Beal Goes Third to Washington

The Washington Wizards selected former Florida guard Bradley Beal with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday. Beal became the highest-drafted Florida player since Al Horford also went third to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2007 NBA Draft. He became the 11th Florida player drafted in the first round and seventh drafted in the top ten.

“I know this is a dream come true for Brad,” Florida head coach Billy Donovan said of Brad Beal. “This is a great accomplishment, and I’m very proud of Brad and excited for him, as are his family and everyone here at Florida. He has an outstanding opportunity in front of him, and the Wizards have added a great player and person to their team.”

Beal, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Thursday, became the ninth first round pick that Donovan has coached at Florida. He started all 37 games at Florida during his freshman year.

Beal averaged 14.8 points per game and led all power-conference guards with 6.7 rebounds per game. Beal was named to the All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman teams.

In the postseason, Beal averaged 16.5 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Florida has had at east one player drafted in eight of the past ten years and has 13 drafted players since taking the job in Gainesville. Beal is the first Florida player ever selected by the Washington Wizards.