How hard does a Division 1 college coach recruit a 6’6″ shooting guard? “We were there at twelve midnight on the first day of recruiting at the Waffle House on 210 in St. Augustine (Florida),” said the University of North Florida’s head coach Matthew Driscoll. “We brought a whole bunch of illustrations to show him how guys like Stephen Curry and Gordon Hayward could do a lot of different things at a smaller school. They were able to stay close to home, get to the NBA, and take their respective program to another level,” said Driscoll. The player Driscoll and his staff were recruiting so hard was Beau Beech from Ponte Vedra, Florida.
The decision to recruit Beech so hard paid off for Driscoll and the Ospreys, as Beech went on to have an outstanding career at North Florida. His career was so good that he signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets this summer, after playing in the Las Vegas Summer League with Brooklyn.
“I always thought getting to the NBA was a possibility for me, ever since I was in college,” said Beech. A four-year player out of North Florida, Beech was one of the best mid-major players in the country last season. He averaged 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and two assists per game last year. Beech was the star player on the Ospreys, who finished the season with the best record in the Atlantic Sun Conference, at 22-12. After an outstanding regular season the Ospreys were shocked in the Atlantic Sun Tournament, where they fell to Florida Gulf Coast in the Semifinals 89-56. FGCU went on to win the entire tournament, earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. While the outcome was not what Beech, Driscoll, and the rest of the Ospreys were aiming for, North Florida was in their Golden Age of basketball.
In the 2014-2015 season, Beech’s junior year, the Ospreys took the next step as a Division 1 basketball program, with Beech being the leader of the group. The Ospreys won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship once again, and for the first time ever, made the NCAA Tournament. The Ospreys put up an extremely tough fight, but ultimately fell to Robert Morris 81-77 in a highly competitive contest. Beau Beech was at the forefront of North Florida’s effort, as he scored 28 points in the contest.
Beech signed to play at North Florida as a 6’6″ shooting guard, but that quickly changed when something rare happened, especially for someone who already was a very healthy 6’6″. “I never stopped growing”, said Beech. Before he even stepped on the court at North Florida, he had grown to 6’7″. “By my sophomore year I grew to 6’8, and then my senior year I got to 6’9″‘, Beech exclaimed. This became a major factor into Beech being in the position in which he is in today. “He’s got the skills and ability of a guard but the size of a forward, said Driscoll. “Obviously the girth isn’t there yet but his toughness and his ability to understand leverage and things like that make his transition to the NBA easier.” Beech entered college as a 6’6″ shooting guard, but now, as he attempts to make the Brooklyn Nets NBA roster, he is being looked at as a 6’9″ power forward.
“I think it is a blessing in disguise for Beau,” said basketball trainer Koran Godwin. Godwin and Beech met in 2006 and have been in contact with each other since. “I stopped coaching at the University of North Florida and went down to the high school level and coached at Ponte Vedra. Beau’s father was actually the head coach there. Beau and I really, really hit it off. When he was in middle school we used to do some stuff after practice, and things of that nature.” Godwin is a North Florida legend himself, playing basketball at the school from 1999-2002. He is 3rd on the all-time scorers list at North Florida with 1,513 career points. In 2012, Godwin was inducted into the North Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. He now is a skills trainer that has worked with high school, college, and NBA talent.
Godwin and Beech began working with each other again this summer when they met up in Las Vegas. “Just some of the things that Brooklyn is looking for him to do,” said Godwin on what him and Beech were working with each other on. As Brooklyn sees Beech as a stretch four type player, Godwin and Beech attacked that area of his skill set. “His transition to become a stretch four. Screening angles, how to screen, how to get out of the screen for the pick and pop,” were areas of Beech’s game that Godwin worked with him on. “It’s just about getting used to that new position. The transition from the two to the four as you can imagine is not easy but I think he’s going to be able to do it,” Godwin said. “That four position is where I think he is going to create a niche for himself.”
Beech has not only been working with Godwin this offseason. This has been an extremely busy summer for Beech, as he is determined to be on the Brooklyn Nets come October 26th, when they open up the regular season against the Boston Celtics.
“I graduated college on April 29th and then on May 1st, two days later, I was on a flight to Dallas, Texas,” said Beech. “For four months I was in Dallas training with my agency because my dad could only do so much. He never had a pro come through his system. I needed that change, I needed to push myself and be around better basketball players. I needed a change where my life was completely devoted to basketball. I worked out with A.W. Canada, he’s from Detroit.” He went to Pershing High School(Detroit, Michigan) where he used to coach at.
“He comes to Dallas every summer and works out guys from our agency. There were 10 of us this summer: Quincy Acy (Dallas Mavericks), Dewayne Dedmonn (San Antonio Spurs), Cory Jefferson (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kay Felder (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jalen Reynolds, Keith Benson, Jaron Johnson, and Cameron Clark. All of us were there this summer working out. To be around nine other pros really expanded my game. To learn from those guys for four months really, really helped me out a lot. It was great going there. I learned a lot and think I got a lot better too. I pushed myself to a whole new level I had never been to before.” They worked out extensively everyday, working on basketball skills for about two hours in the morning, following that up with an hour and a half lift, and then later at night, back on the court for another hour or so.
