OFFICIAL: Bradley chooses Kentucky

The future of Kentucky basketball took a strong step forward on Monday night with the long-awaited announcement that Ramel Bradley will sign with the Cats later this week. He made it official during a press conference at his school in Bradenton, Fla.

"They say that the sun always shines here in Florida," Bradley began, "but I don’t think that the sun shines any brighter than at My Old Kentucky home. I have decided to attend the University of Kentucky and play basketball for coach Tubby Smith and the Kentucky Wildcats."

Bradley was considering UK, Boston College, Georgia and others before settling on the Cats.

"You have to have that feeling," Bradley told WLAP radio, which carried the news conference live. "Of all the colleges that we recruiting me, I just think that me and family got that feeling from coach Smith.

"Kentucky is a very big program, and real intense," he added. "I feel that I can come in there and be a big help because I’m real intense. I think I’ll fit right in."

Intensity is one of just three adjectives that Bradley’s coach at the IMG Pendleton Academy was sprinkling throughout his comments.

"He’s got a tremendous work ethic, unbelievable intensity and enthusiasm," Mike Moreau told WLAP. "He’s the kind of guy that everybody wants on his team and nobody wants to play against.

"It’s not necessarily a measurable thing," Moreau said. "Ramel is just one of those guys that when he’s on the floor, good things happen. He makes players around him better. He plays with that great intensity and that’s infectious. Whether it’s a 3-on-2 drill in practice, the last minute of the game or just shooting jumpers with another guy, he just brings a level excitement and enthusiasm and intensity to it that you just don’t find, not just at the high school level, but any level of basketball."

Bradley, a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder from New York City, averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists last year.

"I consider myself point guard that can score a whole lot," Bradley said with a laugh. "I think I can do both, but I prefer being a point guard."

He is now preparing for his first season at the Pendleton Academy.

"We felt like he certainly had the potential to be that good," Moreau said. "But as he knows, it’s only the beginning of the journey. He’s worked very hard to get to this point, but now the work really starts as he tries to prepares himself to play at that level and to play at a storied program like Kentucky."

Bradley’s announcement culminated a long recruitment by Kentucky, spearheaded by UK assistant Scott Rigot.

"The assistant coaches do a lot of the ground work and Scott Rigot did a tremendous job being on Ramel early last summer and following his progress," Moreau said. "Then once they identified Ramel as guy they really liked, they really stepped up the recruitment. They stayed in touched and followed through and did all the things necessary to land a player of his caliber.

"The bottom line," Moreau said, "is that you recruit to find a guy to help you win at a very high level and anybody who has seen Ramel Bradley play, and doesn’t think that, probably is in the wrong profession."