Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team makes late addition

~ Junior college All-American Jarekious Bradley signed with the men's squad

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt added another talented piece to the Redhawks 2013-14 roster Thursday.

Nutt announced the signing of junior college All-American Jarekious Bradley, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard/forward who will have two seasons of eligibility with the Redhawks.

Bradley was ranked as the nation's No. 21 junior college player by jucojunction.com. He is rated No. 34 by jucorecruiting.com.

"We're really excited about him," Nutt said. "Any time we can get a player of that stature this time of the year. ... We think he's going to be a really good player for us. We feel like he has a chance to be an impact player."

Bradley earned first-team junior college All-American honors as a sophomore last season when he helped lead East Mississippi Community College to a fourth straight appearance in the national tournament.

Bradley ranked eighth nationally among Division I junior college players in scoring with 21.1 points per game. He also averaged a team-high eight rebounds and ranked second in both steals (40) and blocked shots (21).

Bradley was 11th nationally in free-throw shooting at 87.5 percent. He shot 38 percent from 3-point range and 50 percent from the field overall while registering eight double-doubles to go along with five 30-point games.

"Jarekious is a good shooter and he can really score," Nutt said. "He's strong and physical. He can play a lot of different positions because of his body and the way he handles himself."

Nutt said the versatile Bradley is likely to play the shooting guard and small forward positions for the Redhawks.

"With the makeup of our team, I think he can really add to our perimeter," Nutt said. "He can play the two-three all day long. He can give us that big guard we're looking for."

Bradley transferred to East Mississippi Community College from Midland College in Texas, where he averaged 14.9 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman in 2011-12. He shot 58 percent from the field that season.

Nutt said he and his staff have been familiar with Bradley for some time because they recruited the Memphis native out of high school. He averaged 21.6 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals as a senior at Memphis East in 2009-10.

"We watched him in high school. Obviously he blew up and had some really big schools after him," Nutt said.

Bradley becomes the sixth player on Southeast's current roster from Memphis, including standout senior forward Tyler Stone -- who is Bradley's cousin.

"Memphis is such a tremendous basketball city and [Southeast assistant and Memphis native] Jamie Rosser has done a great job recruiting there," Nutt said.

Bradley does have some baggage in his background, but Nutt said he and his staff did plenty of research and are confident Bradley will be a good fit with the Redhawks on and off the court.

Bradley, after being seriously recruited out of high school by Arkansas and several other major programs, was admitted to Kent State as a non-qualifier in November of 2010. He was later suspended by Kent State and released from the program after he was arrested in July of 2011.

According to published reports, Bradley entered his ex-girlfriend's apartment without permission and demanded money he felt was owed to him. While trying to remove money from her purse, a physical confrontation between the two ensued and resulted in physical injury to the woman. Others in the apartment ultimately gave Bradley money, which resulted in him leaving the residence.

Bradley was charged with one count of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, and one count of criminal damaging, a second-degree misdemeanor. The felony burglary charge was dismissed, but Bradley was placed on probation for the misdemeanor. He has completed his probation, Nutt said.

"My staff and I did a good job of researching his situtaion and staying on top of things. We researched this thing backwards and forwards," Nutt said. "He made a mistake. He paid his dues. He's been really good the last few years.

"I feel like everybody deserves a second chance, but not a third, fourth or fifth chance. We really believe in him and we think he deserves a chance. We think he's a good kid."

Southeast still has one available scholarship for the 2013-14 season, but Nutt said the addition of Bradley likely concludes this year's recruiting.