Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Bradley Beal has the distinction of being one of just two "one-and-done" players in University of Florida basketball history. To this day, he still harbors regret for missing out on a second act with the Gators, but anyone who's followed the career path — and contract history — of the Washington Wizards' two-time all-star shooting guard knows things have turned out just fine since he left UF after a first-team All-Southeastern Conference season that ended one devastatingly disappointing game shy of a Final Four. 

Beal, though, made some memories and lasting relationships during his time as a Gator. Now, he's giving back. 

"I want to leave a legacy," Beal said. 

What he did on the floor during the 2011-12 season checked that basketball box, but Beal stepped up on the donation front earlier this year with a gift to Gator Boosters that will put his name some place other than the record book. The corner of the weight room that now houses food and nutrition will be christened the Bradley Beal Fuel Bar in time for 2020-21 athletic season. 

With "Real Deal Beal" in the donor fold, the Gators will now have current players from the NBA, the NFL (Indianapolis tight end Trey Burton) and MLB (Atlanta pitcher Darren O'Day) all with named space in UF athletic facilities.  "Bradley has been a proud Gator for many years now and is someone we can count on to show up and support our men's basketball team whenever he has the opportunity," Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said. "We're incredibly grateful for his willingness to also support our basketball programs financially with this enhancement to their practice facility, and are proud of the examples set by former student athletes who give back to the program."

Beal was having a career season when the NBA shut down in March, with his 30.5 points per game second only to Houston's James Harden. A month earlier, Beal returned to Gainesville and joined a bevy of Gator basketball alums for the dedication of "Billy Donovan Court," a weekend that honored the former UF coach. 
 

"Oh man, it was great to see how many people he impacted, how many lives he'd changed, from us being student-athletes to becoming men. That always was his goal for us, and it was special to be able to come back and pay homage to that," Beal said. "Brought back a lot of memories, too." 

Like the time on his official recruiting visit when Donovan was unexpectedly called to UF athletic director Jeremy Foley's office for a meeting. Donovan took Beal, the St. Louis product on his way to Gatorade National Player of the Year honors, with him to the stadium, trotted him up to the football office and left the five-star prospect with Urban Meyer for what turned out to be nearly two hours. 

Once Meyer knew he had a captive audience in Beal, whose father and four brothers all played college football, the two dove into film study. 

"Everything. Offense, defense, special teams — he loved special teams," said Beal, a wide receiver in his youth football days. "We seriously spent the majority of our time watching how they blocked field goals, how they blocked punts and the different ways they set up returning kicks. It was crazy. He could tell how much I loved football and understood I was engaged in that life." 

Meyer had an idea. 

When Donovan returned, Meyer pitched the notion of Beal playing both sports for the Gators.

"We'll limit him to out-routes, go routes, mostly sideline passes," Meyer promised. "He'd be great on fades, too."

Donovan looked at Meyer like he was out of his mind. Landing Beal, the nation's No. 4 overall prospect who was down to Florida, Kansas and Duke, would be arguably the biggest recruiting win for the Gators since Mike Miller. 

"Sounds great, Coach," he said. "But not this kid." 

So Beal played basketball for the Gators and was sensational in leading the team in scoring, and over the final six weeks of the season embraced Donovan's daily challenges to expect more of himself, to take additional ownership, and — despite being the youngest player on the team — get out of his comfort zone and be a leader.  "For me, that was hard to do. It was tough to step on toes and be vocal because as an underclassmen, a freshman, you just think there's a hierarchy," Beal said. "With Coach D, it was almost the opposite. He put a lot of responsibility on me. It became a year of a lot of adversity because I realized I wasn't perfect. In high school, I was the best player everywhere I went, but this was a big adjustment. It made me grow as a man." 

Did some pretty good things for his basketball, too. Especially late. 

The Gators finished the '11-12 regular season with a 22-6 record, but went on a postseason run behind Beal, who averaged 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 34.6 minutes, while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 43 from the 3-point line. UF, a No. 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, reached the Elite Eight, where it led fourth-seeded Louisville by 11 with less than eight minutes left, but scored just three points the rest of the way to fall 72-68. 

At the post-game podium, the first question put to the crestfallen Beal, his eyes still glistening with tears, was whether he'd return for his sophomore season. 

Over the course of the next few weeks, Beal struggled mightily with that decision until Donovan, who had played it neutral along the way, told his franchise player that the were circumstances too good to pass up. 

Years later, he still gets asked the question: What if he'd returned? His answer is always the same. 

"We would've won the national championship," Beal said. 

On his 19th birthday, the Wizards made Beal the third overall pick in the 2012 draft. He was an all-star in both 2018 and '19 — and led the league in minutes last season at 36.9 per — then last October signed a two-year, $72 million contract extension that ties him to the franchise through the 2023 season after which Beal will be just 29 years old and still very much in his prime. 

Should he opt to re-sign with Washington in '23, his 10 years of loyalty to the same franchise would make him eligible for a record-setting five-year, $266 million deal.  The Gators helped get him there, but the groundwork was laid by his parents, Bobby and Besta Beal. 

Fuel the body. 

"That was the quote my mom used to always say when I was young and skinny and eating on my own time," Beal said. "She was a coach, a PE teacher, and she'd tell me, 'You have to fuel the body!' I really made an effort to put the right things in my system and once I got to the league I understood the importance of it all even more." 

Now Beal, engaged to his fiancé, Kamiah Adams, and the father of two young sons, will send that message to future Gators who train in the UF basketball facility. In time, Beal intends to do even more. 

He's leaving a legacy.