Bradley Beal makes major donation to UF basketball program

Bradley Beal is one just two one-and-done players in school history, but his impact on the Florida basketball program goes beyond his lone season.

The Gator Great and two-time NBA All-Star has committed a major gift to Gator Boosters, funding improvements at UF's basketball practice facility. The corner of the weight room will house the Bradley Beal Fuel Bar for the 2020-21 season, providing athletes with a food and nutrition station.

"I want to leave a legacy," Beal said. "[My mom] 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."

The Washington Wizards drafted Beal third overall after he starred for the Gators in the 2011-12 season, helping the team reach the Elite Eight and becoming the first UF player to earn first-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman honors in the same season. Beal becomes the third former Gator in the pros with named space in Florida's athletic facilities, joining Indianapolis tight end Trey Burton and Atlanta pitcher Darren O'Day.

"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 directors 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."

Now in his ninth year with the Wizards, Beal was averaging 30.5 points per game — second to only Houston's James Harden — when the 2019-20 season was interrupted. Snubbed out of his third-straight All-Star selection in mid-February, Beal attended the dedication of "Billy Donovan Court" instead.

“I would say he’s the best coach I ever played for, for sure,” Beal said of Donovan, who’s in his fifth season with the Oklahoma City Thunder after 19 years at UF. “It was a father-son relationship we had. Everyday talks, constant communication. Even to this day, we stay in constant communication even though he’s on a Western Conference team.

“He lured me in from day one. … We had a relationship from sophomore year all the way up until I came here. It was just unbelievable. He’s the reason I am who I am today.”