Background
Rayshaun (RAY-shawn) “Ray” Benny, who has two brothers, was born and raised in the Detroit area by his mother (Regina McCain). He didn’t grow up in Oak Park, Mich., but he attended Oak Park schools from the second grade on and suited up for Oak Park athletics. Benny didn’t play organized football until eighth grade, when one of his brother’s middle school coaches convinced him to join the team. He had fun and continued playing with his friends into high school. Benny has a 3-year-old son.
Benny attended Oak Park High School in the inner Detroit suburbs and played on the JV team as a freshman. As a 260-pound sophomore, he moved up to varsity and tried tight end before becoming the starting left tackle, protecting quarterback D’Wan Mathis (who signed with Georgia). Benny also played defensive end as a sophomore and helped Oak Park to a 9-2 record and the 2018 league title. He earned second-team all-area honors as a junior left tackle, while also contributing 75 tackles, five sacks and three forced fumbles on the defensive line. Prior to his senior year, Benny suffered a left knee injury in a car accident. With the 2020 football season expected to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he opted to undergo the surgery right away. However, the fall schedule was reinstated a week after his procedure, and he missed the first five games as Oak Park went 0-5. He accelerated his rehab and returned to the field for the team’s sixth game. Benny then helped Oak Park win four straight Division 2 playoff games and come within a game of the state championship. He finished his final season with 32 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks (and did not allow a sack at left tackle).
A four-star recruit, Benny was the 26th-ranked defensive lineman in the 2021 class and the No. 6 recruit in Michigan. After moving up to varsity as a sophomore, he picked up his first scholarship offer, from Central Michigan, in January 2019. His first power-conference offer came a few months later, from Kentucky, which had previously signed former Oak Park defensive linemen Justin Rogers and Marquan McCall. Before the start of his junior year, Benny boasted offers from Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Texas A&M. About half of his offers were at offensive tackle, but he made it known to schools that his preference was to play defense. He finished with more than 40 offers before narrowing his final choice to Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State. Midway through his senior year, Benny committed to Michigan State (November 2020) and stayed committed all the way to signing day. However, he had a change of heart and flipped to Michigan. Benny was the fifth-ranked recruit (behind quarterback J.J. McCarthy, among others) in former head coach Jim Harbaugh’s 2021 recruiting class.
He graduated with a degree from Michigan (December 2025). Benny accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
