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Florida gets basketball commitment from rising sophomore

From wire reports
Originally published 09:41 a.m., July 7, 2008
Updated 09:41 a.m., July 7, 2008

It may by 2008, but Florida couldn't wait to get a pledge from the top basketball player in its state for the Class of 2011.

Winter Park High School guard Austin Rivers, the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, committed last week to Florida. He will be a sophomore in the fall.

The 6-foot-3 Rivers averaged 14 points, four rebounds and three assists per game, leading Winter Park to a 28-2 record during his freshman season. Floridahoops.com rates Rivers as the top state prospect in the Class of 2011.

"He just felt really comfortable with the coaching staff, the facilities, the players," Winter Parch coach David Bailey told The Gainesville Sun. "He liked that it was close to home, close to family."

The commitment may create a stir in the college coaching community because it came less than two weeks after a National Association of Basketball Coaches recommendation asking coaches not to accept verbal pledges from players before their junior seasons in high school.

Last year, USC coach Tim Floyd accepted a verbal pledge from eighth-grader Ryan Boatright. Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie has received verbal commitments from both an eighth-grader (guard Michael Avery) and ninth-grader (forward Vinny Zollo) in his early tenure in Lexington.

"The academic and athletic profiles of these younger students are still very much works in progress," NABC president and Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said in the letter of recommendation. "Coaches and athletes need to respect the process and allow development to occur in both areas prior to making commitments."

Due to NCAA rules, Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan can not comment specifically about the Rivers commitment. When asked last year about coaches accepting commitments from eighth- and ninth-graders, Donovan said, "It should be a family decision. It should be a decision that's left up to players and their families."

Donovan has a long-standing relationship with Doc Rivers and recruited Rivers' older brother, Jeremiah, who recently transferred to Indiana after spending two seasons at Georgetown. Austin Rivers has been attending Florida's basketball camps since he was in seventh grade. His older sister, Callie, is a sophomore-to-be on the Florida volleyball team.

NABC president Jim Haney, when asked about the commitment Thursday, said that the association will probably have to present legislation to the NCAA to prevent coaches from accepting commitments from high-school underclassmen.

Rivers is the fourth verbal commitment that Donovan has accepted as a sophomore, a list that includes Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay and current Florida sophomore guard Nick Calathes.

Rivers played primarily at point guard for Winter Park last season, but Bailey said he's versatile enough to play both the point and off guard spots.

"He's strong," Bailey told The Gainesville Sun. "He's got the quickness to get to the basket and the ability to shoot out to 3-point range. Sometimes when you watch him, you have to remind yourself that he's only 15 years old."

Rivers already has had a busy offseason. Last month, he was just one of two Class of 2011 players invited to the Steve Nash Nike point-guard skills academy. Bailey said Rivers plans to play at the AAU national championships at the Disney Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista later this month.

       36 Comments

Posted by RichRollin on July 7, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

He must wanna lose to coach pearl!!

Posted by givehim6 on July 7, 2008 at 10:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

OK, I guss the trend now in to hang out on the high school parking lots and the back of the middle school gyms like drug dealers and say, hay kid, want to go ta' collage!? sighn up with us, will let ya play for us. hay hay

Posted by bobbarbilly on July 7, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

If he is that good, he might wanna just skip the drag of college on his career and go straight to the NBA. It won't be long until one-and-done will apply to high schoolers and middle schoolers. I think that I saw a Kentucky car down at the day care and a Florida one at the cub scouts meeting.

Posted by marc_ash on July 7, 2008 at 11:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hmmmm. I wonder if Tubby would have made his comments if he was still at UK where he had the program prestige to actually attract a 9th grader. No young man is going to commit to Minn. in Jr. high.

This isn't a big issue. FL's program is strong and recruits will want to play in Gainesville due to recent success. However, UT is a fierce program that is on the rise. Young men that never considered Knoxville are giving look.

Bring in the gators...time to lose another game to the Vols....next.

