Sac State star can do it all — pass, score, win. Oh, and play guitar with her toes

She can handle the ball with either hand and can score inside and out. She runs the floor with long strides and defends with pit bull purpose, but none of those basketball skills rate as the most unique feat in Benthe Versteeg’s vast arsenal.

And that would be a feat with her feet.

Sacramento State’s 5-foot-9 senior anchor point guard and fourth-year starter plays the game with the zeal of a child, in part because she can move her feet as a defender or a playmaker. And Versteeg smiles big in explaining what else she can do with the digits on her feet when they’re not in sneakers racing up and down the court.

She can play the guitar with her toes. That’s right: her toes. But never with a straight face.

The Big Sky Conference preseason Player of the Year is best defined by her skills and her smile as one who talks about the “joy” of life. She can play instruments with her hands and fingers, too, certainly, including piano and drums.

Versteeg recently recalled how she learned to strum a good tune with her toes, which seems fitting because her basketball game is all about creativity. She’s been the team leader since her youth, be it in this country or her homeland of the Netherlands.

Music was a constant in her life growing up. She was especially curious about the guitar.

“I grew up in a family with a lot of music,” Versteeg said. “My dad can play the piano really well, and he does his own songs. So, just being around that all the time and having all the instruments in your house, you’re just going to try stuff. And that’s why I tried the guitar (with my toes).”

But is she any good with the guitar, toes, fingers, elbows or whatever?

“Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “Awesome!”

Versteeg a popular draw

Versteeg’s father is a professional pianist in Amsterdam who wanted his children to get involved in anything extracurricular. For Versteeg, that was music and basketball.

Versteeg was a star guard in club ball, a higher level of competition than high school ball in the United States. She was an international recruit who landed at Sacramento State before the 2021-22 season when former coach Mark Campbell learned of her game. Sac State’s current roster includes players from seven different countries.

Versteeg has become the face of the program as the most prolific assist-maker in the history of the Sac State women’s program. She is bent on getting everyone involved, and she became the first in program history to record a triple-double, doing so last season.

Having led the Big Sky in assists in each of the past two seasons, Versteeg is the one to huddle teammates together on the floor to inspire or game plan. She is the lone holdover from Sacramento State’s 2023 team that won the program’s first conference tournament championship and became the first in program history to play in the NCAA Tournament. Versteeg remained loyal to the program after a coaching change in an era where players come and go.

“This is home,” Versteeg said. “I am so happy to be here. This is my second family.”

After Sac State defeated Nevada 65-45 earlier this season at Hornet Pavilion, Versteeg was not able to leave the court. Scores of elementary-age children from a Sacramento-area field trip poured out of the stands and surrounded her, their school buses waiting outside.

The kids could see her impact on the game, and they wanted more of her. They wanted to listen to her, to stand next to her long frame, to take photos of her smile

For nearly 30 minutes, Versteeg chatted with the children, offering hugs and high-fives, taking selfies and sighing autographs. The smile never left her.

“That was awesome,” Versteeg said. “I’ve never had so many children looking at me and asking me for autographs. I thought I was just giving a high-five, and then, suddenly, there was a crowd around me.”

Said Sacramento State assistant communications director Jason Spencer, “She is a woman of the people. Great player, great person.”

‘The joy is really the thing’

Versteeg’s energy level never seems to dim. She is relentless in her studies, in practice and in games. She doesn’t smile much when working out, but she does when she is finished.

Last season, Versteeg played an average of 38.4 minutes per game, which ranked second nationally in NCAA Division I. Some within the program wonder if she is solar-powered.

“Benthe is the hardest working player I have ever seen, maybe the hardest working player anywhere, ever,” said longtime Hornets media relations staffer Ryan Bjork, who insisted he wasn’t exaggerating.

Versteeg doesn’t describe any of it as work.

“It’s joy,” she said. “The joy is really the thing that I want to focus on and also with my team. I have a lot of fun with my team, and that makes basketball so joyful.”

Sac State coach Aaron Kallhoff said it is a joy to coach Versteeg.

“Winner on and off the court,” the third-year coach said. “I was most happy for her because she stuck through it. She stayed. And her dad came in here from Amersterdam to watch her play (against Nevada), front row, and just to see him so proud.”

Far from home

Versteeg said she doesn’t miss her homeland as much as she misses her family and friends. She does appreciate the cultural differences between the countries.

“It’s very different here,” she said. “We have a good support system, and also, college-wise and education-wise, it’s different. And our country (back home) is flat, so we have a lot of bikes. It’s very normal there to go everywhere with your bike, getting groceries with your bike... Coming here definitely changed my life. I love Sac State. I couldn’t wish for a better place to be, to have my college career.”

Versteeg’s arrival in California marked her first trip to the United States, but there were no initials hugs or high-fives.

“I came here right after COVID,” she said. “I was in quarantine for two weeks, and I was very lonely because I didn’t know anybody yet. It was hard. But the moment I got out of quarantine and my teammates were around me, that was awesome.”

Versteeg added with a laugh. “The first time I came here, I flew into San Francisco, and the moment I got out of the airport, I was like, ‘Whoa! What is this?’ Like, weird. I thought I was in a movie.”

Versteeg isn’t looking beyond this season as a player. But she does have a professional future in this sport, her coaches say, and players can make a handsome salary across the globe making assists and baskets. Versteeg’s immediate aim is to continue to improve her game. She has been named a Big Sky all-conference defender and honored as an offensive player, but she wants to be even better.

Like a child picking up a guitar for the first time, she wants to get better.

“Every year, I’ve accomplished something new,” Versteeg said. “There’s always something I can work on. I really think that I’m not at my best yet. There’s always room for more.”