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Florida freshman guard Beal to enter NBA draft

6-foot-5 Beal projected to be top five pick

Author: By SportsDirect
Published On: Apr 13 2012 04:53:14 PM CDT
basketball

After agonizing over his decision, Florida freshman guard Bradley Beal has decided to enter the NBA draft.

"Making this decision was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life," Beal told GatorNation on Friday. "It was hard to just tell coach (Billy Donovan) in the face that I was going to enter the draft. Just the feeling, like the emotion that I had, it was worse than losing to Louisville.

"This place is great. I loved this year, I had a great year here and my teammates were great, coaches were great. Just the school in general is just great. ... I'm real sad that I have to give it up for something else, but I believe that there's bigger things that I have to accomplish in my life."

The 6-foot-5 Beal, who is projected to be a top five pick, averaged 14.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists for Florida.