Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Nationally ranked basketball player makes Henderson home

Avery Bradley

Mona Shield Payne/Special to the Home News

Nationally ranked No. 8 by rivals.com, shooting guard Avery Bradley looks forward to finishing his high school career at Henderson International School. Bradley has verbally committed to play college ball for the Texas Longhorns.

Click to enlarge photo

Findlay Prep's Avery Bradley runs down court working on dribbling balls during practice at Henderson International.

One of the nation's top high school basketball players is making a home for himself in Henderson.

Avery Bradley of Tacoma, Wash., transferred to Findlay College Prep at the end of August and is expected to be a force for the nationally recognized prep school team.

Ranked No. 8 in the country by recruiting Web site rivals.com, Bradley averaged 23.8 points per game for the United States Select Team in Brazil this summer as he led the team to a 4-0 run in the tournament. He recently committed to Texas.

The 6-foot, 3-inch senior decided he needed a change of scenery for his final year before college and was convinced Findlay Prep, the college preparatory program at the Henderson International School, was the place for him.

"Everything is going real good so far," Bradley said. "I wanted a place that could get me ready for college and help me improve my game and my grades."

Helping in his decision was Clarence Trent, a former opponent of Bradley in Washington. Trent told Bradley about his time with the program and persuaded the highly sought-after recruit to come to Henderson.

"Seeing Clarence here really helped me make up my mind," Bradley said. "He told me all about the great things that are going on here and how amazing the coaching staff is. So far I like everything about it."

Pilots coach Michael Peck said he was aware Bradley was a phenomenal player but was most impressed by his work ethic and attitude. Peck said the program stresses maturity and respect off the court, and Bradley came in with a level head and positive attitude.

"All those off-the-court aspects are very important to us, and he conducts himself very well," Peck said. "He's very competitive. He's got amazing toughness. He can really defend and that's something we're going to really stress this year. We're happy to have him."

In addition to switching schools, Bradley had been going through the recruitment process — a task he said was starting to wear on his nerves before making a verbal agreement with Texas in mid-Septembber.

"It was crazy. I was getting letters from everywhere," Bradley said. "I had to narrow it down to UCLA and Texas just to get other schools to stop sending me stuff."

Bradley was scheduled to make a trip to Texas in early September but had the trip pushed back as Hurricane Ike approached. The delayed trip gave him extra time to get acquainted with his new teammates.

"It feels good being on the court with Avery again," Trent said. "We haven't played together in three or four years, but I still know what he does and he knows what I do. We can read each other."

Bradley hopes to mature as an all-around threat this season and is ready to contribute in any way he can to the Pilots, who went 32-1 last season.

"I just want to come out and play hard," Bradley said. "If I'm having a bad game, hopefully I can make a difference on defense. If not, I'll try to do something else for them. If I have to I'll be the best cheerleader they've got."

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or [email protected].

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