Bradley keeps improving
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PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- If Tony Bradley has a favorite school or is leaning in any particular school's direction, he's hiding it very well. The Bartow, Florida, big man is more impressive with each viewing, largely because he's more focused on improving his game than his recruitment.
"He's elite," Bartow High School coach Terrence McGriff said. "He's getting better and better."
Bradley, a four-star ranked No. 42 in the class of 2016, scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds at the annual Wally Keller Classic against Mableton (Ga.) Pebblebrook on Saturday. He was matched up against 6-8, 230-pound Georgia signee Derek Ogbeide.
"I just wanted to run the floor and finish, plus play hard defensively," Bradley said.
You won't find Bradley, whose offer list exceeds 25 schools, on many mixtapes. He's not a jump-out-the-gym big man. He is a fundamentally sound post man who is averaging 24.2 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks
"Can he dunk everything?" McGriff said. "No, but he can put it in the basket, can make jump shots and he can put it on the floor. He can make a pass and he has good hands. He's rebounding the ball out of his area; I don't want to hear any stuff about he can't rebound the ball or block shots. I don't know how many blocked shots he had today, but in the last three (games) he had six, five and five. And we're not playing cream puffs. So he's getting better."
Last summer, Bradley played with Southern Stampede in the Nike EYBL and he attributes some of his improved play and renewed confidence to that experience.
"Most definitely," Bradley said. "Because there's a lot of big men that are ranked and are really big. So having that experience from the summer that carried over to the high school season."
Turning to his recruitment, Bradley said a handful of schools are recruiting him hardest and most consistently: North Carolina, Kansas, Florida and Miami.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams came to Bartow High School in early December to watch Bradley, followed up his visit with a scholarship offer less than two weeks later and made the trip to Bartow again on Monday to watch Bradley at a team practice. We asked Bradley if Williams talked to him about visiting Chapel Hill.
"Yes sir," Bradley said. "It's just been so busy."
Though the Tar Heels jumped in the mix late with Bradley, they're working hard to stay top-of-mind with him and make it clear that he's a priority. It seems to be working.
"They really like me," Bradley said. "(Williams) called me before the Pebblebrook game and said good luck."
Although Bradley holds offers from several programs in Florida, he hasn't taken many unofficial visits, even to watch games. But he is in regular contact with them.
"Florida, they've been in contact too," Bradley said. "Me and Coach (Billy) Donovan text a lot and stuff. He's been to a few games too. USF texts me a few times. It's steady. Last week they came to a game, so they're in contact with me too. They're pretty good at that actually. I talked to (UCF head) coach (Donnie) Jones the other day. He's just keeping in contact, asking me how I'm doing and stuff like that with the games and my schedule."
Bradley has long had good touch around the basket, good footwork and a quick second jump. Over time, he's developed confidence in his 12-foot jump shot, particularly from the elbow.
"He's a little bit later to the scene," McGriff said. "I'm biased but he's as good or better than some guys ranked ahead of him. I'll take him."
Russ Wood is a basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and Inside the Gators. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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