Doc Rivers' son commits to Florida

Winter Park High basketball coach David Bailey describes standout guard Austin Rivers as "mature beyond his years."

Rivers, 15, made a mature decision Wednesday night, committing to play basketball at Florida the summer before his sophomore year of high school.

The son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, the 6-foot-3 Rivers averaged 14 points, four rebounds and three assists per game, leading Winter Park to a 28-2 record during his freshman season. The Web site Floridahoops.com rates the 6-foot-3 Rivers as the top state prospect in the Class of 2011.

Rivers made the commitment after attending the Florida team basketball camp last week.

"He just felt really comfortable with the coaching staff, the facilities, the players," Bailey said. "He liked that it was close to home, close to family."

The commitment may create a stir in the college coaching community because it comes less than two weeks after a National Association of Basketball Coaches recommendation asking coaches not to accept verbal pledges from players before their junior seasons in high school. The recommendation came following a rash of early commitments that were nationally perceived as ridiculous.

Last year, USC coach Tim Floyd accepted a verbal pledge from eighth-grader Ryan Boatright. Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie has received verbal commitments from both an eighth-grader (guard Michael Avery) and ninth-grader (forward Vinny Zollo) in his early tenure in Lexington.

"The academic and athletic profiles of these younger students are still very much works in progress," NABC president and Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said in the letter of recommendation. "Coaches and athletes need to respect the process and allow development to occur in both areas prior to making commitments."

Due to NCAA rules, Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan can not comment specifically about the Rivers commitment. When asked last year about coaches accepting commitments from eighth- and ninth-graders, Donovan said, "It should be a family decision. It should be a decision that's left up to players and their families."

Donovan has a long-standing relationship with Doc Rivers and recruited Rivers' older brother, Jeremiah, who recently transferred to Indiana after spending two seasons at Georgetown. Austin Rivers has been attending UF's basketball camps since he was in seventh grade. His older sister, Callie, is a sophomore-to-be on the Florida volleyball team.

NABC president Jim Haney, when asked about the commitment Thursday, said that the association will probably have to present legislation to the NCAA to prevent coaches from accepting commitments from high-school underclassmen.

Rivers is the fourth verbal commitment that Donovan has accepted as a sophomore, a list that includes Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay and current Florida sophomore guard Nick Calathes.

Rivers played primarily at point guard for Winter Park last season, but Bailey said he's versatile enough to play both the point and off guard spots.

"He's strong," Bailey said. "He's got the quickness to get to the basket and the ability to shoot out to 3-point range. Sometimes when you watch him, you have to remind yourself that he's only 15 years old."

Bailey also said that Rivers provided leadership on the court that belied his age.

"He started every game for us," Bailey said. "He's one of the biggest competitors I've coached. He doesn't like losing. He'd rather score five points and see his team win than score 25 points and lose."

Rivers already has had a busy offseason. Last week, he was just one of two Class of 2011 players invited to the Steve Nash Nike point-guard skills academy. Bailey said Rivers plans to play at the AAU national championships at the Disney Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista later this month.