Virginia's Reece Beekman hopes to be in NBA next season. His game was forged in Milwaukee
CHICAGO – Reece Beekman went to high school in Louisiana and became a college basketball standout at Virginia.
But Beekman's game was forged in Milwaukee. It was where the 6-foot-3 guard first picked up a basketball and started him on a path that could land him in the NBA next season.
"I was young, I want to say kindergarten," Beekman said at the NBA draft combine. "I was 8, 9, somewhere around that age.
"Just started playing like YMCA first, then moved to AAU teams. Small AAU teams and then moved up from there, really."
Beekman moved to Louisiana when he was 13 for his mom's job. He became the state player of the year and a hot recruit at Scotlandville Magnet High School, but he always kept in close contact with players from Wisconsin and he came back to play for local AAU team Phenom University.
"Jalen Johnson, that's probably one of the biggest ones," Beekman said. "That was more high school and stuff that we played.
"Jamari Sibley, we played growing up. Desmond Polk. Javeon Tolliver. Those were just young guys that I grew up playing with."
Since graduating from Virginia, Beekman has used Milwaukee as a home base as he chases his NBA dreams.
"I acutally came back before the combine and drove up here," Beekman said. "I go back for breaks and stuff. If I have a chance, I'll go back and see my family."
Tony Bennett helped Reece Beekman become two-time ACC defensive player of the year
Beekman was coached at Virginia by Tony Bennett, one of Wisconsin's most notable hoops natives. Beekman became a two-time ACC defensive player of the year.
"The work ethic that he preached," Beekman said. "Accountability that he prides himself on. I kind of got in that mindset of no plays off.
"Bring it on both sides of the ball every night. Attack everything head on. He's been a great coach for me and he's allowed me to be in this position."
Beekman went through the NBA combine last season before deciding to return to Virginia.
"Everything's a process," Beekman said. "You don't know how it's going to go.
"Just have fun with it, that's the main thing I try to do. Sometimes you get caught up in it, but at the end of the day you're playing basketball, which I love to do. So just trying to use that momentum and mind-set to get me through."
Beekman hopes to be a second-round NBA draft pick
Beekman signed with Independent Sports and Entertainment as his agency, and he prepared for the pre-draft process with other ISE clients for a few days in Memphis.
Beekman hopes to establish himself as a second-round pick. NBA teams likely have concerns about his size, but his defensive abilities should earn him closer looks.
He'll just keep working. Like he learned growing up in Milwaukee.
"That's home for me," Beekman said. "I feel like we have a unique playing style, how we play basketball.
"I played against a lot of people from a lot of places. Milwaukee just has a distinct way of playing. The people around me made me who I am. How we talk, how we interact.
"I'm always back there, and it's always going to be home."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Virginia's Reece Beekman is two-time ACC defensive player of the year
