Robert Morris Basketball Gets Commitment From 2022 Wing Ben Krystkowiak

After losing a few players to the NCAA Transfer Portal, the Robert Morris men’s basketball program received an addition to their Class of 2022.

The Colonials received a commitment from 2022 wing Ben Krystkowiak from IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida). The 6-foot-4, 180-pound wing is from Del Mar, California and also played for the Salt Lake Rebels AAU program. After watching him in person a number of times, the Robert Morris staff formally extended Krystkowiak an offer from February 20 and he made the decision to join Andy Toole’s program on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, I called Coach Toole to inform him that I’m coming to join him and that I’m super bought in and just ready to get to work,”Krystkowiak told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “Committing to Robert Morris really means everything to me because it’s always been my dream to play Division-1. It’s so cool to have a coach that believes in me, that wants me to succeed and that wants to push me to be the best version of myself that I can be and I think that’s a great thing to have. I believe that Coach Toole is the right person for me and I think we’re going to do some great things for the program up there next year.”

As happens a lot in recruiting, the Robert Morris staff became aware of Kryskowiak through a relationship between the IMG coaching staff and Toole’s staff. After traveling down to Florida multiple times and watching him at at tournament, RMU believed he’d be a perfect fit and something they’re lacking on the current roster.

“I have a great coach here at IMG and we’ve formed a good relationship. Since I arrived here, I just tried to work my tail off every day and I believe he saw that and knew that I wanted to become a great player. Because of that, he reached out to Coach Toole and Coach Fedor and told them that I have a guy that I believe can make a difference for your team. Coach Dave came down and watched a workout that I had and then I had a game that night. Then Coach Toole came down and he watched us play in the Beach Blast which is played here at IMG. Afterwards, he said you work hard, you make winning plays and you have what it takes to play and I believe that this can work out.”

IMG Academy Academic’s Ben Krystkowiak 👀 pic.twitter.com/uEKGogzzJ3

— Alex Popp (@coachalexpopp) December 5, 2021

Krystkowiak is the son of former pro basketball player and Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak.

“He (Toole) believes that I have a really good IQ for the game and knows that I can make shots,” said Krystkowiak. “I consider myself a shot maker and someone that finishes plays. I also like to attack and make plays for other people too. I play with a high IQ and I try and play my ass off every game. I will always bring energy and he came up to me and said ‘we need dudes like you that can bring energy and also produce and that want to win’. I told him that’s what I’m all about. We instantly clicked there and it’s so nice to know that I have a coach that believes in me and is willing to push me.”