Posted by alfrizzle097 on July 7, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Tubby wouldn't go that route. He does things the right way. The phrase is used to much, but class act comes to mind.

Just wait a couple of years. He will have Minnesota competing for the weak Big 10. Then again... Ohio State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Purdue, and Minnesota. Suddenly the Big 10 looks decent again, kind of like the SEC. Two good teams on a consistent basis (Florida, Kentucky) and three or four tournament calibur teams underneath that (Vandy, Miss State, Arkansas). The only thing they don't have an answer for is UT's recent success.

Posted by marc_ash on July 7, 2008 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

alfrizzle,

I don't doubt Tubby's class at all. I sat next to him and his wife on a plan ride to Oregon for a nike camp years ago and he was very nice.

I guess the next question to ask is how does signing jr high and high school kids play into the "right" and "wrong" of recruiting? I personally don't have any problem with these students being signed that early. Isn't the point to get into college to secure a future?

I suppose I have the same mentality as with pro sports. Young men that want to go directly into the NBA is like someone wanting to take a job. I know many young people that take jobs before finishing college. Is it the best idea? Probably not, but it is a job opportunity and should be open to the individual IMO....just like the 8th grade commit.

Posted by bobbarbilly on July 7, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Scholarships at Florida surely include Gerber discounts.

Posted by rckymtngator on July 7, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

All the great ones want to go to Gainesville, America's new "Titletown".

Posted by rusty_shackleford on July 7, 2008 at 1:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This the coaches would be interested in talking about a donation to a sperm bank? Class of 2026! hahahaha

Posted by 99gator on July 7, 2008 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

all

1. florida does not make a habit of this.

2. as is mentioned in the article.....this is doc rivers' kid. i think the decision was an informed decision not based on something silly.

Posted by b_neas on July 7, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe a big time commit or, maybe not. Not sure how highly touted his brother was but he turned out to be very average for the Hoyas, and will not be any better for the Hoosiers. Maybe the little brother is bettr, way to early to tell.

Posted by bobbarbilly on July 7, 2008 at 2:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This could be just an example of how tight that the recruiting wars are becoming. Wrap 'um up early...no pun intended....

Posted by cdldoc on July 7, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Man, does Pearl have these SEC running scared! I love it.

Posted by golfballs03 on July 7, 2008 at 2:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

who cares. 15 years old? give me a break

Posted by pdhuff on July 7, 2008 at 3:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I remember when Dupree and TDTN were committed.

Posted by General_Watermelon on July 7, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

pd - missing links I tell you. Missing links.

Posted by b_neas on July 7, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Billy D is a great recruiter, and solid coach. Not so sure on the developing talent part. His amazing group of players that won him the championships were as good as freshman as when they left. He recruits amazing talented players, especially ones that fit his style of play similar to how Pearl is doing. UT just has to wait on the championships, hopefully in the near future.

Posted by RichRollin on July 7, 2008 at 4:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm sure if Doc's first son had gotten more PT he would not have transferred!! We got Orlando Woolridges son, so we have not lost out at all!! Plus we already have Kenny Hall in 09', plus we are getting plenty LOVE from No.1 PG in 2010, #1 PG and #5 player nationally. Tennessee is gonna be alright.GOVOLS!!!!

Posted by gainesville_vol on July 7, 2008 at 5:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The one thing that everyone is missing is that Florida can not send this kid a letter of intent until the signing period in the fall of 2010. Anyone in the world can make a statement of, "I am committing to the (fill in the school of your choice) to play collegiate sports with them.

There is nothing the school can say positive or negative about this. My 15 year old daughter, who plays a mean french horn, could announce tomorrow that she is committing to UT to play softball even though she has never even played the game at any level, including family reunions.

I put this more into the category of kids wanting attention than schools recruiting.

My opinion!

