How two lifestyle changes have impacted Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk's time at South Carolina

At the start of the summer, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk came to a moment of realization. He had been working hard on and off the court, but was it enough?

It wasn’t anything that he was necessarily doing wrong. His grades in school were good and he helped South Carolina get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years.

But if there’s one thing to know, Bosmans-Verdonk will always look for ways to be better than he was before. He wanted to improve his game. And that process started by reading a quote.

“The easiest way to get better at basketball is just like get stronger, get more athletic,” the sixth-year forward said, trying to remember the exact quote he stumbled upon over the summer.

That’s when the internal light bulb flicked on. After being plagued by injuries for most of his college career, he was going to do everything he could to make sure his final season of basketball would be a good one. So, like all athletes, he got in the weight room and put an emphasis on getting stronger.

“I was like, ‘Okay, I’m doing a lot, but let’s see where the margins are that I can improve and reach the next level,'” Bosmans-Verdonk said. “Looking back on what I’ve been doing in school and on the court. Like what are the things that I can control right now and make instant change that may pay off down the line?

“Lifting was one of those things. I was going hard last year; I think our strength coach would say that. But if you tap into another level and you’re committed about reaching that, there’s levels to go. There’s some improvement to be had. That’s kind of what I locked in and keyed in on.”

In the span of a few summer months, Bosmans-Verdonk did what he set out to do. He went from 228 to 260 pounds and came back for the start of the preseason looking like an entirely different player.

“He looks like a monster,” teammate Collin Murray-Boyles said. “Playing against him is going to prepare us for any (opponent) because nobody is stronger than him. Nobody plays harder than him.”

Making change is nothing new for Bosmans-Verdonk. He took a chance to try something new in his studies at South Carolina and now he’s improved his physique, both of which will have an impact on life after basketball.

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Making the most of a unique situation

Basketball was always the end goal, the “Plan A” so to speak. Bosmans-Verdonk had his sights set on making it to the NBA and nothing was going to stop him from getting there.

While his aspirations were high, the odds were always going to be stacked against him. According to a study done by the NCAA, only 1.1 percent of men’s college basketball players go on to play in the league. Couple that with his injury history, Bosmans-Verdonk had to start being realistic with himself.

“I kind of took a look at myself in the mirror,” he said, “and I was like, ‘All right, like what am I doing? Here’s what’s not going well. Let’s see where I can improve my situation.'”

In just three years at Illinois, Bosmans-Verdonk graduated with a degree in psychology. He had already set himself up well for the future by finishing school. But he wasn’t ready to turn in his kicks for a life in the real world just yet.

Because he redshirted and played with the Fighting Illini when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, he still had three years of eligibility that he could use. So, in 2022, he decided to enter the transfer portal and ended up committing to first-year head coach Lamont Paris and South Carolina.

In the back of his mind, Bosmans-Verdonk still knew basketball probably wouldn’t work out in the long run to where he could play at the next level. Rather than go somewhere just for basketball, he also considered where he could best further his education.

“It was like, what’s the best thing to do with these three years of free school?” he said. “Law school was there, and everybody was like, ‘Ah, don’t do it.’ And then, I came here and had the opportunity and that’s how I rolled into it.”

This move was completely out of left field. He had no connections to the law school or the profession in general. His parents weren’t lawyers. When he first came to America from Belgium, he admitted he didn’t even know what the country’s legal system looked like.

But this is what he wanted to. He saw law school as “one of the most diverse degrees out there” and knew it could lead to a “pretty good life” financially.

It was going to be an uphill battle to achieve what he wanted to do, though. For starters, he still had to be accepted into the University of South Carolina School of Law. And even if he got in, there would still be many hoops to jump through to reach the finish line.

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Taking a chance

On South Carolina’s commencement day in May 2022, William Hubbard received a call from someone associated with the men’s basketball program. On a day like this, a phone call about basketball? Huh?

“They said there was a prospective student-athlete who had three years to play three and wanted to come to law school,” said Hubbard, the dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law. “I’ll admit, I was somewhat skeptical until I pulled his application and saw how well he had done at Illinois. I saw that he was academically well-prepared. And so, they said, ‘Well if you’re amenable to it, could you meet us in 30 minutes?'”

Hubbard, who was at a luncheon event with honorary degree recipients, hustled back over to the Joseph F. Rice School of Law. There, he met Bosmans-Verdonk for the first time and was immediately impressed. Hubbard added: “The record he presented was a profile that made him imminently qualified for admission.”

Getting into the law school was just step one. Bosmans-Verdonk had the grades and persona to make it in. Now, he had to prove Hubbard right in his decision. But it wouldn’t be easy, because as Hubbard pointed out, the first semester is always the toughest. And it just so happened to coincide with the start of basketball season.

“It’s a totally different level of work than most undergraduate programs. And so, I actually talked to Benjamin and urged him to request of the coach that he not participate in any games during his first semester in law school,” Hubbard said. “That’s the most stressful time, because in so many classes, your whole grade is your final exam. It’s so stressful and the students spend 20 hours a day preparing and taking these exams over about a two-week period.”

Even for South Carolina’s road games, Hubbard advised Bosmans-Verdonk not to travel so he could focus on his studies. He obviously didn’t follow his advice, but it didn’t impact his grades at all. Somehow, someway, he made it work and still got the grades he needed to make it through a successful first semester.

“He’s disciplined and he knows how to utilize his time well. But he took a four-hour course exam and then flew to Washington and played George Washington that night,” Hubbard said. “It was just really unheard of that somebody could take the time off to practice and play games during first semester exams in law school. It was really remarkable how he performed.”

