One of the most recruited basketball players in America is going to Brigham Young University.
The Deseret News learned Wednesday morning from several sources that 7-foot-5 Shawn Bradley of Emery County High has committed to attend BYU. Bradley has called a press conference for 10 a.m. Thursday at Emery High to announce his decision.Bradley, who led his team to the state 2A championship and an unbeaten season in 1988-89 while averaging 26 points, 13 rebounds and 8.5 blocks per game, had narrowed his choices to seven schools - BYU, Utah, North Carolina, Duke, Arizona, UCLA and Syracuse. The last couple of days he has been calling them to let them know of his decision, a source said.
BYU Coach Roger Reid, who replaced Ladell Andersen at the end of last season, visited Bradley Monday night. Apparently Tuesday Bradley notified Reid he had decided on BYU.
"There was dancing all around, probably enough to crumble the whole building," a source said, describing the scene when the BYU basketball staff found out Bradley had committed to be a Cougar.
It's a major recruiting coup for Reid, who is faced with replacing the team's top player, 6-10 Michael Smith, who was a first-round draft choice of the Boston Celtics.
Reid left Wednesday morning on a recruiting trip to California and was unavailable for comment.
One of the factors working in BYU's favor was its success in working with returned LDS missionaries. Bradley had made it known he would be going on a mission and that the school he attended would need to understand his committment to that.
The last few years, BYU has had a number of returned missionaries in its starting lineup. Last year's starting five were all returned missionaries - Smith, Steve Schreiner, Andy Toolson, Marty Haws and Kevin Santiago.
Bradley is one of what are generally regarded to be the three top Utah recruits, the other two being 6-4 guard Ryan Cuff of Richfield and 6-7 forward Kenneth Roberts of 4A champion Bingham. One source said that after Bradley committed to BYU, Reid visited the Cuff family Tuesday night.
Bradley told Deseret News prep writer Scott Taylor while competing at the Utah Summer Games in June that he planned to play as a freshman, then go on a mission and return and play as a sophomore without redshirting.
Because of his agility for his size, Bradley has attracted numerous recruiters. He gained considerable national exposure by attending national basketball camps in New Jersey, Las Vegas and Long Beach this past summer.
He has been featured on national television and in several national publications.
He's on the cover of the October issue of Basketball Times, with a heading, "Shawn Bradley, The Big Prize in Utah." Reporting on his performance at the Nike Camp in New Jersey, which featured the top prep players in the country, writer Dave Krider reported:
"Perhaps the most intriguing player in camp was 7-4 1/2, 203-pound senior center Shawn Bradley of Castle Dale, Utah. He is very bright, personable and oozing with potential, needing only more physical strength . . .
"Bradley blocked a ton of shots and constantly challenged opponents who dared to take a shot from close range. `I don't call him Batman for nothing,' quipped North Carolina superscout Bob Gibbons."
Comments from the coaches at the camps were in the superlative, such as the one by Kevin O'Neill of Marquette who called Bradley, "the best prospect of any size I've ever seen."
And now, Bradley becomes the most intriguing player on the BYU roster.