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Beckham Black was born and raised in Texas, but this summer, he hardly spent any time in his hometown of Duncanville. Looking back, he didn’t set foot in his home once for all of July. Instead, the tail end of the offseason saw the 6-3 guard claim the No. 1 spot in the Class of 2027 and proceed to host a six-week-long masterclass across the country on how to cement a top dawg mentality.
On the EYBL circuit, he led his AB Elite team to a 9-2 record before jetting off to Turkey with the USA Men’s U17 National Team and winning gold at the 2026 FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup, dishing out a team-high 8.3 dimes a game. The following week, he was in Vegas for EYBL Session 4 and then lit up North Augusta with a 37-piece at Peach Jam. The West Coast called next, as Black participated in the Nike Skills Academy and was hand-picked to debut a new sneaker colorway at the Mamba Invitational before trekking cross-country to win the Terrence Clarke MVP award at the SLAM Summer Classic Vol. 8.
The constant back and forth—winning all the while—is nothing new for Black, who’s been emulating a professional hoops lifestyle for years. Home base is southwest Dallas, but for eight months out of the year, he’s in Orlando leading Southeastern Prep. And ever since he can remember, he’s been bouncing around the nation during the AAU season playing up a few levels. A few, as in a 2nd grader balling out against 5th graders. And holding his own against his brother’s best friends like Keyonte George. Things shifted halfway through this most recent stretch of trips, though, when the years of preparation were rewarded with the highest stamp of approval in high school.
“It was really just a surreal moment. I mean, it's kind of every kid's dream to be ranked No. 1. But at the same time, I just have to keep a mentality where I can't be satisfied, and I got to keep pushing and just be more than the best high school player, try to be one of the best NBA players, college players,” Beckham says. “So for sure, enjoying the moment while it lasted and while it lasts, but also having that mindset to never be satisfied and just keep having a better goal, always.”
As soon as the ranking was solidified, Beckham’s first instinct was to prove every game why he, out of everyone, had earned the top spot. But he quickly realized that’s not how he wanted to look at things in life, constantly defending what he had already earned.
“If you’re always trying to prove to somebody that you’re better than somebody else, then you’re not going to ever have success. So I kind of flipped my mentality to just play hard, focus on the things I can focus on and let the rest take care of itself instead of trying to show everybody why I’m in the position that I’m in.” Beckham explains.
The type of position that has every major school knocking on his door and League offices already building scouting reports for the draft room. One team in particular is already mad familiar. During the season, you can catch Beckham posted up in the Kia Center, watching his older brother Anthony go to work for the Magic.
Having a front-row seat to his brother’s rise from a top-25 player in his respective class to the sixth overall pick by Orlando in the 2023 Draft has given Beckham incredible access to the levels he’s aiming to reach. He catches anywhere from 20-25 home games each year, his eyes trained on the minute aspects of the NBA game.
“What I try to look for is just how they play, like, every team’s style of play,” Beckham says. “What the point guards do, obviously. How they connect with the rest of their team. How they are on the bench, how the bench is. Really just all the little things that a regular fan’s not going to see, just because I’m not necessarily a regular fan, considering I could be there one day. So I feel like just being able to watch a real-life film at each of those games is a little perk that I should take to be ready for when I get there.”
On his own, he watches tape of Kyrie, James Harden and KD. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard is another player Beckham references for inspiration because of the ways he uses his craftiness to get to his spots and keep the offense flowing. But the afternoons playing 2s with his older brother’s friends built the ever-calm demeanor that never changes from the first quarter to the fourth.
“A hundred percent, yeah,” Beckham says on if being a younger brother was beneficial. “Especially the summers where all his friends would be over there, they'd all be on the same type of stuff, just pushing me around, just making me tougher. So I feel like I've definitely benefited from that, not even just on the court but off the court, too, just as a person. And my personality, I'd say, was framed a lot from hanging out with my older brother and his friends.”
“And none of them took it easy on him,” his mother Jen continues. “And so he would get angry playing. He hates to lose. So there were a lot of fights, I’ll say that. But I think obviously it’s made him better. And as silly as it sounds, it did actually put him through some adversity at a young age. He’s just ultra, ultra competitive. Key and AB are still best friends, so he’s around all the time. Now they’re more proud. They still think they can all take each other.”
His brother’s extensive connections across high school rose from one level to the next. Each jump gave Beckham a new peak to strive for, a new goal to look toward. Seeing brightly colored polos with embroidered logos stitched on the left chest gave Beckham the confidence to see himself in those postgame hallway conversations one day. And now that he is, he’s even more prepared to handle the pressure that comes with it.
It also helps that he’s got a band of brothers by his side that he’s been getting it out of the mud with since they were 14 years old. Instead of taking his talents to an already stacked national powerhouse, Beckham elected to ride out his high school days with the people he’s been with his whole life.
In the meantime, the point guard is preparing for another long stretch of travel with the Falcons. Last season they played nearly 60 games, and with the goals Beckham has for the squad, they’ll be hooping until early April. “I’m excited for this season,” he says. “I have a lot of hope in our team, and I feel like they have a lot of hope in me to kind of lead us and take us to where we need to go.
“I want to win as many championships as I can in this last year just because it is my last year, and I feel like I have the team to be able to do so,” Beckham continues, when asked about those goals. “I’d say really just win as much as I possibly can. Make McDonald’s, you know, all the accolades that you can get as a senior in high school. I want to check every single one of those boxes.”
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