Prospect Spotlight: K.J. Bradley 2021
There was a time when Crenshaw High School ruled the Los Angeles high school basketball scene. You walk into Crenshaw’s gym and you’re immediately greeted with banners upon banners hanging from the rafters. Come to the present day, and things…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThere was a time when Crenshaw High School ruled the Los Angeles high school basketball scene. You walk into Crenshaw’s gym and you’re immediately greeted with banners upon banners hanging from the rafters.
Come to the present day, and things have changed a little bit, to say the least. But the Cougars have a player who is looking to help Crenshaw get back to the glory days. K.J. Bradley, the son of former Cougar and two-time Los Angeles City Section Player of the Year, Kevin Bradley, has taken the reins as Crenshaw’s floor leader.
A crafty ball-handler and point guard, Bradley sees the floor at all times, tasked with reading the defense and knowing when to make a pass and when to look for his own shot. He just finished his junior year, and being able to know when to make the right play is something he wanted to improve this past season.
“Just coming off the screen and looking for the bigs more,” Bradley told Prep Hoops. “It’s all basketball. Whenever you feel it’s the right time, that’s when you do it.”
Playing travel ball and participating in grassroots events in the offseason can often help a player work on those skills they want to continue to develop. In the summertime, Bradley plays with Los Angeles Elite, one of the better grassroots programs in the Los Angeles Area.
It was last summer, playing for LA Elite when he started focusing on becoming a really solid all-around point guard capable of leading a team. It isn’t just the on-court basketball side of things that LA Elite has helped him with, but building a solid rapport with his teammates off the court as well.
He’s helped strengthen the team and bring them all a bit closer together.
“I’ve worked on being a better leader, talking more on the court, and getting my teammates involved. Also, being a better person off the court. It’s about giving my all with whatever we do,” Bradley said. “We hang out with each other outside of practice, making sure we know each other and how we play. We talk to each other at school and we play around a lot together.”
This past season was a bit of an up and down one for Crenshaw. Before this past year, they had, had five straight seasons of posting a winning record and finishing with strong league play. They struggled at times this year but showed flashes of solid play.
They knocked off Sylmar in an 88-75 victory in the first round of the Los Angeles City Section playoffs and put up a fight against Granada Hills Charter in the second round before falling 66-62. The Cougars were balancing trying to learn how to play together, as well as reminding the rest of the LA basketball world that Crenshaw is still a team to be reckoned with.
“It was a learning season basically. We were trying to bond as a team and get better,” Bradley said. “We’ve got to come out and prove ourselves every night.”
As far as Bradley’s own personal development, he’s rapidly becoming one of the better point guards in the LA area and he’s putting people on notice. He had several big games this season and he recently had a strong showing at the Pangos Dandy Dozen event playing for Belmont Shore.
He has great court awareness; he can probe the defense and get to where he wants to go on the court. He has a high motor on both ends of the floor and is a wizard with the ball in his hands. He can push the ball in transition and set up in the halfcourt. He’s received some early interest from Washington, Loyola Marymount, and Northern Arizona.
“I’m trusting my players more,” Bradley said. “I’m getting them in spots where I know they can score and they can do what they do best.”
And there’s also a little bit of a family legacy to carry on at Crenshaw. Bradley’s father Kevin won a few City Section championships with the Cougars before going to play at the University of Utah. Known as the ‘Bean,’ Kevin was a great playmaker and leader in his own right.
Bradley appreciates learning from his dad while seeking to become better.
“It’s great, I’m just trying to work hard and become better than him,” Bradley said. “Take in what he knew, and use that in my own game.”