Kansas basketball coach Bill Self made a great first impression on Chaminade College Prep's
Bradley Beal early on in the college basketball recruiting process. Mike Krzyzewski tried to sway the 6-foot-3-inch shooting guard with his Duke Blue Devil/Atlantic Coast Conference pedigree.
But Billy Donovan's Florida Gators basketball program was just right for the 2011 McDonalds All-American, ranked fifth in
MaxPreps' latest 2011 Top 100 Players to Watch.
Bradley Beal.
Photo by Dean Backes
"They get after it out on the basketball floor and I like that," Beal said of his next basketball home once his high school career concludes. "The system was a perfect fit for me. They have guys with a lot of experience on the team, and I can learn a lot from those guys. The whole school has a lot of love for basketball.
"It was really hard to turn down Coach Self and Coach 'K.' It was a tough decision…I prayed on it a lot. Then my family and I sat down and looked at each system."
Despite committing to the Southeastern Conference school in late 2009, Beal kept his options open. But when it came to signing on the dotted line in February, he stayed true to the Gators. While the recruiting process can be exhausting for most involved, it was rather painless for Beal.
Video of Bradley Beal"It was enjoyable…exciting," he said of the recruiting process. "It's a pretty amazing feeling when you have coach K, coach Self and coach Donovan calling you to talk to you about playing for them. All of the attention you get is pretty amazing."
Self strolled into the recruiting picture first for Beal, offering a scholarship to the uber-talented Red Devil during his sophomore season. The KU coach made such an impression that Beal almost ended his recruitment at that time.
"I was so excited," Beal said of the call he received from Self. "Almost to the point that I didn't want to go anywhere else. But I was told that I should settle down and play out the process. I was told by people out there that it would get real hectic. Someone told me that my phone would blow up from all of the attention that I would get. But it never got to that point."
Beal comes from a family of football playing brothers. His parents both played basketball at Kentucky State. At about the age of 5 or 6 Beal said he decided to give basketball a try.
After connecting on eight 3-pointers during an AAU national championship game in Kentucky at the age of 10, Beal began to take a serious look at the game he now loves. He ripped the cords for nine 3s during a game at a Kansas Basketball Camp in the June before his sophomore season. "I just want to keep getting better at the game," he said.
Chaminade basketball coach Kelvin Lee is used to seeing talent come through his doors. But when he saw Beal as a sixth grader, Lee knew he would be special.
"While the other kids his age were shooting set shots, he was shooting jumpers," Lee said of Beal. "He comes from a long line of great players. He's going to make people forget about (former Red Devil and now Golden State Warrior) David Lee. In the 14 years that I've been coaching, I haven't seen anyone that's as pure of a shooter as Bradley, and I've coached high school and college ball. There was no one that was as fluid shooting the basketball as he is."
As he looks ahead to next season, Lee said that Beal would be missed. But he doesn't want anyone feeling sorry for him and the Red Devils.
"Good players come and go," he said of Beal's exodus to the SEC next season. "Every year people say we're not going to be very good. But there is always somebody coming up through the program. And we do have some very good players coming through the program at this time."
Besides his ability to score from nearly anywhere on the court, and at any time, Lee said Beal is a tremendous rebounder. But one part of Beal's game that is often overlooked is his leadership. According to Lee, people seem to overlook that part of his game.
"He knows when to take over a game," Lee said. "But he also knows when to get his teammates involved in the flow of the game."
"He pushes me to be a leader," Beal said of Lee. "He pushes me to lead by example. He has coached at all levels so he gets all of the respect in the world. Coach told me to shoot the ball the same way all of the time. ‘Don't get goofy with your shot because it'll leave you,' he always says. He tells me to be consistent with all that I do."
As talented as his senior scorer is, Lee said that he has had to learn to be patient, having allowed Beal to pretty much do as he pleases on a basketball court. Now, however, Lee is comfortable kicking back and allowing the two-time Class 5 first team all stater to run the show.
"He is the ultimate team player," Lee said of Beal, "and he has great awareness. It's been a calming affect for me and the basketball team. After winning the state title when Bradley was a sophomore, the target was on our back. He felt the pressure. Tension was in the air. But he's mature beyond his years. He's been a calming affect. He makes the team a lot better."
The breakneck pace at which Florida goes about its business on a basketball court suits Beal just fine. Just try to slow down a Beal-led Chaminade squad and see what happens. Getting up and down the floor is what Beal is all about.
Any defender that dares get in Beal's way may find himself a little out of sorts.
"He's going to be confused," Beal said of any defender that gets between him and the basket. "I'll either go by him, or I'll pull up with a jumper. How he plays me will dictate what I do with the ball."
Beal does it all for Lee – scoring, rebounding and guarding the other team's best player. But if he is going to be the best the SEC has to offer in coming years, Beal acknowledges that he is going to have to work on his ball handling and lateral quickness.
The two-time first team all-district selection is well on his way to proving he can play at a high level away from the friendly confines of Chaminade. Beal was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championships after averaging more than 18 points a game and leading the USA to a perfect 8-0 mark and the team championship.
The 2010 Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year was recently named to the 2011 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team. For his prep career, Beal is averaging 23.2 points per game, including a 28 scoring average over 82 games the past three seasons.
According to statistics posted on MaxPreps, Beal is averaging 32.5 points per game during his final prep season. The two-time first team all-league selection is shooting 62.5 percent from the field in 2010-11 and 45.6 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Beal adds 5.71 rebounds, 2.79 assists and 3.04 steals per game to his senior line.
Before hanging up his Red Devil jersey for the last time, Beal has his eyes locked on one more Class 5 state championship and an undefeated season. In order to achieve that consummate prize, Beal said it's time to wipe the slate clean.
"We play as a team," Beal said of the squad that he has guided to a 91-18 record during his four seasons under Lee. "We trust each other and have confidence in each other. There is a lot of depth on this team. The younger guys have stepped up. They are veterans now.
"Winning state, playing hard, having fun and loving each other is what it's all about. Everything in practice carries over into the game. We just need to do what coach tells us to do. The regular season doesn't matter. The postseason is when you play hard. You can go 1-16 and still get out of districts. How many teams you beat in the postseason is what counts."
Then it's on to Gainesville, Fla.
"They like his shot," Lee said of what attracted Florida to Beal. "It wasn't until after his junior year that he started to take people off of the dribble. Now he's dunking over people in traffic."
