Ben Panner was one of the most effective and productive players for the Wheaton men's basketball team, starting all 114 games he played for the Thunder over four years. He ranks fifteenth on the all-time Wheaton career scoring list with 1,499 points. He is seventh with 179 career three-pointers, and twelfth with 282 career assists. He was a D3hoops.com All-American his senior year following the 2008-2009 season, helping lead Wheaton to the Division III Tournament for the third-consecutive year. In addition, he was selected as a second-team All-Midwest Region by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and a Third Team regional selection by D3Hoops.com.
Considering life-lessons he learned while at Wheaton, Ben writes, "My time at Wheaton developed a love for cultivating a team culture. Learning to serve one another, and pursue a unified goal was life- changing. I have leaned on my experience learned from Coach Harris and Coach Schauer about how to invest and develop a unified team culture." When asked to describe a particularly meaningful athletic memory, Ben writes, "In 2009, Wheaton basketball secured the CCIW regular season championship in front of a packed King Arena. This led to two more victories at home to win the conference tournament. We were able to play in the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament in front of a packed home crowd. We had a heart-breaking loss to the eventual champion, Washington University, in the Sweet 16, but that stretch of games, from the end of the regular season to the Sweet Sixteen, was one of the most memorable times in my athletic memory." Ben graduated with a degree in Business/Economics, then earned a master's degree in Christian Formation and Ministry from Wheaton Graduate School, then an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary. Earlier this year, he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently Director of Workshops for the Charles Simeon Trust, an organization training Biblical expositors worldwide. Ben and his wife Joanna have five children, ages three to nine: Seth, Simeon, Levi, Jeremiah, and Piper.
