Austin Rivers of Winter Park (Fla.) High School, the son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers, is perhaps the top senior in the country. (Joshua C. Cruey / Orlando Sentinel)
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Just outside of Orlando, in the town of Winter Park, they know his name. And since his sensational performance as a sophomore at the prestigious City of Palms Classic, basketball fans throughout Southwest Florida have known his name, too.
Nationally, he might still be Doc’s son, but Austin Rivers is trying to change that persona one dazzling jump shot at a time.
“That’s my biggest motivation since I’ve been little, to step out of his shadow,” Austin Rivers said. “I’ve always wanted to be the kid who wasn’t his son. I didn’t want to be known as Doc Rivers’ kid. It almost angered me to the point that I’d be playing so much I’d be getting sick. I really wanted to become my own person.”
After initially verbally committing to the University of Florida as a freshman, Austin Rivers will play at Duke University next year. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard is considered the top player nationally in the Class of 2011, though there’s a healthy battle with St. Patrick’s (N.J.) forward Michael Gilchrist for that honor.
“No one has his skill set, no one has his ability and he’s gotten athletic now,” recruiting guru Tom Konchalski said of Rivers. “He has the highest ceiling of any of the kids in the senior class.”
At this year’s City of Palms Classic, which wrapped up Wednesday at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Austin Rivers was the main attraction in a tournament widely regarded as the best in the nation. He packed the gym’s 2,400 seats every time he stepped onto the court, making the decision to include Winter Park an easy one for tournament director Donnie Wilke.
“It’s almost like we have two tournaments going on. There’s one where everyone is coming to see Austin Rivers play and the other one is all the other games,” Wilke said. “He’s turned this into his second home.”
It was at the City of Palms Classic two years ago that Rivers had his coming out party. He scored 46 points in a semifinal loss to Wheeler (Ga.) and in a tournament that featured future pros Lance Stephenson and John Wall, Rivers was named the MVP.
“That was my most important game because that let me know what I was capable of,” Austin Rivers said. “Ever since then, I’ve never looked back.”
Doc was there that day and came back to watch his son, who also was last year’s MVP, on Monday when he scored 42 points in a quarterfinal win against Dwyer (Fla.).
Doc has given his son the chance to play against Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, which has helped prepare Austin for high-pressure situations.
“There’s no such thing as a game that’s going to overwhelm him,” Doc Rivers said. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to play well, but he’s never going to be afraid by it.”
Though he’s one of the NBA’s top coaches, leading the Celtics to the NBA title in 2008, Doc takes a backseat when it comes to his son’s basketball development.
“When he does have a bad game or a great game, he’ll call and talk about it,” Doc said. “But I always let him ask the questions and then I’ll tell him my opinion.”
Danny Ainge had an early opinion of Austin’s potential. Seven years ago at the Celtics practice facility, the former Boston star and current Celtics president told Doc that Austin would be the most talented of his four athletic children. And while Austin is drawing high praise now, Doc said he doesn’t think about how good Austin is as a player.
“As a parent you don’t see it,” he said. “You have an inkling, but I just said yeah, he has to keep working.”
And that’s where father and son agree.
“I’m in a good position right now,” Austin said. “But I’ve got to keep going because at the end of the day I still haven’t done anything yet.”
In front of a nationally televised audience and another capacity crowd at Bishop Verot Wednesday, Austin Rivers played his final City of Palms game. With Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski sitting courtside, he scored 28 points in an 84-66 loss to Mater Dei (Calif.) in the tournament’s third-place game.
When it was all done, Austin addressed the crowd, thanked them for their support, signed some more autographs and left the gym. He’s got more challenges ahead, including the hopes of one day playing in the NBA against a Doc Rivers-coached team.
“I always dream of that, and killing him, too,” Austin said. “I dream of hitting the game-winning shot and looking at my dad and shrugging my shoulders or something like that. It will happen because I’m going to keep my head up and stay hungry and humble.”
The Austin Rivers file
Hometown: Winter Park, Fla.
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 189 pounds
College: After verbally committing to the University of Florida as a freshman, Rivers decommitted and signed a National Letter of Intent with Duke. He chose the Blue Devils over North Carolina and Kansas
Family ties: Father Doc is head coach of the Celtics; brother Jeremiah is a red-shirt junior at Indiana after transferring from Georgetown, sister Callie is a senior volleyball player at Florida; younger brother Spencer is a freshman at Winter Park HS.
Scouting report from Tom Konchalski: “Austin Rivers, for a high school senior, probably has the greatest ability to create separation and manufacture his own shot in more diverse ways than any high school kid I’ve ever seen. He has such a refined and exquisite skill set, he can get his shot anytime he wants.”
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