Beech played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this summer as well. The tournament was filled with players currently signed to deals with NBA teams, including Bryn Forbes (San Antonio Spurs), Abdel Nader (Indiana Pacers), Trey Freeman (Detroit Pistons), Elgin Cook (Golden State Warriors), and Isaiah Cousins (Sacramento Kings). Beech’s team included Tyler Harris, the brother of Detroit Pistons’ power forward, Tobias Harris, Kyle Collinsworth, who played Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks, and Forbes. His best game came in his team’s final contest, in which he posted 11 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes. He went 3-7 from the three-point line in the game.
On top of that, Beech has recently joined the Ospreys for their annual boot camp, which begins at 6 AM, according to Driscoll. Following boot camp Beech and Driscoll grab a bite to eat. After, it’s back to working out. Much like what Beach was doing with Godwin, he is doing with Driscoll, working on his pick and pop game. “We have a great relationship,” said Driscoll.
“His toughness and the way he manages his mind it’s the best I’ve ever coached,” said Driscoll.
While Beech did all of this, he played in the NBA Summer League with the Brooklyn Nets. “I took a lot away from Summer League. Learning from Rondae Hollis Jefferson, Chris McCullough, and Sean Kilpatrick, learning from those guys, those were the veterans. You’re picking their brain as much as you can. You also get to see how hard guys in their position work. The dedication they have, they are pros pros. They handle their business,” said Beech.
Prior to the NBA Draft, Beech worked out with six teams: the Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets.
When the Nets were interested in bringing in Beech on a training camp deal, he was extremely happy. “After Summer League I guessed they liked me enough to want me to be a training camp invite, and I was like, heck yeah, sounds good to me. I couldn’t turn that down.”
“Having this opportunity is unbelievable. I’m blessed. I’m lucky. I couldn’t be happier with the situation I’m in. To get a chance to compete for a roster spot for a NBA team, I’ll take that any day of the week,” Beech said.
Beech is excited to go to training camp and be able to learn from players such as Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin. He understands and appreciates the hard that it has taken from him and will take from him to get to where he is today.
While his deal is not guaranteed, Beech stills feels blessed with the opportunity he has earned.
Putting ink on it! @beaubeech02 @baebae32 @aaronbodager12 @UNFBBALL @Brandon_Grier @MSilvermannn pic.twitter.com/qZLMpsrmGA
— joanne beech (@joannebeech) July 25, 2016
“Obviously, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be on a guaranteed contract and not have to be in the position I am in, but the position I’m in is so great at the same time. It’s really a win-win if you ask me. It’s an opportunity for me to learn so much.”
The people who have worked with Beech throughout his life understand the position he is in, and they believe he will succeed.
“The sky’s the limit for Beau,” Godwin said. He continued, “Beau and I talked about it, the reason why he is in demand is because he’s 6’9″ and shoots the lights out. He just has to keep on shooting that three and stretch that defense. He’ll be fine.” Coach Driscoll knew early on that Beech had the potential to get to the NBA. “Early in his career, as we talked as a staff, I tell you exactly what I told those guys. He has a chance because of his size and his ability to make threes. Early sophomore year we felt like if he kept developing the way he was then he would have legitimate chance(to get to the NBA).”
BEECH @BrooklynNets @NetsDaily @TheBKGame pic.twitter.com/4XNJQxxWNh
— Oruny (@OrunyChoi) July 9, 2016
Beech himself loves the opportunity he has, and never stopped working in order to achieve it. “I wanted to go play college basketball on a full ride so my parents didn’t have to pay for college. I was dead set on that from at least 6th or 7th grade on,” said Beech. The work didn’t stop when Beech committed to Driscoll and North Florida. “He wasn’t gonna miss a workout. He wasn’t going to miss a shooting session. He wasn’t gonna miss a video session. He never did any of that stuff because he knew what he wanted to do and he knew in order to be a professional you have to be willing to put in the time even when your body is sore, when your body is tired, it doesn’t matter,” Driscoll said. The work Beech has put in has him in the position to succeed in the NBA.
“My skillset fits well into the NBA and how it is moving forward,” Beech said. What once seemed like a longshot is now a very real possibility. A 6’9″ stretch four, Beech is in demand in a NBA that has changed vastly over the last few seasons. He shot 42.4% from the three-point line in his final season at North Florida, a marksmen percentage. As Driscoll and Godwin exclaimed, Beech’s size and shooting makes him a valuable asset to a NBA team. Now more than ever shooting is wanted at the power forward position. Teams play small ball now more than ever, which includes a stretch four at power forward. That is where Beech fits in the NBA.
“I want to play basketball as long as I can. I would love for it to be in the NBA, I think I can do that and I don’t think it is a long shot at all. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m going to get there. I want to be in the NBA as long as I can,” said Beech.
Beech is knocking on the door of reaching his goal of getting to the NBA. After a solid Summer League with Brooklyn, he now has the opportunity to make their final roster in training camp. Beech knows he belongs there, because he’s worked too hard not to be in the NBA.
