Niko Benestad

Baseball celebrates after walking off Charlotte on April 17, 2025

Photo by: Michael Shaw / University of South Florida Athletics

during the South Florida Baseball Game vs WSU on May 21, 2025.

(Chris Henry / University of South Florida Athletics)

Photo by: Chris Henry / University of South Florida Athletics

Position:
1B/C
Height:
6-1
Weight:
207
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Coral Springs, Fla.
High School:
Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS

HIGH SCHOOL: Won four straight state championships at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, becoming the first public school in the state of Florida to do so and joining Fort Lauderdale Archbishop McCarthy as the only programs to accomplish the feat...batted .380 his senior season as a team captain...named to the Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald All-State Teams.

PERSONAL: Full name is Nicholas Giovanni Benestad...nicknamed Cheeks/Cheeky...born on June 6 in Boca Raton...son of John and Maria...his family has Greek and Italian lineage...his father, John, was a kicker on the Rutgers football team from 1990-94...his grandfather served in the Greek Navy...has two older brothers, Jonathan and Christopher...studying business at USF.