LCSC's Bradley playing 'his best basketball'
Dec. 24—At the holiday break, the Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team is sitting atop of the Cascade Conference with a record of 6-0 in league, 8-4 overall. After starting the season 2-4, the Warriors have won six straight thanks in large part to fifth-year forward Jaedon Bradley.
The Denver native joined LCSC as a transfer by way of Alaska-Anchorage, Laramie County Community College (Wyo.) and Colorado State-Pueblo. He was one of nine new additions to the roster and transferred to Lewiston to be closer to his family.
Since making the trek down from Southcentral Alaska to the Pacific Northwest, Bradley has cemented his status as one of the best players on the team and in the Cascade Conference.
Bradley is the Warriors' leading scorer (13.3 ppg), second in rebounds (5.4 per game) and is shooting 43% from the floor and 39.7% from 3-point range.
"How he's meshed with the team has been better than I thought," LCSC coach Austin Johnson said. "The reality is, he's here until the beginning of May. So, for him being here such a short time and be all in the way he's been all in, he's done a phenomenal job of taking coaching and taking criticism. ... Everyone says they're coachable, but Jaedon so far at LC has lived that. And that's pretty hard to do when you're here such a short time."
Originally, the Manual High School alum's playstyle was more sharpshooter than the all-around scorer he has become. Shooting was what Bradley had done in four years of prior collegiate competition — and it was something he did well as he shot 40% from beyond the arc with the Seawolves in Anchorage.
But LCSC has been marred with injuries and departures this season, and the team needed more than a sharpshooter.
Throughout this season, Johnson and his staff had conversations with Bradley, both in front of the team and behind closed doors. The talks were for Bradley to take a larger role on the court, encouraging him to widen his shot selections and assuring he didn't need to settle for the long ball and was capable of creating his own offense.
Bradley listened.
"I feel like just me being able to take it day-by-day and doing the little things (has helped me get better)," Bradley said. "And just listening to what coach Johnson sees. He's been a big part in me playing my best basketball."
Over LCSC's current six-game winning stretch, Bradley is averaging 20.6 points on 14.8 shots per game. Of those attempts, the majority of them have come from inside the arc.
Johnson advised Bradley on aspects of his game that could improve back in the offseason when he was in the process of recruiting Bradley from Alaska-Anchorage. The sixth-year coach has always expressed his belief in honesty toward his players — both current and prospective.
Johnson said he believes Bradley is playing his best basketball so far in his career — a statement hard to argue looking at the stats.
Perhaps just as important as the role Bradley has on the court, however, is his role in the locker room.
Before Bradley joined the Warriors there were two seniors on the roster: guards Davian Brown and Sam Stockton. Bradley is familiar with being viewed as a locker room leader on a team with high expectations. He was a senior on a 2019 Manual High School basketball team that captured its first state championship since 1991.
But there's a difference between being a leader on a team you grew up with and a leader with players you've only known for weeks or months. Even with that difference, Bradley has stepped into the role with LCSC.
"I feel like the team made it really easy (to be a leader)," Bradley said. "We're a pretty young team. Just me, Sam and (Davian) are the seniors. We're just a close group. We all listen to what each other have to say and we're just growing as the season goes."
Bradley's growth in play and leadership helped pave the way for the team to play better as a whole. The Warriors are averaging 85.8 points per game during their last six and allowing just 63.2. This is a big jump from LCSC's first six games of the season where it averaged 75.2 ppg and allowed 74.3.
Bradley's play during the winning stretch also helped for a history-making start for the Warriors. The team's 6-0 start in league competition is the best mark LCSC has had since joining the Cascade Conference — and the Warriors have done it while suiting up just eight players for that stretch.
"You watch film, if he's not in, he's one of the first guys jumping off the bench when one of his teammates does something well," Johnson said. "It started to be very easy for (the coaching staff) to trust him with how he's playing and how he's taken coaching and has been able to maintain a big-picture perspective."
If you ask Johnson and Bradley, the best is yet to come for the fifth-year forward.
Bradley has just started to unlock a level to his game that took him four years to realize. If that kind of progression continues, The former Manual High School Thunderbolt, CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolf, Laramie County Eagle, Alaska-Anchorage Seawolf and current Warrior could find himself as one of the centerpieces of one of the more memorable LCSC men's basketball teams.
"We just have to continue to have that next-man up mentality," Bradley said. "None of us know when we're going to get in the game, so we all need to be ready. And I think we're doing a good job buying into that."
Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.
