EMCC hoops standout Jarekious Bradley named to NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-America First Team
For his efforts in helping lead the East Mississippi Community College men's basketball team to a fourth straight appearance in the NJCAA national tournament, sophomore Jarekious Bradley has been named to the 2012-13 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-America First Team.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – For his efforts in helping lead the East Mississippi Community College men's basketball team to a fourth straight appearance in the NJCAA national tournament, sophomore Jarekious Bradley has been named to the 2012-13 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-America First Team. The 10-man first, second and third teams, along with 20 honorable mention selections, were announced this week by the NJCAA office.
Coinciding with EMCC's current run of four consecutive NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championships and four straight MACJC North Division regular-season titles in men's basketball, head coach Mark White's Lions have now also produced NJCAA All-Americans each of the last four seasons. Bradley joins 2009-10 NJCAA All-American CoCo Ware as recent first-team selections for East Mississippi. A year ago, point guard D.J. Evans, now with the University at Albany, and current Mississippi State forward Colin Borchert were chosen to the NJCAA's second and third teams, respectively. Prior to that, former EMCC guard Deonte Alexander was an honorable mention NJCAA All-American in 2010-11 before moving on to enjoy a successful two-year career at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.
The top vote-getter from this year's 10-player NJCAA All-Region 23 squad, Bradley was also tabbed to the five-man MACJC All-North Division First Team as well as garnering a spot on the NJCAA Region 23 All-Tournament Team.
Bradley, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound forward/guard, ranked eighth nationally in scoring at 21.1 points per game this past season for the 20-8 EMCC Lions. He also averaged a team-leading 8.0 rebounds an outing as well as ranking second on the squad with 40 steals and 21 blocked shots. Along with ranking 11th nationally in free throw percentage (87.5%) this past year, the Memphis, Tenn., native shot an even 50 percent overall from the field and 39 percent from beyond the three-point arc. In addition, Bradley registered eight double-doubles on the year along with posting five 30-point scoring efforts.
Bradley transferred to EMCC from Midland College in Texas, where he averaged 14.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2011-12. He also connected on 58 percent of his field goals, including 37 percent from three-point range, and 71 percent of his free throws.
A product of Memphis East High School, Bradley averaged 21.6 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per contest as a prep senior during the 2009-10 campaign.