NBA champion and ESPN basketball analyst Adrian Branch to visit Cape

Editor's note: The following story has been edited to reflect the correct time of the Saturday talk.

A man who played high school basketball at the same time as NBA superstar Michael Jordan will be in Cape Girardeau at 8 a.m. Saturday: 1987 NBA Champion and 12-year ESPN basketball analyst Adrian Branch.

Branch will present a message focused on striving for excellence at La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau, part of a weeklong tour in the area. Admission is free.

Bob Nations -- member of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International -- is responsible for making connections with Branch and inviting him back to Southeast Missouri, he said. The last time Branch was in Cape Girardeau was in 2016.

"I met him quite a few years ago, and we connected recently before he started with ESPN," Nations said.

Branch joined ESPN in 2007 as a college basketball analyst, according to ESPN's website. He is a former guard/forward and second-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls, following a collegiate career at the University of Maryland.

Nations said Branch is a "very humble man and very spiritual."

"I think people could be inspired spiritually," he said of Saturday's event, adding 200 muffins and cupcakes have been ordered from My Daddy's Cheesecake Bakery and Cafe.

Nations added, "His spirit is to help people and to help them overcome."

During Branch's four seasons in the NBA, he also played for the Los Angeles Lakers, the New Jersey Nets, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the website stated. He and Jordan played together in the McDonald's All-American game, for which Branch received the most valuable player award.

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