The 2012 NBA Draft has been expected to be pretty solid toward the top for the past few seasons, but a wrench could have been put in those plans if the top youngsters decided to stay in school. It seems the majority of the underclassmen will make the jump to the pros this summer, though -- or at least those that are presumed to be picked toward the top of the draft.
Bradley Beal To Enter 2012 NBA Draft, Ending Florida Gators Career
The latest player to make plans to turn professional is Florida Gators freshman Bradley Beal, according to Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports. The 6'3 guard averaged 14.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists this past season while helping Florida to the NCAA Tournament.
The talented freshman didn’t have the greatest experience at his lone March Madness outing, but SB Nation’s Mike Prada believes that will only help make him a better prospect at the next level.
For college fans, the display ruined the perfect narrative of the talented freshman who seized control of a veteran team when it needed that most. For NBA fans like myself, though, the exchange was important for another reason. Failure can lead to tremendous growth, especially for an 18-year-old kid. Failure, in this case, will cause said growth, because so much was already needed to even get Beal to this point.
It’ll be interesting to see if NBA scouts saw it the same way Prada did. Our own Tom Ziller ran down some of the possible criticisms of Beal in a recent mock draft.
For more on the Gators, be sure to visit Alligator Army.
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