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TBCH resident and basketball standout signs with UConn Thursday, Mar 25, 2010 By Connie Davis Bushey |
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The team is 24-6 this year, and Bradley, a senior, is determined that it wins the state championship. “We have all the pieces we need. We just have to put them together. We just have to work hard,” said Bradley, a resident of the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home here. He is not playing his last season. He signed a letter of intent to play with the University of Connecticut, which is an NCAA Division 1 Big East Conference school. Bradley, who is 6-feet 9-inches tall, was recruited by about 20 schools, including North Carolina, Harvard, Belmont, Georgia, Virginia Commonwealth and Drake. At one point he was receiving more mail than all of the staff of the TBCH, said Lynn Jordan, residential program director at TBCH in Chattanooga. Jordan said she remembered sitting in a meeting last fall with Bradley; his two high school coaches; his TBCH houseparents; Carl Willis, TBCH regional vice president; and Bob Smith, Bradley’s mentor. Bradley received a phone call and it was the basketball coach at Harvard. Last fall Bradley’s life was a whirlwind, agreed Jordan and Bradley, and it continues this year. On Jan. 20 he was honored for his achievements by the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. He has a 3.3 GPA and scored 25 on the ACT. In June he will arrive at UConn. He told News Channel 9-TV in Chattanooga last fall he learned in Amateur Athletic Union games that his size wasn’t that unusual. He noted that in an AAU tournament he played against three athletes taller than himself. “But the difference in those guys and me is that I had like a 25 on the ACT. So you’ve got to set yourself apart by, you know, academics,” he said. Bradley said he chose UConn because it has a pharmacy school, his chosen field; he wants to play on a great basketball team and he likes the coach. He also chose UConn because it was a chance for him to “be something different and do something different.” He additionally tried to look at “the big picture,” he said. At smaller schools he might score 20-30 points a game and be well-known on campus, but he might not reach the highest level of skill he could reach because the team isn’t as good, he explained. As a Christian, Bradley said he considered the fact that UConn is a public school. He doesn’t drink or smoke but he knows he will face temptations on the campus. Yet, he is confident he can maintain his faith, he said. “Everything I’ve got is because of God,” Bradley said. “I wouldn’t have the height I have without Him. I wouldn’t have the ability, the intellect, the courses I’ve taken. I just have to work hard and keep my mind straight to make good decisions. … It’s up to you to use what He gives you. Some people use it and some people don’t.” He plans to become involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which has a chapter at UConn, noted Jordan, who is close to Bradley. He stayed at her house when he first came to the home at 11 years of age. In fact, he calls Jordan his “white Mom.” Bradley said when he was younger he was embarrassed that he lived at the children’s home. But he soon saw it as a privilege. He returned home to live with his mother for a while after his first stay, but decided to return to the TBCH with approval from his mother. He came back to TBCH because he enjoyed the structure provided by the home, said Bradley. He also has benefitted from the mentors and adult figures in his life at the TBCH, he added. --30-- Connie Davis Bushey is news editor of the Baptist and Reflector in Tennessee.
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