Tyner's Michael Bradley Perseveres to Become Top Basketball Recruit

 Tyner senior Michael Bradley is one of the hottest basketball recruits in Chattanooga.
The 6'10 Bradley has certainly overcome some big hurdles to not only make himself a
stand-out player,but a stand-out student as well.
When Michael Bradley was 11 years-old, he left home, and moved into the East Tennessee Baptist Children's home.
Said Bradley, "There was a situation at the house that was kind of hard to deal with, so I thought it would be a better place for me to grow up in. Start my goals somewhere else."
Said Lynn Jordan, program director for the Baptist Children's Home,"He's a good kid. He had to make the decision. He and his Mom both had to make a decision that was going to be best for him."
 The Christian home gave Bradley structure, and a chance to work on his game.
Said Carl Willis, Vice President of the Baptist Childen's Home, "He got his own key to the gym recently, so he could work out all the time. We have our own gym there.  He goes up to shoot ball. Also, his job is to keep it clean."
  Now Bradley has earned a key to his own place.
Said Lynn Jordon,"With him going off to college next year, and it looks like
it may be quite a distance away, and we weren't going to be there, and
his Mom wasn't going to be there to be able to prod him to do the things he ought to.
So we've put him in this apartment so that he could kind of get adjusted to being on his own a little bit."
  The 6'10 Bradley became a hot recruit this summer during AAU ball, which earned him recruiting trips to schools like Georgia and U-Conn.
Reporter-"What do these coaches tell you that they like about you as a basketball player?"
Said Bradley,"Just like my jump shot. I've got a pretty good 15-footer.
And I run the court well."
  But coaches also love his academic status.
Said Tyner head basketball coach Gerald Harris, "Mike has a 3.5 GPA.  Scored a 25 on the ACT.
If you look in this country, you look at the big guys that are 6'9 with that (grades), there are not a whole lot of them. Says a lot about his character. Says a lot about how he's going to be coached. His major, he wants to be a pharmacist. I think he's going to be the tallest pharmacist in the country."
 College recruiters are amazed by Bradley's story.
Said Jordon,"Every thing that I hear from all the coaches is the type of young man that he is. Not just a good student, but that he's a good citizen."