By making it through his first year of law school, Bosmans-Verdonk now had it down pat. Rather than take morning classes like he had to, he was able to pick and choose the classes that best fit his basketball schedule. His grades never suffered. Fast forward to now, he’ll be graduating after this school year.

“He’s been a model citizen of the law school. And I’ve spent a good bit of time with him. He’s come to my office at least a half dozen times for advice and counsel,” Hubbard said. “If anything, I’ve had to try to make sure he didn’t try to bite off too much. He was even thinking about trying to get an MBA at the same time he was playing basketball and getting his JD degree in the law school. … He believes in himself. He’s willing to work hard. He’s highly disciplined.”

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Transforming his body

When Bosmans-Verdonk decided to prioritize getting into better physical shape for the season, he reached out to Scott Greenawalt, the longtime men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach at South Carolina.

“He said, ‘Hey, listen man, I just want to really dial into this and get a lot stronger because it’s going to help my game for how coach wants to use me on the court,'” said Greenawalt, in his 13th season with the Gamecocks. “So it was more of getting stronger, putting on some weight, and away he went.”

But there was one slight problem. Bosmans-Verdonk wasn’t going to be in Columbia for part of the summer, which is usually when the team does their training. He was in Chicago for an internship and wouldn’t be back until later on.

So, for the time being, Greenawalt had him go to a local gym in the Windy City and take pictures and write down all of the equipment available to him. He’d send it over and then Greenawalt put together a workout schedule for him to do until he returned to campus.

When he got back, that was where most of his progress in the weight room came. With high-class facilities, Bosmans-Verdonk worked out for about an hour every day while also changing his diet with help from team dietitian Jeremy Ford.

“He did this in a very small amount of time, which is pretty impressive due to his schedule, law school and all that,” Greenawalt said.

Bosmans-Verdonk’s schedule would look like this: Upper body on Mondays and Thursdays. Lower body on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays and Saturdays were more about special needs, according to Greenawalt.

“Wednesdays and Saturdays are kind of days that guys get to choose what they want to work on, anything extra,” he said. “It could be an extra lift. It could be an extra stretch. It could be an extra footwork session, a yoga session. A lot of different options on those two days.”

At first, Bosmans-Verdonk was worried about putting on more weight than he had before. It was also going to be a grind to be able to reach his goal in mind.

“The biggest thing is just like pushing yourself constantly once you’re in there and maximizing your time in there,” he said. “And then, eating, resting. You gain weight by just eating the right things, recovering on time and then doing what you have to do. It’s the little things that make a huge difference.”

But once the summer ended and he saw the results, he couldn’t have been happier with how things turned out.

“I got down, been eating clean. I’m just moving faster, jumping higher, feeling stronger. It’s all great,” Bosmans-Verdonk said. “Right now, I feel like I’m a force — I’m stronger. It’s just way easier to get positioned, get a catch, make a move. Like everything is so much easier. I don’t know, I feel like I feel it. So it’s been awesome.”

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The final chapter and life after basketball

At this stage of his career, Bosmans-Verdonk knows this is probably it for him. Throughout his time playing college basketball, injuries and a lack of significant playing time have squashed any dreams of playing at the next level.

But he’s already accepted that reality. He came to South Carolina with a three-year plan. Yes, he was here to play basketball, but he was also here to earn a law degree and lay the foundation for his future. And that’s what he’s done.

After this season and graduation, he’ll head back to Chicago where he accepted a job at Sidley Austin, one of the largest law firms in the world in terms of revenue. He said he’ll be doing a lot of corporate work with mergers and acquisitions, emergency requisitions, and private equity.

“From there, I don’t know, there’s so much exciting stuff from there,” he said. “I’ve been kind of in this basketball world and basketball’s all that I’d been thinking about. Super excited to start a professional journey beyond hoops. We’ll see where that takes me.”

That’s not to say Bosmans-Verdonk has entirely shut the door on a future in basketball. After all, he still has one season to go before presumably hanging it up. He doesn’t plan to keep it going beyond this season but crazier things have happened.

“If I go crazy and get drafted, it’d be silly not to. That’d be like a childhood dream,” Bosmans-Verdonk said. “But realistically, I accepted the job up in Chicago. I’m excited.”

For now, though, his focus isn’t on moving to Chicago or living out the next phase of his life. It’s all about the here and now. And right now, it’s about finishing what he started and completing his three-year journey in Columbia.

“Now year three is like, alright, let’s put all the pieces together and see how great it can really get, at least for me,” he said. “Again, on every level, like school, basketball, being a teammate, let’s have as much fun as possible. Let’s compete as hard as we can and see where we can take it.”

So far this season, Bosmans-Verdonk hasn’t seen a ton of action on the court with the Gamecocks. He’s only averaging roughly six minutes of playing time per game. But should his name be called, he’ll be as ready as he’s ever been with the changes he’s made to his body.

“Here’s what I think it helps him with. He’s not an outside shooter, obviously. He’s not a three-point shooter. But his role, maybe outside of shooting and setting some screens, boxing out, rebounding. Doing all the tough, strong stuff that coach needs him to do,” Greenawalt said. “That’s what that extra strength is going to help him with. He’s not a finesse player, obviously. He’s kind of a brute player and being stronger is going to help his game.”

And when his time at South Carolina does come to an end, he’ll not only leave with a great basketball experience but also as one of the only Division I student-athletes to complete law school.

“It’s been a joy. It’s been an absolute joy. He’s been a model citizen of the law school,” Hubbard said. “He’s already been accredit to the university and the law school. I think he’ll carry our flag forward to Chicago. He’s an exemplar of what we look for as a model student-athlete.”

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