Michael Beasley, seen here with DigitalSports' own Derek Toney, went to Bowie High School, National Christian Academy and Riverdale Baptist.
By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.comWhen
Michael Beasley walks to the podium today at the NBA draft, puts on a
hat and holds up a jersey, he can thank many people from the Washington
D.C. area.
Beasley was born in Frederick, Md., and played for
the Prince George’s Jaguars AAU team before moving onto DC Assault. He
attended high school locally at Bowie High School, National Christian
Academy and Riverdale Baptist.
And over the past several weeks, Beasley has cemented another name on that list. That would be
DeMatha assistant head coach David Adkins.
On
an ESPN online video called “The Rookie: Episode 2,” Beasley is shown
being worked out by Adkins in DeMatha’s Hyattsville gym. The workouts
were designed to simulate pre-draft workouts for the Chicago Bulls (who
own the first pick in the draft) and the Miami Heat (who own the
second). But it’s hard to imagine a workout tougher than Adkins’.
“You
would think that after a while workouts would get easier,” Beasley said
in the video. “But not with him. I ain’t never seen anybody with so
many different workouts. … He won’t let you slack. And that’s why I
like Coach Adkins so much. He brings the best out of you every day.”
Adkins
resembles a drill-sergeant in the video, calling out phrases such as,
“The better shape you’re in the better player you are!”, “Take your
anger out on the rim!”, and “Rip the rim! Be a beast!” The workout,
without exaggeration completely wore out the potential NBA star, who
also visited his former high schools over the past few weeks leading up
to the draft.
“I just feel that so far it’s preparing me pretty
well,” Beasley said in the video. “It’s got me set up in a situation I
never thought possible. … We were in there for three hours, like three
whole hours. Not two hours and 49 minutes or two hours and 59 minutes.
We were in there for three whole hours. He wouldn’t stop. I think I
only got two water breaks. That’s torture.”
Check out The Rookie: Episode 2 here