Michigan’s Mr. Basketball
Words. HShoop
A year after Corperryale “Manny” Harris beat out future Spartans Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers in a hotly contested race for Michigan’s Mr. Basketball, Frankenmuth senior Brad Redford walked away with the honor as the top player in ’08. He was a Class B unanimous selection for the award.
Redford and Harris couldn’t be two more different players – Harris is a 6-4 slasher who almost always blows past the first guy who tries to check him. He can score in the lane, but prefers to elevate and finish at the tin. On the other hand, 6-0 Redford doesn’t need to get past anyone to score. Honestly, before watching some tape of this kid, some of us thought that Arkansas-commit Rotnei Clarke was the best shooter in ’08. Redford blows him away. Don’t believe it? WATCH.
He has whole defenses zoning in on stopping him, but still torches them. It’s laughable. Teams can’t extend their zones far enough to account for his range. He’s banging three’s from 25, 30, even 35 feet.
“He’s only 6-foot, but he’s our tallest starter,” said Frankenmuth coach Tim Crawford. “We didn’t have an inside game. It was all on the perimeter. He faced every gimmick defense you could imagine.”
Despite those gimmicks, the Xavier-commit averaged 37 points per game for a total of 929 on the season and 2,122 over his career. During this campaign, he set the state record with consecutive free throw makes – 102 in a row. And he would have finished just short of the national record for free throw percentage over his career. He actually finished one make short.
“Some clown (in the stands) had an air horn and set it off just before Brad shot. He missed. If he had made that free throw, he would have set the national record,” Crawford said.
If you want some more Redford highlight material, check his 53 point game HERE.
