Sophomore guard Desonta Bradford came to ETSU from Humboldt, Tennessee, which is about six hours west of Johnson City.
“I started playing basketball when I was eight or nine,” Bradford said. “We had a city league, and from there I just started taking it more seriously.”
Before college, he attended Humboldt High School, where he was named the Tennessee Class A Mr. Basketball winner.
When only a junior, he led his high school team to the state championship and was an all-tournament selection.
In his senior year playing for Humboldt, he averaged 21.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He had an average field goal percentage of 54 and 3-point field goal percentage of 41.
Named All-District 14-A and All-Region 7-A MVP, he chose to become a Buccaneer after considering programs at Murray State, Butler and Southeast Missouri State.
Along with feeling like it was the best place for him at the time, he also says teammate A.J. Merriweather was one reason he chose to attend ETSU.
Merriweather, who is also from West Tennessee, was already attending ETSU and playing basketball for the Bucs.
In his first season playing at the collegiate level, Bradford averaged 4.1 points per game, with a high of 14 points scored against Wofford in February 2015. He shot 42 percent from the field and 36 percent from the 3-point line.
During his sophomore season, Bradford has seen improvement. He has increased his career high from 14 to 18 points and is averaging 6.8 points per game.
Currently, his field goal percentage is 50 and his 3-point field goal percentage is 44.
He has had some impressive games recently. In the Western Carolina game on Feb. 15, Bradford helped the Bucs secure the win by scoring 15 points in the second half to boost the Bucs past the Catamounts.
Bradford was also instrumental in securing the narrow win for the Bucs in the Mercer game on Feb. 20. He scored 12 points during the game, led the team in rebounds with seven and blocked a layup attempt with 24 seconds left.
When asked what his biggest accomplishment at ETSU has been, Bradford said he isn’t sure, but if the Bucs win the Southern Conference tournament in March, that will definitely be it.
Only a sophomore, Bradford still has two more years to play for the Bucs.
When asked about his goals for his remaining time at ETSU, Bradford said, “For the next two years, just to get better and win as much as possible.”