Posted by BAMABLOWS on July 7, 2008 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

8th grade may be pushing it a little, but if a kid that is a sophomore wants to commit and his dad is doc rivers then i say congrats to billy d on a nice commit

Posted by BAMABLOWS on July 7, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

bneas your right the nat'l title teams at florida were as good as freshman , but how many teams have that much talent as freshman, that team was loaded and i cant believe im admitting it but very fun to watch

Posted by BAMABLOWS on July 7, 2008 at 5:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)

players like noah ,horford,brewer etc were studs and couldnt get much better no matter who was coaching them . prob coulda made the jump to the league outta high school

Posted by BAMABLOWS on July 7, 2008 at 5:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

guys i think the big blue nation is getting a lil worried , billy d has a national power in gville and pearl is building a fine program in knoxville . ky fans may be on the back burner playin 3rd fiddle soon

Posted by pdhuff on July 7, 2008 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

GainesvilleVol- 5:09 - you nailed it. He's just "stylin'".

Posted by DekanGator on July 8, 2008 at 12:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Posted by b_neas on July 7, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Billy D is a great recruiter, and solid coach. Not so sure on the developing talent part

Your Kidding right?

Gators in the NBA now.

Udonis Haslem
Matt Bonner
Jason Williams
Mike Miller
Jokim Noah
Al Hartfort
Taureen Green
Cory Brewer
Marreese Speights
David Lee
Chris Richards
Orien Green (2 years with Billy)

So what I hear you saying is Billy had NO PART in developing any of these players?

Posted by General_Watermelon on July 8, 2008 at 6:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

His daddy is Doc Rivers. He's worth an early look.

Posted by b_neas on July 8, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I can list players too that were highly recruited and played for knucklehead coaches and now in the NBA. I am not saying he can not develope players but most of those kids could have played for anyone and as long as they had exposure could have been drafted and successful NBA players. Billy is a fine all around coach but his developing players ability is not as amazing as his recruiting ability.

Posted by UT_LAW_2011 on July 8, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There was a time when we beat Florida, we'd rush the court. Times have changed.

Under Coach Pearl
5-1 against Florida
2-1 against Memphis
3-3 against Kentucky

It really is amazing to think about what Coach Pearl is going to do with all the talent he has this year.

Congrats to Florida for getting a good new recruit.

You're going to need him.

Posted by wewhite on July 8, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This trend of getting commitments from younger and younger players has got to stop. What's next? Genetic testing? "My boy had the allele to be a power forward, so I signed him with Kentucky." I don't wish any ill will to these kids, but it would be instructional for some of these programs to have most of them not pan out.

Posted by GoVol on July 8, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Rivers has plenty of time to get smarter about the decision...none of this matters until the real signing day.

Who knows maybe Donnovan will be coaching elsewhere by then....especially since he can't make his mind up about where/who he is really loyal to?

Posted by DekanGator on July 9, 2008 at 1:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

b_NEAS
I respect your opinion...but if you took time to go to Rivals.com and see how many of the list were 3 and 4 star recurits, I think you would change your mind. Billy does a great job mostly with Point Guards ...
Also its nice to see billy has 5 Freshman on the SEC Freshman honor Roll list....
If I were a parent of a recurite .. I would look at that first... although you know and I know every kid thinks hes going to the NBA..

Posted by Mr_Brownstone on July 9, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

yeah, but Wade Houston landed Doc's nephew from West Charlotte. Steve Rivers. We are so not impressed.

Posted by huntined on July 9, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

No time to worry about a player that will show up in 2011 !! He is in no way a Hopson. But he is only a sophomore..Just got to remember Fla will get their share of good players. Can't see why this would a big deal except maybe for the Gator fans. If this kid had said he was going to be a VOL we all would be saying way to go Pearl..Long time to 2011. Let's just look forward to the next season..

Posted by volfan5521 on July 10, 2008 at 7:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

mcfemme> Billys a pediphile and Teddy is a gamblin, woman beatin rapist. Go Gators "to the pen"

kindest regards

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