Two years ago, Florida guard Kenny Boynton went through it. He shot 28.6 percent from three as a freshman and had just as many turnovers as assists.
During his first year at Providence in 1983-84, so did UF coach Billy Donovan. He hit just 36.8 percent of his shots as a freshman guard.
Now, it is Brad Beal’s turn.
“His confidence is probably down right now,” Boynton said. “I know my freshman year my confidence was down, because in high school you shot so well and averaged so many points that it’s just different.”
As perhaps the most highly-touted guard recruit Florida has ever landed, the 6-foot-3, 207 pound Beal has dealt with high expectations all season long.
Through his first two months in a Gators uniform, Beal rose to his lofty billing by averaging 15.1 points per game on 45-percent shooting. His three Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors are the most of any league rookie.
But when it came time for his actual in-conference debut Saturday at Tennessee, Beal landed with a dud.
He accounted for five of Florida’s 15 turnovers in a 67-56 loss, scored nine points and was 4 for 12 from the field, including 1 of 5 on 3-pointers.
“He’s a freshman. He’s going to have ups and downs,” Donovan said. “He’s going to have growing pains. It’s part of the growth and the development process for him.”
Since grabbing his last SEC honor following a 21-point performance against Florida State, Beal’s game has spiraled downward in Florida’s past four contests. UF lost two of those games — at Rutgers and at Tennessee.
During his slump, Beal has hit just 29.8 percent of 47 shots. He has also seen his decision making slip with 14 turnovers to nine assists.
“If there’s one thing that I’d like to see him clean up — he was probably the one guy — the turnovers is something again that he’s got to get better at,” Donovan said.
Donovan has referred to Beal as the most advanced freshman he has ever been around and has trusted the young guard with a large workload early this season.
While Beal is now leading Florida in turnovers with an average of 2.6 per game, he is also being called on to play the most minutes on the team and help carry the rebounding burden. His 33.9 minutes per game are the second highest in the SEC and he leads the Gators in defensive rebounds with 76 — nine more than starting center Patric Young.
“He’s got to go through it,” Donovan said. “He’s got to learn. As good and as talented as he is, he’s going to have those kind of ups and downs.”
Though Beal has hit just 31.4 percent of his threes, the lowest average of any Gator with more than one attempt, Boynton said he believes it is a matter of time before Beal finally settles in at the college level.
“(I tell him to) keep his head on,” Boynton said. “There’s gonna come a game, I can’t tell you which one, but there’s gonna come a game where Brad’s gonna shoot it well, and I just think it’s just confidence with him.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
