On Thursday, April 6, 2017, Souderton senior Michael Bealer was recognized for committing to continue his basketball career at DeSales University. To view photos of the event, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Michael Bealer – DeSales University (Basketball)
Major: Sports Management
Final list of colleges: DeSales, Moravian, Gwynedd Mercy
Reasons for choosing DeSales: “It felt like it was the right fit for me academically and in athletics. They have great sports management and marketing programs, which is the field I intend to go in. The coach really made me feel welcomed and wanted. This helped make DeSales the most comfortable fit for me.”
What was the progression that led you to playing basketball at the collegiate level? “As a freshman, I was a role player on jayvee. I was one of the only freshmen that saw significant minutes, which helped me transition into my sophomore year of being a jayvee starter and sitting on the bench for varsity. Ever since day one of high school, I knew I wanted to play in college. As a sophomore on varsity seeing the older players have college coaches recruiting them, I made it a goal of mine to get to that level. Then my junior and senior years came around, and I started varsity and was a captain both years. My AAU season that year was really key for me because that’s when I started to really develop my game and gain college interest. When senior year came around, it just came down to performing on the court and making the decision on where I wanted to play.”
Coach Tim Brown says: “Before I talk about Michael as a basketball player, I just want to address him as a person and how good of a kid he is. Watching him progress as a human being over these past four years and watching him mature has been really special. He went from a kid that was always swayed by emotion to a kid that kept a straight face and was very stoic, which he needed to be with the team that we had, and he embraced that and did everything he could for what the team needed. He was always the kid who was going to put a smile on somebody’s face. He’s making sure that everyone’s happy and everyone’s satisfied where they’re at, checking in on everybody. He was very well liked by the team and by the coaches – he was always a great kid to have around our practice every day.
“What makes Michael such a great basketball player is his general work ethic. He’s been here since he was in eighth grade and he could start coming to open gyms. He came to absolutely everything, and he was someone who realized you can’t just come to open gyms and expect to improve. You have to do all of that stuff on your own time. Michael really embraced that and got after it every single day, and it showed by the way he played on the court every single game. Obviously, if you ever see Michael play, you know how great of a shooter he is, and he’s worked for every single one of those three-point attempts. He’s been in the gym many, many hours, and he’s proven to this entire program what it takes to be a college athlete. He set the standard for us, and it’s a standard we’ll talk about and live through for the rest of the time I’m with this program. He’s meant a lot to me, he’s meant a lot to this program, and I’m super grateful to have him. I just know that he’s going to have a very successful career at DeSales and life ahead of him. I’m excited to see everything he does with his life and I wish him all the best.”
About Michael:
Favorite food: Cheesesteaks
Favorite movie: Creed
Favorite music: Rap
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