Jermaine Beal starred at point guard for several Vanderbilt basketball teams. He checks in at No. 42 on the list of best players we've covered in 18 years. Track our countdown to No. 1 here.
Honors and awards: 2010 first-team All-SEC (by coaches; second-team by AP)
In the VU record book: Single-season assists: tied-fifth (158, 2007-08)
Single-season assists per game: eighth (4.6, 2007-08)
Career steals: 10th (128)
Career scoring: 30th (1,253)
Before VU: Stared at DeSoto (Texas) High, setting the school's all-time scoring mark after averaging 21.5 points, six assists and five rebounds as a senior. Was a two-time all-state pick. Team won state his freshman year and finished runner-up his junior season.
Freshman (2006-07): Played in all 34 games, starting two, averaging 16.8 minutes, for a 22-12 (10-6 SEC) team that made it to the Sweet 16. Logged 243 minutes in SEC regular-season games, playing all 16 and starting none, averaging 2.9 points and shooting 27.7 percent from the field. Finished among the SEC freshmen leaders in steals (fourth ,1.06 per game), free throw shooting (fifth at 80.0 percent) and assists (sixth with 1.79). Scored a season-high 15, going 4-of-6 from the field vs. Nicholls St. Had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, and hit driving layup and free throw with 4.4 seconds left to help give Vanderbilt a 98-93 overtime victory against Toledo.
Sophomore (2007-08): Played in all 34 games, starting 33, for a 26-8 (10-6) squad. Started all 16 SEC regular-season games, averaging 28.8 minutes, 7.4 points and 2.2 rebounds, while dishing out 75 assists against 23 turnovers, with 10 steals. Shot 33.7 percent from the field in league games.Had 158 assists for the season, the most ever by a Vanderbilt sophomore, and led the SEC with a 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio (third nationally). Dished out five or more assists in four consecutive games from November 29 through December 8. Scored then-career high 19 points in win over UMass. Had nine assists against LSU. Hit game winning jumper with less than a second remaining at South Carolina, ending the game with four points and five assists. Scored 17 points and shot 7-of-9 from the free throw line in the win over No. 1 Tennessee. Dished out seven assists in SEC Tournament win over Auburn.
Junior (2008-09): Started all 31 games for a 19-12 (8-8) team that didn't make the postseason. In SEC regular-season play, averaged 35.0 minutes and 13.8 points, and shot 41.2 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from 3. Had 45 assists to 26 turnovers in those games. Ended the season ranked in the SEC in six different categories: scoring (21st, 12.7), assists (10th, 3.1), free throw percentage (.823), 3-point field goals made (12th, 1.9), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.0), and minutes played (33.1) Had two double-doubles and four 20-plus point performances, including a season-high 27 point-game at home against South Carolina. Scored a then career-high 20 points on 7-12 shooting in win over USF. Scored a team-high 18 in loss to Kentucky (1/10) Scored 21 points, on 7-of-10 shooting in win over Auburn. Logged all 40 minutes vs. Alabama and scored 20 points and had had eight assists. Scored 17 points, including a career best 10-of-10 from the free throw line in win over Kentucky. Posted 17-point effort on 7-of-13 shooting in win at LSU.
Senior (2009-10): Played 33 games, starting 32, for a 24-9 (12-4) team that lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Started all 16 SEC games, averaging 35 minutes and 16.5 points, with 50 assists, 28 turnovers and 43.3 percent shooting from the field, including 40.2 percent from 3. Had season-highs in points (28) and assists (seven) in an overtime win over Georgia. Scored 25 on 8-of-12 shooting from the field in a win over Tennessee. Scored 18, with five assists, in a victory over Arizona in the Maui Invitational. Had 22 points and five assists in a win against Florida. Had 21 points and eight rebounds in a loss to South Carolina.
Post-VU: Beal, un-drafted, briefly spent time in the NBA Developmental League, before playing in Europe and then Australia, where he had an excellent career. Beal later joined the basketball staff at Pitt as a video coordinator.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: The best word to describe Beal was "winner." Vanderbilt went 91-41 in his four seasons, and 40-24 in SEC play. The biggest knock on his record would be that Vanderbilt didn't win an NCAA Tournament game in his three years as a starter, dropping a buzzer-beater to Murray State in his last game, getting blown out by Siena his sophomore year, and the non-event season of 2008, when VU ranked 80th in KenPom while breaking in the Jeff Taylor/Brad Tinsley/Lance Goulbuourne/Steve Tchiengang class that would get the Commodores back to sustained success.
It wasn't just that. It was the fact that you wanted the ball in Beal's hands when the game mattered. The buzzer-beater at South Carolina in 2008 (see video below) was a good illustration of that, and it also helped that he nearly an 80 percent foul shooter for his career. Beal was a big-bodied guard and also a tough player, traits that came in handy on defense--and he did that without fouling a lot. He worked hard; he was a poor shooter coming to VU, but left as a good one. His best stat was perhaps his 421 career assists to 197 turnovers; any ratio above "2" is excellent.
Beal was a guy who won a lot, did a bit of everything, and corrected the only major hole in his game the last two years. I don't anticipate a lot of push-back on ranking him as highly as I did.
