Cory Bradford (born December 4, 1978) is an American professional basketball player for Zhuhai Wolf Warriors. Bradford, a dominant high school guard, led Memphis's

Raleigh-Egypt High School Raleigh-Egypt High School (REHS) is a secondary school ( grades 9–12) located at 3970 Voltaire Road in Raleigh, a section of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Shelby County Schools district. It shares a campus with Egypt Cen ...

to a 1997 District 2A Championship while averaging 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game in his senior season. Bradford, an all-state, all-conference selection, was listed as the 72nd best high school prospect in 1997. He also averaged 22 points and nearly eight rebounds per game as a junior. Bradford went on to play for the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

for four years, 1998–2002. He was part of the 2000–01 and 2001–02 back-to-back Big Ten championship teams coached by

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

. Each team qualified for the

NCAA men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

with the 2000–01 team advancing to the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...

. Bradford scored 1,735 career points with 275 assists, 108 steals while having a .389 field goal percentage for the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic facili ...

. Bradford's most prominent claim to fame was his NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-point field goal at 88 games before the streak was snapped on Feb. 13, 2001 against Wisconsin.

College career

1997–98 season

Bradford played in one regular season game before making the transition to "

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

" status.

1998–99 season

As a freshman, Bradford appeared in all 32 of the Illini's games. He totaled a record-setting 494 points with 25 steals, 62 assists and hauled in 84 rebounds. Bradford led all Illini players in many scoring categories including total points (494), field goals made (174), field goal attempts (450) and making 85 three-point field goals after attempting 205. Bradford connected on a three-point field goal in each game of the season. Bradford was honored at the end of the season by being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year as well as making the Third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and the

Basketball News Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender ...

All-Freshman second team.

1999–2000 season

During Bradford's sophomore season, he again started in all 32 games. He finished the season as the team leader in points (490), three-point field goals (96 of 255) while averaging 15.3 points per game. Bradford continued his streak of consecutive games with a three-point field goal by making one in each game in this season. Under the direction of

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State Uni ...

, the combination of Bradford and freshmen Frank Williams, Brian Cook and junior Marcus Griffin helped to create a resurgent Illini by finishing the season nationally ranked at 21 by the Associated Press. Bradford would be named to the Second Team All-Big Ten selection by both coaches and media following the season.

2000–01 season

The Fighting Illini experienced a new head coach and a change in philosophy led by the play of sophomores Frank Williams and Brian Cook along with senior forward Marcus Griffin, Bradford's role became more focused on what he did best, making three-point baskets. This new direction benefited the Illini by pushing them into a first place tie in the conference as well as a berth in the

of the 2001 NCAA tournament and an Associated Press ranking of 4 at the season's end. During the course of the season Bradford made 72 of 194 three-point shots, however, he saw his 88 consecutive game shooting streak snap on Feb. 13, 2001 against Wisconsin. Even with a reduced role, Bradford finished the season with the fourth highest point total averaging 9.9 points per game. As a tribute to Bradford's efforts, he was an Honorable-mention All-America selection by the Associated Press as well as an Honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection by the media.

2001–02 season

Bradford's senior season once again saw him start in all 35 games that the Illini played. Bradford would again lead the team in three-point shots made as well as attempted. Along with Frank Williams, Bradford was named the team's captain. Bradford was third on the

in scoring with 406 points (11.6 per game), only trailing Williams and Brian Cook. Through his leadership and accurate shooting, the Illini would repeat as Big Ten champions as well as finishing the season as part of the Sweet Sixteen in the

2002 NCAA tournament The 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the champi ...

. Individually, Bradford finished his four seasons at Illinois with 1,735 points, currently the fifth highest point total in the history of the Fighting Illini, and 327 three-point attempts, currently number one in Illini history.

Professional career

Bradford began his career with the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 NBA Development League season, 2011–12 season, the team relocat ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) during the 2002–03 season. He was named to the CBA All-Rookie Team.

References