Patrick Beverley is hardly blazing a trail to Europe for money before going through the NBA draft in June.
If Beverley had a choice, he would be playing at Arkansas this season, trying to get the Razorbacks to the NCAA tournament again.
But Beverley was dismissed from the Arkansas basketball team for this season. The school never officially said why, although multiple sources said it had to do with academics. So, faced with the options of staying out of school for a year before returning as a junior if he could at Arkansas or somewhere else, or trying to earn money, Beverley chose the latter.
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Patrick Beverley was dismissed from Arkansas' basketball team for unspecified reasons.
Beverley signed a one-year contract that was "just over six figures'' with Ukrainian team BC Dnipro, according to his agent, Bernie Lee. Lee said the contract has no buyout and Beverley is free to leave after the season without penalty. He will automatically be entered into the June 2009 NBA draft.
Professionally, Beverley's choices were to seek a European deal or go to the NBA's Developmental League. The D-League was the original plan when Beverley first talked with Lee in August after the Hogs' leading returning scorer (12.1 points a game) was jettisoned after two seasons in Fayetteville.
The D-League model was enticing because of the way in which former Iowa State guard Mike Taylor used it to get drafted. Taylor was dismissed from Iowa State in July 2007 and played in the D-League last season. He became the first D-League player to go to the Orlando pre-draft camp, in late May, and then was selected in the second round in June by Portland (55th pick) and ultimately traded to the L.A. Clippers. Taylor scored 20 points in 19 minutes in his first preseason game against the Lakers last week.
But just recently an opportunity arose for Beverley to work with Bob Donewald, the former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant who is coaching the Dnipro team in Ukraine. Donewald, whose father was a longtime college coach, can help Beverley learn the NBA game quickly, according to Lee.
"Patrick has the raw ability and this gives him a chance to work with an NBA coach,'' Lee said. "The financial aspect comes into play with going to Europe. It's definitely uncharted territory.''
But Lee agreed Beverley isn't creating a trend here. High school senior Brandon Jennings, who signed with Arizona but wasn't eligible earlier in the summer, chose to play professionally in Rome while waiting to be eligible for the June draft instead of sitting out at Arizona or attempting to play in the D-League. If anyone is creating a trend, it's more likely Jennings than Beverley. Beverley was already an established college player who would have much rather stayed home and created even more of a name for himself prior to the NBA draft.
The trend, if one does exist, is for an ineligible American college player to turn to Europe to pass the time until the NBA draft.
Final nugget
• Gonzaga coach Mark Few said Austin Daye probably won't participate in Friday night's Midnight Madness activities since he was just cleared to play this week after taking most of the summer off to let a knee injury heal. Center Josh Heytvelt has been cleared from a foot injury but he's not 100 percent yet. Few expects both to participate in drills and workouts Saturday morning.
Andy Katz
