Austin Rivers has always been several steps ahead of his age group in basketball.
The 15-year-old Winter Park standout stayed in front of the pack Wednesday night when he orally committed to play basketball for the University of Florida.
Rivers, fresh off an outstanding freshman season for the Wildcats, is the youngest player to commit to Billy Donovan in his head coaching career.
The previous earliest commitment for Donovan in two seasons at Marshall and 12 at UF came from Lake Howell's Nick Calathes, who starred for the Gators as a freshman point guard last season. Calathes pledged to UF on April, 28, 2005 following his sophomore season of high school play.
Rivers is the son of Doc Rivers, coach of the NBA champion Boston Celtics. He is a 6-foot, 3½-inch combo guard who averaged 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for a 28-2 Winter Park team in 2007-08.
Rivers has played to rave reviews this spring and summer on the travel team circuit and in individual exposure camps. He was one of two Class of 2011 players in a pool of 20 highly-rated guards who participated in last week's Steve Nash Nike Skills Academy in New Jersey.
Rivers' older sister, Callie, is a volleyball standout heading into her sophomore year at UF. His older brother, Jeremiah, is transferring to Indiana after playing his first two years of college basketball at Georgetown – serving as a lockdown backcourt defender last season for the Hoyas.
Under current NCAA rules Rivers would not be able to officially sign with the Gators until November of his senior year in high school.
Rivers is playing up in age with a 16-and-under Team Stat travel squad this summer.
