Bradley Beal Donates to Gators Facilities: 'I Want to Leave a Legacy'
Washington Wizards and former Florida Gators shooting guard Bradley Beal has "committed to a major gift to benefit Florida's men's basketball program," the university announced in a statement on Wednesday.
Beal, 26, will help fund improvements to Florida's basketball facilities through a booster club gift and will have his name enshrined at the Bradley Beal Fuel Bar in the weight room. Beal is the third former UF student-athlete to make a donation and put their names up in the facilities recently, following NFL tight end Trey Burton and MLB pitcher Darren O'Day.
The two-time NBA All-Star and 2012 First Team All-SEC selection shared the motivation behind putting his name on the nutrition station in UF's release.
"I want to leave a legacy," said Beal. "[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."
Beal went on to be selected with the third overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Washington after a one-and-done career year at Florida, where he averaged 14.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game in 37 contests. Beal has consistently improved throughout his eight-year NBA career and is a pivotal piece for the Wizards, having averaged 30.5 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game before the novel coronavirus suspended the 2019 NBA season.
Even though Beal wasn't at Florida for long, he is grateful for the opportunities that UF provided him as he launched his basketball career. During the NBA All-Star break this year, in which Beal was arguably snubbed, he joined several other alumni in attending the renaming of Florida's basketball court in honor of former head coach Billy Donovan, on February 16th.
"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," said Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin. "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."
