VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men's basketball Chuck Benson has announced the signing of Sevierville, Tenn.'s John Zhao as the lone member of the 2021-22 recruiting class. 

"He comes from an outstanding program," Benson said. "Our guys are excited to have John join us. He's the only freshman we've signed and we're excited about what he will mean for our program.  Going through this process, it was clear he has a bright future in college athletics.  Not only is he an outstanding student with a great family background, he is a phenomenal player."

A 6-4, 180-pound guard who played for Ken Wright at Sevier County High School. Zhao was a member of the 2020 All-District and All-Tournament teams.  He helped the Smoky Bears to a pair of district tournament titles as well as a regional and sub-state title in 2019. 

He was named the District 2-AAA Player of the Year and the IMAC Player of the Year as a senior.

He earned 5Star Preps Player of the Week honors after scoring 40 points on eight made threes in a win over Fulton.    

Zhao averaged 23.5 points per game as a senior to go along with six boards, three assists and two steals per game.  He finished his high school career 20 points shy of 1,000.  He was selected to the BCAT All-Star Game. 

He also ran track and field for the Smoky Bears and completed his high school career with a 4.0 GPA. 

"We're all trying to figure out what the best strategies moving forward are in a post-CoVID scenario," Benson said. "We have our entire team returning, but we knew we needed to bring some other guys in. John we watched a lot. The thing that is unusual about him is how efficient he is.  He already plays an extremely efficient game on the offensive side of the ball. We weren't worried about what classification he was, we knew he was going to come in, be a good fit and add value from day one."

The son of Richard May and Mary Zhao, he plans to study finance at Carson-Newman.