American basketball player
Jermaine Darnell Beal (born November 4, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He had a four-year college basketball career with Vanderbilt, where between 2006 and 2010 he became the winningest four-year player in school history and earned first-team All-SEC honors as a senior. He began his professional career in Poland, before having stints in the NBA Development League, Belgium, and Brazil. In 2013, he joined the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia and helped them win a championship in his first season behind his Grand Final MVP performance. After winning Club MVP honors in 2015, Beal helped the Wildcats win another title in 2016. After parting ways with the Wildcats, he won a championship in Belgium, had a short stint with the Brisbane Bullets, then won another championship, this time in Israel. His professional career ended in 2017.
High school career.
Beal was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended DeSoto High School in nearby DeSoto, where he was a two-time All-State honoree and helped the Eagles to a 5-A state title as a freshman and a state runner-up finish as a junior. After earning District 7-5A Sophomore of the Year honors in 2003–04, he went on to average 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds per game as a junior in 2004–05, leading the Eagles to a 37–4 mark and a runner-up finish in the Texas 4A state championship game.
On November 10, 2005, Beal signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for Vanderbilt University.
As a senior in 2005–06, Beal averaged 21.5 points, six assists and five rebounds per game, becoming the school's all-time leading scorer.
College career.
As a freshman at Vanderbilt in 2006–07, Beal finished among the Southeastern Conference's (SEC) freshmen leaders in steals (fourth with 1.06 per game), free throw shooting (fifth at 80.0 percent) and assists (sixth with 1.79). He appeared in 34 games for the Commodores and made two starts, while averaging 3.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game.
As a sophomore in 2007–08, Beal totalled 158 assists, the most ever by a Vanderbilt sophomore. He was also named to the South Padre Invitational All-Tournament team for his play against Utah State and Bradley. In 34 games (33 starts), he averaged 7.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 27.5 minutes per game.
As a junior in 2008–09, Beal was named to the Cancun Challenge All-Tournament team after averaging 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in the final two games. In 31 games (all starts) during the season, he averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.1 minutes per game.
In August 2009, the Commodores travelled to Australia for a five-game tour in which they finished with a record of 3–2. In the final game against the Townsville Crocodiles, Beal scored a tour-high 31 points. His performance against the Crocodiles caught the attention of Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson, Beal's future coach at the Perth Wildcats.
As a senior in 2009–10, Beal earned first-team All-SEC honors. He was also named to the NABC Division I All-District 21 second team, and the USBWA All-District IV team. In 33 games (32 starts), he averaged 14.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals in 32.5 minutes per game, leading the team in scoring and assists, the latter for the third straight season. He finished as the winningest four-year player in school history, to go alongside 1,255 career points.
Professional career.
NBA Summer League (2010).
After going undrafted in the 2010 NBA draft, Beal joined the Miami Heat's Summer League team. In four games for the Heat in Las Vegas, he averaged 5.8 points, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Beal was unable to secure a roster spot with the Heat, so his agent worked out deals abroad.
Trefl Sopot (2010).
Beal signed his first professional contract on August 3, 2010, with Polish team Trefl Sopot. He played in both of Sopot's EuroChallenge games against Dexia Mons-Hainaut, scoring two points on debut before going scoreless with three rebounds and three assists in the next game. In his lone appearance in the Polish League, he recorded four points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. He went 0-of-8 from three-point range over the three contests. He was released by Sopot on October 20.
NBA Development League (2010–2011).
After returning home to Texas, Beal joined the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League in early December via the available player pool. In his debut for Austin on December 5, he played 20 minutes and had three points and three assists. On January 11, 2011, he scored 15 points in a 119–97 win over the Dakota Wizards.
On February 28, 2011, Beal was acquired by the Erie BayHawks in a three-team trade. On March 8, 2011, he scored a career-high 19 points in a 101–92 win over the Springfield Armor. The BayHawks finished the regular season with a 32–18 record and earned the fifth seed in the playoffs, where they lost 2–1 to the Reno Bighorns in the first round. In Erie's 114–111 win in game two, Beal recorded 13 points, five assists, three rebounds and a game-high three steals in 20 minutes off the bench.
In 29 games for the Toros, Beal averaged 6.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game; and in 18 games for the BayHawks, he averaged 9.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
VOO Verviers-Pepinster (2011–2012).
On August 9, 2011, Beal signed a one-year contract with Belgian team VOO Verviers-Pepinster. The team finished the 2011–12 season on the bottom of the league table with a 5–27 record. Beal appeared in 31 games and averaged 11.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
Minas (2012–2013).
On September 21, 2012, after a successful trial period, Beal signed with Brazilian team Minas. He scored a season-best 28 points against Suzano on February 14, 2013. Minas finished the regular season in ninth place with a 16–18 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Beal appeared in 37 games and averaged 16.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
Perth Wildcats (2013–2016).
2013–14 season.
On September 2, 2013, Beal signed with the Perth Wildcats in Australia for the 2013–14 NBL season. He and James Ennis went on form the most potent and entertaining import duo in the league. While Ennis stole the headlines all season, Beal became a revelation himself toward the back-end of the season.
