some excerpts...
When Michael Beasley was in the eighth grade and training here at The Basketball Academy, we knew he would be a pro. As we train players at every level of the game, we are very careful with those kinds of predictions. Nothing can do more damage to a young player's career than to be labeled as a "sure pro" at an early age.
We thought Renaldo Balkman could be a pro, and we thought Taurean Green probably would be. But, we absolutely, positively knew that not only would Michael Beasley be a pro, but that he would be a Top 5 pick in the NBA draft five years later. We also knew that he would probably only be with us for one year, and that he probably would be a lot of places for only one year.
When we first saw Michael Beasley loping down the court, he gave you the impression of that playful Labrador puppy, skittering across the kitchen floor and crashing into the cabinets. Between the circles or without the ball, Beasley was just another big goofy kid.
Once he got into the scoring area, even without the ball, you knew right away that this kid was something special by the way he drifted to an open area to allow himself to catch the pass, how he anticipated where the ball would come off the rim to get an offensive rebound, and the perfect timing of his movements. While he was still awkward and growing into his body, he was clearly playing a different game than everyone else.
At times, he got bored playing against high school players – even as an eighth grader. Just for fun, we put him in a scrimmage against a junior college team; the Beezer went for 20 and 12.
