Florida Gators five-star signee Brad Beal (St. Louis, MO) was named the 2010-11 Gatorade National Player of the Year on Monday.
Standing 6’4” and 205 lbs., Beal averaged 32.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game this season while shooting 73 percent from the field for Chaminade College Preparatory School. He led his team to a 27-1 record in his senior year and concluded his career with 2,634 points.
In addition to being a fantastic basketball player, Beal is also a model student. He has a 91.7 average in the classroom and does plenty of volunteer work when he’s not studying or playing.
“This was a year full of outstanding candidates for Gatorade Player of the Year, so Bradley Beal winning says a lot about how perfectly he exemplifies everything the award is about,” said ESPN’s national director of recruiting for basketball, Paul Biancardi, in an official release. “As a player, he’s one of the best shooters in all of high school basketball, and beyond that, he’s improved his game so he can use dribble-penetration to shake defenders, he’s rebounding at a high margin, his passing is improved and, as a result, he’s become one of the best all-around guards in the country. When you look at his makeup, he has a unique ability to help his team win. There’s not a greater complement than that.”
Beal, who won the Gatorade Player of the Year award for the state of Missouri in 2009-10 and 2010-11, is the first Florida commitment to earn the national honor.
Photo Credit: Wiley Price/The St. Louis American
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Suck it Austin Rivers.
Wow! Sounds like a great addition to the team… Was unaware he is such a good student…
Good student, good citizen, good player. Just the kind of kid Billy loves to coach. I bet he isn’t a one and done either. How interesting it would be to defend Walker/Boynton/Beal/Rosario all on the floor at the same time with Young to bang inside!
Gonna be sick! Hopefully Young can add some depth to his offensive game…
I agree with Mac (in best imitation Sean Connery voice) Suck it Rivers!
Hope Kenny likes riding the bench … wow. jk. I hope Kenny can pick up from this kids shooting stroke, and Beal and can come in and help the Gators get back to the Final Four.
Donovan working his magic again to get this stud! Can’t wait for B-ball season next year!
Way to go Brad! I can’t wait to see you in Orange & Blue!
Can we please, PLEASE get an OOC game against Duke before either Beal or Rivers goes pro! I want Beal to have his way with Rivers on the college court similar to his performance against Rivers in the McDonald’s game. I honestly think we got the better of the two. Congrats Beal!
I’ve never seen Beal play, but, Rivers is an elite talent. Be careful what you ask for. Also,the talent level in Florida, is a bit better than Missouri.
No, he is the real deal. He took Rivers to the cleaners in the McDonald’s game. I would love to have both of them as was the original plan, but of the 2, I think I would rather have Beal more than Rivers. While sons of coaches and athletes tend to flourish under billy, Austin Rivers seems to have a large sense of entitlement (just my perception), Beal seems to make everyone around him better.
And how do you shoot 73% from the field for an entire season, I didn’t realize that stat until this article..
Holy crap you people are freakin morons!!! G8trpls if you havent heard/seen Beal, recruitniks have been comparing the two forever since they are easily the best shooting guards in the country. And Florida basketball isnt like Florida football, so Missouri isnt too far behind if at all. Austin is more DWade where Beal is more like Deron Williams on the drive but a shoots a much higher percentage, 50% on threes. Austin blows past Everyone on the drive like he did against Beal in the Mcdonalds game a couple times. Bottom line, they WILL BOTH BE NBA first rounders. Gators would be lucky to have him for two years, but i doubt it.
32 ppg 5 reb & only 2 ast a game, looks like he doesn’t like to pass the ball much to me. I don’t know, I’m just sayin’
He is a 2 guard not a point guard, so that stat doesn’t concern me, and when you shoot 73% from the field, how often do you really expect him to need to pass?
Also what’s being missed is do anyone of us know what kind of offense his high school team was running? He obviously had a green light, but was smart enough to take the shots he knew he’d make (as evidenced by the 73% FG shooting). Assist have as much to do with the players around you moving to spots they can credit the passer with an assist as the passer finding them in those spots.
If Joahkim Noah is always hanging out around the 3 point arc … he’s not going to get you much assists. But if he’s screening from the high post, well then there he well net you a ton of assists as long as you can find him on the roll (and the defense is giving that to you).
Besides when was the last time this time really had a lock down shooter? I can think of Humphery, but since the 04’s left … no one comes to mind.
As I recall in an interview a while back, one of the things that really excited him about coming to Florida was that Billy’s pick and roll offense was very similar to what he played in high school and he felt he would be an early contributor. Rosario is also an outside gun who will be available next season and is another sharp-shooter.
Calathes was an awfully good shooter from range as well..
Thanks, although I do disagree about Calathes, and I may be biased since I didn’t feel like he totally bought into the team and Billy’s gameplan, but I will never look back and say, ” oh that Calathes was a terrific player who could really shoot the lights out.”
I can look back and say that about Lee Humphrey though. Man he could kill teams just by draining timely three pointers to kill any thoughts of a come back.
Zooker, your comment makes you look like an idiot.
Let’s refrain from the name-calling and stuff here. You’re all better than that.
That being said…Beal is a SG and, in high school, your team’s best player usually has most of the points and less assists.
Marc, you made the 1st comment on this article and that’s all I need to know about you…
Cue Annoying stepped on cat scream.
You do have to be a bit out of touch to bring up the basketball level in the states of Florida and Missouri. These kids have been playing AAU, Elite 24, and USA Select games for years. Coaches have not just seen the two of them play against elite competition tens of times; they have seen the two of them matched up against each other more than a half dozen times. I mean, I’ve seen them matched up against each other three times and I don’t leave my couch.
I’ve been predicting Beal overtaking Rivers as the #1 SG for almost a year now, and it’s finally come to fruition. Austin is a dazzling offensive player; he can be a machine on offense. When I see his moves, however, the word that keeps coming to mind is “nifty.” He’s got a killer cross-over, and he’s great at using the basket to shield off defenders, but he’s not going to go through anyone. He’s just not as strong as Beal is. In the college game, Beal is the one much more likely to go to the hoop and get fouled. Beal is the better pure shooter. Austin is great, too, but is a little more streaky.
If you throw defense in the mix, it’s a no-brainer. Beal has the makings of a lock-down Joe Dumars-type defender and we see him regularly block guys out of nowhere on the break – a la LeBron or Tayshawn Prince. He blocked a guy five inches taller than him in the Mcdonald’s AA game. Rivers can play a bit of “Matador defense” at times; he gambles too much on steals, and he can be overpowered.
Let the Beal revolution commence!