Here's the deal: Beal does more than score
By Jon Mahoney
ESPN RISE Magazine
Updated: November 10, 2009
This story appeared in the St. Louis edition of the November ESPN RISE Magazine.
The Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) boys' hoop team trailed rival Christian Brothers College High by three points with just seconds to go in the third-place game of last year's Pattonville Tournament. The Red Devils had clawed their way back to get to that point, yet they still needed a last-second miracle to send the game into overtime.
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ESPN RISE Magazine
When the game's on the line, 6-4, 185-pound junior combo guard Brad Beal knows how to deliver.
John FedeleESPN RISE Magazine
The ball is in Brad Beal's court now. "I know that I have to carry the team. And I'm up to the challenge."
As daunting as the situation appeared, Chaminade still had a chance thanks to the presence of Brad Beal. A sophomore at the time, Beal was the reason the Red Devils were still in the game at all. Chaminade trailed by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter, but Beal had gone off to cut a huge chunk out of the deficit.
And now, with the game on the line, Chaminade coach Kelvin Lee knew his super soph would come through. So when Beal launched a last-second shot from halfcourt with the clock winding down, Lee confidently turned to his bench and predicted the shot would go in. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the ball dropped through the cylinder for the game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.
"He's money in the bank in crunch time," Lee says.
Chaminade then dominated CBC in the extra session en route to a 92-85 victory. Beal finished with a tournament-record 52 points, including an incredible 26 in the fourth, and he added six rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks.
"He's just so talented that he was able to do it against us with people all over him," says CBC head coach Bob McCormack. "And then he threw in a halfcourt shot."
In the past 12 months, Beal has proven himself a big-game performer time and time again. When it's all on the line, the 6-foot-4, 185-pound junior combo guard knows how to deliver.
Rated the nation's No. 15 recruit in the ESPNU Super 60, Beal led Chaminade to the Missouri Class 5 state title last season and then helped Team USA win gold at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship this past summer. He has some of college basketball's top programs knocking down his door as a result, including Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Florida, Duke and Ohio State.
His ability to score at will is one thing, but Beal is so hotly recruited because of his all-around game. He's an underrated passer who can play both guard spots, knock it down from long range and also defend. Add in his fearlessness at crunch time, and you can see why college coaches are battling to get him on their campus.
