Greatest Honor Yet: Oak Grove’s Caroline Bradley selected to U.S. national U16 team
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Oak Grove’s Caroline Bradley actually came up for air after the biggest moment of her life.
The 6-foot-5 Bradley, the nation’s No. 4 prospect according to ESPN’s ‘Terrific 25’ in the Class of 2027, had returned home from Colorado Springs, Colorado where, after four days of tryouts, she earned a spot on the 12-member United States’ national U16 basketball team.
Team USA begins international competition June 16-22 in the FIBA AmeriCup in Irapurto, Mexico. The U.S. opens play with the first of three games on June 16 against Venezuela.
“I’ve taken some time off since I’ve gotten back,” said Bradley, who returns to Colorado Springs on June 8 for the start of preparation for the AmeriCup. “I took some time to let my body rest, to be away from basketball for the past week. It was like, ‘Let’s take a breath. Let’s re-center here’. I caught up on rest before getting back to the grind.”
Bradley, the Class 2A Most Outstanding Player, state’s Miss Basketball, and Gatorade Player of the Year, reached one of her personal goals with her first roster spot on a U.S. national age-group team. She was initially part of 52 players invited to compete with that group reduced to 22 finalists and the final roster was announced on May 24.
“This is one of the greatest honors anybody can say they’ve accomplished,” Bradley said. “I’m thankful for this opportunity to be able to say that I’m going to represent my country.”
Oak Grove coach Lee Johnson, who completed his seventh season with a Division III non-select state runner-up finish, was extremely happy for Bradley, whom he’s known most of her life and has a daughter her age.
“It was another goal that she had,” he said. “I know that was a goal of hers, and how hard she’s worked when nobody’s watching. She’s the one waking up her dad (Josh) to get into the gym to help her. She wants to do it.
“To see her achieve one of her goals, she’s worked her tail off to be successful and get the opportunities she’s gotten,” Johnson said. “It’s not just because she’s tall.”
Bradley said there were five practice sessions, ranging in length from 1 to ½-2 hours, that took place until the final round of cuts. They had two more workouts thereafter until being called into a gymnasium and listening for their last names to be called alphabetically.
Thankfully, Bradley didn’t have to wait long. She was called second after Jazman Bailey of Mansfield, Texas.
“I thought that I played well the whole time I was there,” Bradley said. “I felt good about it. Everything was flowing really well. Everything felt smooth for me. My body felt good. You don’t know and you still worry. I was just having a good time playing the game I love.”
The final 22 hopefuls entered the gymnasium in anticipation of hearing their names and realizing their dreams. They were asked in advance out of respect for the other players to withhold their emotions until afterward.
“They asked us before to kind of temper our reaction because there’s other people there that got bad news,” she said. “Even though you just got the best news of your life, you have to remain calm out of respect for the other athletes around you. Once you leave, you’re allowed to kind of celebrate. In the moment it’s so surreal.
“You’re sitting here and don’t know who made the team and seconds later you made the team,” she said. “You have to take a minute to process it. At the end of day, there’s only so much you can do to get on the team. I was going to do everything I could and then it wasn’t in my hands. I was going to be happy with the result either way because I did everything I possibly could.”
Bradley contained her excitement, listening to future instructions concerning the U16 team before joining her mother Emily, who attended the tryouts and was outside the gym during the announcement of the national team.
She texted her mother with the exciting developments and she, in turn, relayed the message to their family, friends, and fans back in Oak Grove, a town of less than 1,400 located 10 minutes south of the Arkansas border.
“It was a huge deal,” she said. “It was just exciting, not just for me, but for everybody that’s put effort and time into me as a person. Just to be able to represent Oak Grove and Louisiana, and now our country on such an elite level. It’s still something I’m trying to wrap my head around. I’m just grateful and thankful.
“To see the fan base that’s around you, and the people that support you, it was super great to see,” she said. “My phone started blowing up. I’m thankful to know I have all of those people so invested in me and invested in what you’re accomplishing. You’re not doing it for yourself, but the people around you.
Bradley, a five-star prospect with 35 scholarship offers and 4.0 grade point average, has previously thrived on big stages outside of her small-town roots.
She participated in last year’s Under Armour Next in Brooklyn, N.Y. – an event televised by ESPN2 that showcased the nation’s top 24 players in their age group.
Bradley’s also in her second year on the Under Armour AAU circuit with the Little Rock, Ark.-based MAVS Elite that’s already played in a tournament last month in Little Rock.
The circuit features three more significant events, but Bradley feels fortunate to play in two of those in July with one of those coming a during a key evaluation period where college colleges flock in big numbers.
“It’s probably been big for her to see that level of play and getting used to playing that level of talent all around her,” Johnson said.
Bradley, the recipient of double and sometimes triple teams in high school, is able to showcase her skills in the summer whether it’s posting up and going against equally talented players, or facing up and delivering a patent jump shot, to her ability to knock down a 3-pointer in transition to dribbling and passing out of trouble.
