Longhorns Look for Avery Bradley to Dominate as a Frosh

ESPN.com writer Dana O’Neil filed a story yesterday about Longhorns freshman guard Avery Bradley and the impact he should have this season.The story touches on his humble nature, the lack of buzz surrounding him outside of Austin and his affection for defense. All good things when you’re playing for Rick Barnes.

“You ask Bradley, who many figure for a one-and-done, if he thinks about his future and he sheepishly says, ‘People tell me I have potential, but until I go out there and prove it, what people say or think about me doesn’t matter.’

There’s a word for kids like Bradley.

In a sad testimony to the state of the game today, that word is throwback.

‘The thing about Avery, he doesn’t come in here thinking he knows everything,’ Texas coach Rick Barnes said during the recent Big 12 media day in Kansas City. ‘He came in here this summer to work out with Kevin [Durant] and Justin Mason and he was like a little puppy, following them around. He’s just got it figured out.’

Bradley comes to Texas as perhaps the quietest top prospect in recent memory. While many of his 2009 classmates turned recruiting into a soap opera — waffling in their commitments or flat-out reneging, staggering through the multistep process of the NCAA clearinghouse or letting their proud papas make noise in the papers — Bradley gave his verbal to the Longhorns in September 2008. Then he just played basketball.”

With returning players like Damion James, Dexter Pittman and Dogus Balbay, along with other incoming freshman like Jordan Hamilton, the 2009-10 Longhorn men’s basketball team figures to be an elite national title contender.

It’s going to be a fun season at the Erwin Center.

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