Dougherty Valley (CA) High School 2023 guard Ryan Beasley was the San Francisco Chronicle's co-Contra Costa/Tri-Valley Player of the Year, was fourth in the state in scoring at 30.6 points per game (per MaxPreps), led his team to the North Coast Section Division I finals then led his West Coast Elite-NorCal team to the Under Armour Association championship game, yet only one Pac-12 school is seriously recruiting him.

Why?

“Yeah, it's crazy, right,” said Dougherty Valley head coach Mike Hansen. “They’re just afraid of small guards, I think. You look at small guards in the PAC-12, Damon Stoudamire, the list goes on and on. Guys that have gone there, in the PAC-12 and can compete. He reminds me of Damon Stoudamire so much. Undersized, tough, absolute bulldog, defends 94-feet and rebounds. He's our best rebounder. And he's, you know, six feet tall. I always tell people, they worry about his size, he's not a huge leaper but he floats. He stays in the air longer than other people do. Then, what he's really good at is, as these big guys hit the ground and try to get back up on their second jump, his second jump is so much quicker than anybody else. By the time these bigs are trying to get back to the ball. He's got it and he's gone.

“So, I don't get it. He's a high academic kid. If I was Stanford, I'd be all over him. If I was Cal, I'd be all over him. You know, they all want to talk about what he can't do. Well, quit talking about his size. He dominates in every league he plays in. He led his Under Armour team in rebounding, I think, and he's got guys seven feet tall on that team. And they played against seven-footers that are going to major colleges.”

Beasley's size hasn’t stopped South Florida. The Bulls offered during the last week of July and has made a push for Beasley who also averaged 7.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals (per MaxPreps) during his junior season at Dougherty Valley to go along with his high level scoring. In the Under Armour Association, Beasley averaged 20.7 points – on 47.7 percent FG shooting – 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Bulls assistant Larry Dixon watched Beasley in Chicago during the second live period of July, and Brian Gregory has been working on Beasley as well.

“South Florida really wants to get him on a visit,” said Hansen who is heading into his 15th season at Dougherty Valley. “He is pretty tight with his family and that’s a long way from home, but one of our assistant coaches (Landon Edmond) played at South Florida. So, he tells him how great it is too. So, that may help.”

How important does Hansen believe location will be in Beasley’s decision?

“You know, I don't think it's a huge factor. I do think it's one of the factors he's going to consider,” Hansen said. “I know the things that he's highlighted to me is a great relationship with the coaching staff, a really good academic school, and a place where he can come in and compete for a starting job. I told him, that's all you need, right there. The kid is super bright, an incredible student, his grades are great. I think he's just gonna keep blowing up too, the longer he waits.”

In addition to the Bulls, Beasley also holds offers from Fordham, Montana (where his brother was second on the team in scoring last season and will be a junior this season), Northern Illinois, San Francisco, San Jose State, Seattle, UC-Davis, UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara and Washington State.

Despite their location, does Hansen think USF will be one of Beasley’s official visits?

“I do think they could. Yeah.”