Bradford focuses on career after NFL hopes stopped by pandemic
Three area athletes were among those chosen for the boys 2020 Basketball All-Star teams, which were announced earlier this month by the Arkansas Activities Association via Zoom, a video conferencing website. The annual All-Star Clinic was originally scheduled for June 24-27 at the University of Central Arkansas.
Among the 30 seniors chosen for the two teams were Hot Springs’ Santiair Thomas, Cutter Morning Star’s Ryan Brown and Arkadelphia’s Sam Smith.
Thomas, a three-time All-State and All-Conference player, recognizes that being selected as a player on the All-Star team is “a big accomplishment.”
“It’s an honor to be selected in the All-Star game,” he said. “Also it being in basketball, too, because I’m going to school to play football.”
The Missouri Southern State football signee helped lead the Trojans basketball team to a perfect 14-0 in the 5A South. The Trojans were stopped in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state playoffs with a 69-65 loss to defending state champion Marion.
Thomas was disappointed that the All-Star game was canceled due to the fact that he would be unable to play against some of the other top talent in the state.
“I really wanted to play with Ryan (Brown) one more time,” he added. “We played AAU together in the summer, and I really just wanted to play against the best talent in Arkansas — see how that would play out and get to know new players and new athletes.”
Hot Springs head coach Antoni
Lasker said that being named to the All-Star team “is a major honor.”
“He’s done a lot for this program,” he added. “He’s done a lot for this school. He’s a tremendous athlete (and) a tremendous person. He was 1,000-point scorer (and) won Player of the Year in our conference as a sophomore. He’s done a lot of great things for this program. It’s just really good to see him get recognized for all of his accomplishments.”
Brown also had hopes to compete with his former AAU teammate once again in the All-Star game. However, Brown’s “main goal” of making the team is still rewarding.
“I really wanted to make the team, and then playing in the game is part of it, so without the game it does kinda suck, but I’m just thankful to be named an All-Star player,” said Brown. “It’s still pretty cool to be on that team. … I put in a lot of work for basketball so being named All-State three times, it made me feel proud of the work I’ve (done). Then being named (to) the All-Star team, that was like my main goal. It paid off.”
Lasker said that one detriment to the athletes caused by the cancellation of the game is that some will miss their final chance to play basketball, and they will miss out the chance to “network.”
“Those young men worked extremely hard to get to that point and for all of them to get that recognition and not be able to go out there, perform and compete against each other and just network, build relationships and things of that nature, it’s kinda sad,” he explained. “But at the same time just the fact that they were recognized and able to be thought of to be in the game is huge. You have a lot of guys (who) will probably be playing in that game that this will be their last time playing basketball. … It’s sad that they missed out on that opportunity to play in that game because it is a big deal, but just to be recognized in that is something that they all should be proud of.”
Brown has hoped and pushed for a spot on the All-Star team since joining the CMS varsity team as a freshman.
“Whenever I was in ninth grade I was moved up to the high school team, and that year we had a senior (who) made it on the All-Star team,” he explained. “I didn’t even really know about the game or making it on that team until then, and then ever since I heard that he got it I was like,
‘Oh I really want to do that.’ … It was kind of a goal as well as just being All-State.”
Arkadelphia’s Sam Smith led the Badgers (22-7, 10-2 4A-7) in scoring and rebounds during his senior campaign as the 6-6, 250-pound weapon helped lead the team for the first time.
“I really feel honored because I’ve never been selected until this year,” he said. “I’ve never been ‘the man’ on my team until this year, and I made it work.”
Shooting 82% from the free-throw line and 45% from 3-point range, the power forward averaged 23 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots per game.
Arkadelphia assistant coach Garrett Garner said Smith wanted his coaches to “challenge” him.
“Sam came to us this year from a smaller school in Gurdon,” he added. “He came to us early on, and I just asked him kind of what his goals were, and a lot of times kids are saying, ‘I want to go to college,’ and do all that, but from day one he just told me he wanted to be challenged every day to be the best that he could be. And I told him, ‘If you’ll allow myself and (head) coach (Donald) Williams to coach you, we’ll make sure that you are the best at what you do. I think all of the coaches in our conference felt that way; they voted him in as the best player in our conference. He was unanimous, and there was no question about it.”
Smith is disappointed about the fact that the game will not take place, but he is looking forward to what lies ahead as he moves on to play on the colle- giate level.
“Because it’s my last year, it sucks,” he said. “I wanted to do everything that I can but obviously I can’t. I’m committing to North Arkansas for a year or two and then to a four-year school. (My coaches) helped me a lot. … We had a lot ot talks about the next level. I really appreciate (them) for everything.”
Despite a quiet disposition and humble presence on the court, Garner recognizes the fact that Smith’s talent and craft “speaks for itself.”
“He’s a very self-driven kid,” he explained. “He wants to make sure that he’s a pleaser and that he does everything right for his coaches and his teammates. He’s not a vocal guy, he’s not gonna just yell or get loud and try to motivate that way, but he is one that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna let my game do the talking.’ … When you’re averaging over 20 points and over double-digits in rebounds, it kind of speaks for itself on what he’s done this year.”