him.

“He had a lot of confidence and skills,” Dennis recalled. “He knew the game so well that even as a freshman, if he was not scoring, he was still doing things that were special. He would guard players who were bigger than him, he went after players who were bigger than him and that was the moment that this kid may be better than I thought.

“And he has as text-book shot. If you are going to teach a kid how to shoot, you could show them a video of Colton Benson. He shot 42.6% from the 3-point arc which is mark that nobody hits.”

Benson said that it is not a secret how he has become a 3-point shooter.

“Sitting under the baskets and shooting bunnies and free throws,” he said. “Everybody wants to be the flashy 3-point shooter but that stems from just doing the simple stuff. Sitting under the hoop and shooting your form shots over and over and over — you have repetition. You can’t just walk on the court and make 3s, it takes time and hard work.”

In addition to his scoring, Benson pulled in 8.1 rebounds per game and averaged 2.6 assists per game.

Benson is already preparing for his senior season of basketball. He is playing AAU basketball beginning in April.

“That is most of my summer and I get to Vogel and I do play some golf in the summer,” he said.

Benson said that with a lot of players back for next season, he wants to erase the taste of the loss this season to Worthington in the Section 2AAA semifinals.

“We don’t want that feeling again,” he said. “We know what our goals are.”