Beal's first three games with the Wildcats saw him make just six shots from his 34 field goal attempts. He found his shot in round three in back-to-back road games, scoring 19 points against the New Zealand Breakers on October 24 to go with 24 points against the Sydney Kings on October 27. On November 1, he hit five three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 21 points in an 87–47 win over the Wollongong Hawks, thus helping the Wildcats equal their best start to an NBL campaign at 6–0. On November 17, he scored a game-high 24 points with six three-pointers in an 89–76 win over the Hawks. The win took the Wildcats to an 8–0 start to the season, an all-time best for the club. On December 6, he scored a season-high 30 points and equaled a club record with eight three-pointers in a 95–91 win over the Breakers. On March 2, he scored 24 points with six three-pointers in an 85–81 win over the Kings. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a league-best 21–7 record and advanced through to the NBL Grand Final, where they faced the Adelaide 36ers. In the grand final series, Beal upstaged Ennis. He scored 19 points in a game one win, led a Perth fightback in game two with another 19 points, and had 15 points and four assists in a 24-point win in game three to lead the Wildcats to the NBL championship. He was subsequently named the Grand Final MVP.
In 33 games, Beal averaged 15.6 points and made 101 three-pointers. His 101 three-pointers set the record for most three-pointers made by a player in a season in the NBL's 40-minute era (since 2009), a record that stood until 2018. He also averaged 3.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. For the season, he earned All-NBL Second Team honors.
In June 2014, Beal had a six-game stint in Puerto Rico with Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.
2014–15 season.
On July 17, 2014, Beal re-signed with the Wildcats on a one-year deal with a second year option, earning the mantle of "the next Ricky Grace", an American guard from Dallas who became a club legend and a naturalized Australian after starting out as an import with the Wildcats. Striving to follow the blueprint laid out by former Wildcat import guards Grace and Kevin Lisch, Beal re-joined the Wildcats looking to build a dynasty. He was a fan favorite in his debut season but with the departure of James Ennis, Beal became Perth's main offensive weapon in the 2014–15 NBL season.
On October 31, Beal scored a game-high 25 points—his second-biggest tally in 37 NBL appearances—to go with four assists and four steals in an 83–64 win over the Wollongong Hawks. In round six, he had his best two performances of the season, scoring 29 points against the Townsville Crocodiles on November 14, to go with 27 points against the Sydney Kings on November 16. He was subsequently named Player of the Week. Beal was one of the league's top five scorers through the regular season, finishing with 450 points, but at times struggled to adjust after being asked to lift his output in the absence of Ennis. In the season opener against the New Zealand Breakers, he went 2-of-17 from the field, and on November 23 against Melbourne United, he went 0-of-10 from the field. Coach Trevor Gleeson was confident Beal had settled into his role by late February, with the last three games of the regular season demonstrating how dangerous he could be in the post-season. On February 15, he scored 24 points in an 89–87 double-overtime loss to the Breakers. Beal was crucial in helping send the game into both overtime periods, and then put the Wildcats ahead 87–86 with two clutch free-throws in the dying moments of second overtime. The Breakers won the game with a buzzer-beating half-court shot from Cedric Jackson. After finishing in fourth place with a 16–12 record, the Wildcats faced the first-seeded Cairns Taipans in the semi-finals, where they were swept 2–0 in the best-of-three series despite Beal scoring 20 points in game one and 21 points in game two.
In 30 games, Beal averaged a team-high 16.4 points and made a league-leading 69 three-pointers. He was subsequently named the club's most valuable player for the 2014–15 season.
Following the NBL season, Beal had a short stint in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad Jeddah.
2015–16 season.
While contracted with the Wildcats for the 2015–16 NBL season, Beal was open to talks if rival clubs wanted to activate a buy-out clause in his deal.
On October 25, Beal had a game-high 25 points and seven assists in a 106–99 win over the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong. Back in Wollongong on November 11, Beal helped the Wildcats defeat the Hawks 99–96 behind a comeback effort capped off by a 31–13 fourth quarter run. He scored 14 of his then season-high 26 points in the final term, including 11 after being crossed-over and having his "ankles broken" by Hawks guard Kevin Lisch with just under seven minutes to play. He finished with six three-pointers. On November 18, he recorded a career-high nine assists in a 94–88 win over the Adelaide 36ers. On December 10, Beal scored 33 of his 40 points in the second and third quarters of the Wildcats' 113–83 win over Melbourne United. He was held scoreless in the opening term before hitting nine three-pointers over the next two quarters, finishing with 10-of-19 three-pointers for the game along with seven assists. His 10 three-pointers eclipsed the previous club record of eight set by himself, Ricky Grace, Anthony Stewart and Mike Ellis. He also became just the second player in NBL history to score 40 points in a game after going scoreless in the first quarter, and became the first Wildcat to score 40 points since teammate Shawn Redhage in 2007. In the Wildcats' following game three days