I have one of the earlier connections to the Bradley story; I grew up in St. Louis and was reading of the exploits of someone named Bradley in both the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Globe Democrat. A basketball player myself, I was curious about a possible competitor (Ha!) and, turning 16, drove to a local tournament in which Crystal City was playing. I watched Bradley. “Not bad,” I thought. “Sixteen, maybe 17 points.” Next morning, the local sports pages bannered: “Bradley Scores 36 in Crystal City Win.”
From that point, I was hooked and followed Bradley in his Missouri career (including a triple-overtime state tournament game against Mercy in which Bradley casually dished the winning basket surrounded by all five opposing players). Then on to Princeton where I failed to make the freshman team (Ha!). I have been following this amazing man ever since — a near life-long privilege.
Hey Tom,
Excellent piece.
I have one of the earlier connections to the Bradley story; I grew up in St. Louis and was reading of the exploits of someone named Bradley in both the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Globe Democrat. A basketball player myself, I was curious about a possible competitor (Ha!) and, turning 16, drove to a local tournament in which Crystal City was playing. I watched Bradley. “Not bad,” I thought. “Sixteen, maybe 17 points.” Next morning, the local sports pages bannered: “Bradley Scores 36 in Crystal City Win.”
From that point, I was hooked and followed Bradley in his Missouri career (including a triple-overtime state tournament game against Mercy in which Bradley casually dished the winning basket surrounded by all five opposing players). Then on to Princeton where I failed to make the freshman team (Ha!). I have been following this amazing man ever since — a near life-long privilege.