A 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard from St. Petersburg, Fla., Callier played in 30 games over the last two seasons at FSU, half of which came in Atlantic Coast Conference action. He appeared in 11 games as a sophomore last year, posting 15 points and 12 rebounds in 53 minutes as the Seminoles reached the postseason for the first time in five seasons — FSU finished 19-14 while advancing to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
As a freshman, Callier collected 33 points and 26 rebounds in 19 contests. He was 5-of-12 (41.7%) from behind the three-point arc in his first collegiate season.
The best game of his two-year career came at North Carolina in 2002-03, when he scored 13 points — including hitting three three-pointers — and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes of action in a one-point loss to the Tar Heels. Other highlights of his freshman season included scoring six points in two minutes at Georgia Tech as well as pulling down four rebounds in eight minutes at Maryland.
“We think that Benson is a good to addition to our program. He brings a great deal of athletic ability and has played at a high level in the ACC,” Horn — who is entering his second season on the Hill — said. “Sitting out this season is only going to help Benson improve so that he will be better prepared to be a major contributor the following year.”
Callier graduated from George Junior Republic (Pa.) High School after averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks per game in his only season at the school, as he was selected first-team big school all-state as well as the Most Valuable Player of the Mercer County Conference. He posted four games with 30-plus points — with a high of 42 — and 14 double-doubles as his efforts helped the Tigers finish 22-3 while earning a berth in the state tournament.
He was also chosen MVP of the Pennsylvania-Ohio All-Star Game after pouring in an event-record 31 points.
One of the highlights of Callier’s senior season was a 14-point, 11-rebound performance against No. 6 Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary High, which featured last year’s National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year LeBron James.
Callier is the second former Seminole to join the WKU program in the last three years. Nigel Dixon sat out the 2002-03 season before posting averages of 15.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game to earn honorable mention All-America and first-team all-Sun Belt Conference honors.
The Hilltoppers were 15-13 in Horn’s first season at the helm of the program, tying for second in the Sun Belt Conference East Division with an 8-6 mark.
