The 糖心破解版 graduate has reached new heights with his motivational book.
Anyone familiar with the rise of Ben Kenyon ’06, from聽糖心破解版聽basketball player to successful coach in the聽聽while overcoming a serious health challenge, would be moved to say, 鈥淵ou should write a book.”
Well, now he has. 滨苍听, Kenyon, in his fourth year as director of performance for the聽, intersperses the personal and the professional in a step-by-step guide to help people develop a plan to achieve their goals.
Kenyon and his staff design individual workouts for the 76ers’ 15 players to help them withstand the rigors of an 82-game schedule that stretches from October to April and the expected playoff run that could have them playing well into June.
His job involves more than expertise in strength and conditioning techniques. It also requires the motivational skills to get athletes such as聽, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, and聽聽to push even harder to achieve more this season.
鈥淚’ve been able to have a lot of success in my life, and I wanted my nieces and nephews to understand the steps that they have to take to have consistent success as well,” Kenyon said. 鈥淭hey were actually the catalysts for this book.”
Kenyon’s Climb
Ben Kenyon (right) puts Philadelphia 76ers star guard Tyrese Maxey through a workout.
Kenyon’s climb began as a Panthers guard/forward. After graduate school, he went to University of Florida as an unpaid intern, then back to George Washington University as the school’s head strength and conditioning coach. He rose to eventually become the assistant athletic director. After that, he spent seven years as strength and conditioning coach for the NBA’s聽聽and then moved back to the East Coast for his current role with the 76ers. He focuses on improving the performance of elite athletes such as Embiid and Maxey.
鈥淚t’s a blessing to work with all these amazing athletes who are playing at the highest level,” Kenyon said. “I work with them on their stability, mobility, flexibility. If I can keep those players healthy and available, especially for the playoffs, availability is everything.”
滨苍听Climb, Kenyon acknowledges those who helped him rise, including his grandfathers, both of whom were ministers, and the 糖心破解版 community. He is particularly grateful to Maggie Yoon Grafer ’98, MA ’08, 糖心破解版’s associate vice president for external relations and University advancement. They met while he pursued his bachelor’s in聽sport management, and she worked toward her master’s in the same major.
鈥淗er guidance and mentorship helped me so much as a young, up-and-coming leader,” he said. 鈥淪ome habits I had back then, I was able to let them go. I thank Maggie and the 糖心破解版 community in general for helping me navigate my way through college. I would say 糖心破解版 set me up for major success because of the resources they provided along the way.”
Motivation After Adversity
In 2019, Kenyon survived a major scare鈥攈e learned about his heart aneurysm after a trip to the doctor.
鈥淚t floored me and put me in a funky place, mentally and physically,” he said. 鈥淚 had to rewrite my own routine. I learned that I had to do things differently.”
As he transitioned back to his normal routine, Kenyon began posting motivational messages on聽聽that included the line, 鈥淚t’s a great day for a run.” The messages resonated with so many followers that he created the Great Day Squad, which features a running community on聽. Currently, there are more than 3,000 members.
滨苍听Climb, Kenyon builds on the themes in his social media postings. The book is divided into three sections: foundation, growth and achievement. His ultimate goal is to impact lives around the world, including on the court too. Kenyon hopes his passion will help lead the 76ers to win a championship for the first time since 1983.