Gealer Secures Backcourt Spot for Stanford

A couple of summers ago, as Benny Gealer was gearing up for the 2022 Maccabi Games in Israel, during which he would be USA Maccabi’s sole high school player, Stanford University started showing significant interest in the slender point guard who had led Rolling Hills Prep to two California 2AA Southern Section titles.

Gealer, fresh off graduating from Rolling Hills as a valedictorian that spring, had been weighing his options for playing college hoops, one being a full scholarship offer from UC Riverside. But then came the most enticing choice as the prestigious world-class university from his home state swooped in – albeit not with a pledge for a full-ride scholarship, but rather an invitation to be a preferred walk-on for the men’s basketball team.

As if that made a difference.

“I couldn’t tell my mom or my dad otherwise. I don’t think they would have let me pick another school,” Gealer recalled when speaking to the AJT last month.

Still, there were lingering concerns. Would being a “preferred walk-on” among full scholarship recipients equate to being a second-class citizen? Meanwhile, there was no getting around the hefty price tag of a Stanford education, which runs north of $80,000 per year (including tuition and room & board).

“Before coming to Stanford, I was a little worried, like what does a preferred walk-on even mean?” said Gealer, who ultimately found out the designation did, in fact, mean a guaranteed roster spot. “I didn’t really fully know about how I was going to be treated or what was my role on the team.”

But … “It [being a preferred walk-on] was super positive overall. I felt like they treated me like every scholarship player. I was just a player on the team.”

Despite partially tearing his ACL during his very first preseason practice at Stanford merely weeks after returning from the Maccabi Games – and subsequently being shelved for the first eight games of the regular season – Gealer produced in limited action as a freshman, quickly earning the respect of his teammates … and eventually that highly coveted full scholarship.

“The greatest feeling was gratitude, to be honest,” Gealer responded when asked how it felt to receive Stanford’s 13th and final scholarship spot heading into his sophomore year. “I was proud of myself. I always have a chip on my shoulder, just being a smaller Jewish basketball player. I consider myself the underdog so I’m always playing with this chip on my shoulder. I felt like I deserved this scholarship, no question. I knew once they offered me the opportunity to be a walk-on in the beginning, I wasn’t just like, ‘Oh, that’s it. I got what I wanted.’”

Akin to a professional ballplayer signing a lucrative multi-year extension, receiving a full athletic scholarship provides great financial security (especially in this day and age) but doesn’t exactly alleviate other pressures intrinsic to high-octane athletic competition.

“I don’t feel like there’s a lot less pressure at all,” reasoned Gealer. “I actually feel like nothing’s really changed other than I just have a free education pretty much, which I’m extremely grateful for. If anything, I’m working way harder. I’m going to work my butt off to be the best possible player to give Stanford the best possible opportunity to win.”

For Stanford, whose last Final Four appearance was in spring 1998, the wins haven’t come so easily this year. Just like every other high-powered Division I program, Stanford grinded through a first half of the season marked by uneven competition against mostly non-conference (Pac-12) foes. Less than a week after a breezy 95-70 win over Eastern Washington (Gealer poured in a career-high 13 points that evening), the Stanford Cardinal dropped a couple nail-biters to heavyweights Arkansas and Michigan in the nationally televised Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Following a shocking upset win over then No.4-ranked Arizona on Dec. 31, Stanford entered the new year and final two months of the 2023-24 season – a schedule comprised exclusively of Pac-12 opponents — with a 6-6 record, good for a middle-of-the-pack spot in conference standings.

I always have a chip on my shoulder, just being a smaller Jewish basketball player. I consider myself the underdog so I’m always playing with this chip on my shoulder. I felt like I deserved this scholarship, no question.

While this winter the Cardinal may still be a bit of a long shot to make their first NCAA tourney since 2014 (the women’s team is a different story as it is firmly in the running for a national title), the team has a promising young nucleus with not just Gealer assuming a more prominent role but also the notable contributions of his backcourt mate, freshman sharpshooter Andrej Stojakovic, son of former NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic.

“I think we have a team this year that could make the tournament,” offered Gealer. “I think there is potential to leave a legacy and bring this program back up, but I don’t know if it’s on the top of my mind. I’m more just, ‘Can we get the next win?’”

Of course, knocking off Pac-12 opponents is but one part of the Stanford basketball experience; the other, likely more time consuming one, is handling the rather rigorous course load.

“It’s more challenging than at most universities, but it’s manageable,” acknowledged Gealer, who then quickly made a point of adding, “it’s nice to be busy. Right now, if you have nothing, it’s like, ‘What do I do with my time?’”