Donald Benker '26 Recruiting Profile

Dear Prospective Coaches,

I am DJ Benker, a proud Trojans from West Seneca East High School (2026 graduate year).

As a 3 sport, honor roll athlete, who takes many advanced classes, I know the dedication it takes to succeed at the higher levels. 

During the fall season, I am the returning starting quarterback. As a team captain and leader of the offense, I am assertive and lead by example in a positive manor. 

During the winter, I am returning as a starting defenseman for the Varsity Federation hockey team. As a defenseman, I have to play tough to protect my teammates and especially the goalie. As we turn to offense, I am a team player and am just as happy to have an assist as I am a goal.  

During the spring (and all summer long), I play my favorite sport baseball. I have been a starter on the Varsity team since 8th grade. I was honored to receive the votes for 1st team all star this past year. I am confident in all positions but I feel that am the strongest as a catcher. With quick hands and feet, I can get the ball to second base consistently under 2 seconds. As a pitcher, I am over 2 strikeouts per walk, and have thrown many complete games for my teams relying heavily on my fastball which has touched 87 MPH and offspeed pitches such as my curve and changeup (which average 75 MPH and 72 MPH respectively). As a center fielder, I use my speed as an asset (under 7 seconds in the 60 YD) to cover a lot of ground and love diving for gap shots! As a shortstop, my dedication to hands work and footwork help me to be successful with most any ball hit my way. Batting my be my favorite thing in all of my sports. As a lefty batter, I bring a power (90+MPH exit velocity) and high average and on base percentage. It is always fun to leadoff each game with a hard gap shot and spend the rest of the day trying my best to knock in my teammates!

I will bring your team leadership and dedication as well as solid consistent play on the field. With engineering as my intended major, I plan to bring the same leadership and dedication in the classroom as well!

Thank you for considering me for your school. I can only promise to try my best to make you proud!

DJ Benker