by Alex Schwartz

Coming into the summer, not many people knew who 6'9 Michael Bradley '10 of Tyner Academy (TN) was, especially high-major DI coaches. Now the big man is committed to UConn. He took his name off the board earlier in the week, picking the Big East program over Drake.

"Hard work and God. Put that together and you'll get somewhere," said Bradley when I asked him what he credits his summer stock boost to. Jim Calhoun saw him play by chance, as he was watching Andre Drummond '12 and Bradley happened to be on the court too. "It just shows how you got to play hard every time," commented Michael.

How did the Volunteer State baller decide on the Huskies? "It was just the opportunity to develop and compete at a high level." Despite that, he says that his decision was not about BCS vs. non-BCS schools. "It wasn't about mid-major and high-majors. . . . It was about what I wanted to do and [the] coaches. . . . It was never about mid-major and high-major."

Bradley does not have any relationship with fellow 2010 UConn-commit Jeremy Lamb of Norcross (GA), a 6'4 SG who is ranked #45 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125. Interestingly, neither player averaged 10 points per game last high school season, and Lamb actually did not start for Norcross.

Now that Bradley has made his commitment, he is satisfied, but knows that there is still pressure of sorts on him. Asked how he feels now, Michael replied, "[It is] relief. I get to focus on my season. It's not completely behind me because I got to deal with the media, but I can handle it."

Bradley considered a handful of schools before cutting his list down to UConn and Drake and then taking his name off the board. "I visited Georgia, Virginia Commonwealth, Drake, and UConn and I was going to visit Boston College and Harvard. [It was] . . . a mix of schools." He had originally planned to commit last week, but pushed the announcement back because he "wasn't 100%" sure about his choice.

Bradley, who describes himself as an "inside/outside" player, is very thankful for his rise this summer and the opportunity to play at UConn. "It means a lot. . . . You look at where you are from and when I look at where I came from, it's totally different than where I'm at. Hard work makes it significant."

I also caught up with a player ranked in the top dozen of Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 on Thursday in #11 prospect Jelan Kendrick of Wheeler (GA), a 6'6 small forward/point guard. Although Kendrick does not talk about his recruitment much, he did tell me the programs that he had in-home visits with. Kentucky, Miami, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Indiana, Florida International, Oregon, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Memphis, Georgetown, Cincinnati, and Alabama were the lucky 13. Asked if there are any other colleges he is considering, Jelan responded, "I don't know. [There were] some schools [that] did home visits with my parents and I wasn't there."