“You have to figure out what you’re good at and you have to do those things really well,” Bradley explained of her strategy in Colorado. “Focus on what you can control. They’re some really good players there. I just go in and control what I can control and what’s key for me. That’s doing the things I do really well.
“It’s a gruesome process,” Bradley said. “Physically with the elevation (Colorado Springs is 6,000 feet above sea level) and it’s mentally taxing, knowing that you could be cut at any moment. That’s after putting in a lot of work and effort for someone to say you’re not good enough. That’s hard and just keeping that in the back of your mind and do what you do well and control the things you can control.
The parents of Bradley – Josh and Emily – were outstanding athletes but have given more to their children than simply good genes. They’ve also been terrific parents, respected in the community for their faith, belief in family, and stern work ethic.
Josh, the current boys basketball coach at Oak Grove, signed to play football at LSU before transferring to Louisiana Tech. Emily played college basketball at Louisiana College (now Louisiana Christian) and their son Jackson – was an all-state quarterback for the Tigers and a starter for the five-time state championship baseball team. He’s signed to play football at Louisiana Tech.
“Her family keeps her grounded,” Johnson said of Caroline. “They’re Oak Grove people. They’ve made it a goal that these are the people you’ve grown up with, these are your teammates. You’ve played softball together (under the 7th grade), went to a couple of Dixie Youth World Series. Yes, they’re on a different level in basketball, but they’re your teammates.
“I’ve put her in the post some, but I try and move her around,” Johnson said. “Teams key on her so much, that if I just sat her in the lane, she’d have two or three (defenders) sitting on top of her. I try to move her around, let her develop some guard skills, too. She shoots the ball well. She can handle it. It makes us better when she’s able to do that as well.”
Bradley was a central figure in Oak Grove’s pursuit of a state championship this past season. She averaged 20.6 points, 14.5 rebounds, 2.6 blocked shots, and 2.5 assists, helping the Lady Tigers to a 21-4 record that included a 48-43 loss to Oakdale in the state championship game.
It was Oak Grove’s first state runner-up since 1991. The Lady Tigers won five state championships between 1950-1959, giving next year’s team a clear objective.
“It was an opportunity we were excited about,” said Bradley, who has scored 1,595 points and grabbed 1,146 rebounds.
Bradley, who scored 38 points, grabbed 22 rebounds with 6 blocks, in the state title game and was selected the state’s tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She was the first sophomore to win the prestigious Miss Basketball honor to go along with a third-team All-America selection from MaxPreps, and winner of the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year – an honor that hangs in the school’s gym.
“It’s cool to see all of your hard work come on the scene,” Bradley said. “It motivates me because there’s more to accomplish. This is still such a small part of my basketball journey. I just want to continue to get better and continue to work hard on things, remain humble. That’s something I’m really focused on.
Bradley believes she’s ready for the full-court press.
College coaches can begin making direct contact June 1 at midnight with prospective athletes who have completed their sophomore years of school – via phone calls, text messages, or emails.
“It’s fixing to be crazy,” Bradley said, “I just remind myself this this is what we want. Remember to stay grounded, you still have some time to make a decision. I know if I don’t want to answer a call, you really don’t have to.”
Before the start of Sunday’s anticipated avalanche, Johnson and Bradley’s parents put together an effective system that limited the talented player to two phone calls a week with all contact going through Johnson, Bradley’s parents, or her AAU coach.
Their arrangement for Bradley featured a list of coaches with the days and times on a Google document they would call Johnson, Bradley’s parents of her AAU coach to talk with Bradley.
“I can’t imagine what she has to juggle,” Johnson said. “I had four coaches (May 28) she was supposed to call. Her parents and her have done a good job. They’ve helped prepare her for that process.”
Over the course of the past year, Johnson said coaches from Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, UConn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M have either come by to watch Bradley play in a game, practice, or take part in open gym sessions.
He shared a funny story when an assistant from South Carolina attempted to navigate her way from the airport in Monroe to Oak Grove High which is typically a 65-minute drive.
“She put Oak Grove High in her GPS, but it didn’t take her down the interstate or use the most direct way,” Johnson said. “It brought her to some back roads where there are some streets with no lines painted on them. It’s just a black top (road).
“She called and said, ‘Coach, I’m in the middle of nowhere. I’ve driven 45 minutes and didn’t see a place to get a bottle of water. That she had only seen four cars and two tractors.’ I sent her back through civilization.”
Just over a week removed from the biggest accomplishment in her young career, Bradley returned to the gym to continue working on her craft. After five months of playing in her home state, where opponents were at times defenseless to stop her, Bradley knows the stakes and competition will be different.
It will be a new challenge she embraces.
“I don’t get tired of basketball,” Bradley said, “After playing this summer, maybe I’ll want some time away from it. Finding those times throughout the summer is really important to me. This is one of those times where I take two to three days off to be a human, to be a person with other interests besides being a basketball player.
“I don’t know what will be asked of me yet because I don’t know what we’re running,” Bradley said. “I’m still a little unclear about that. I’d imagine doing the things that I’m really good at because there are really good players surrounding me.”