Ron Bradley, whose 49-year coaching career included stops at eight different high schools in Georgia, joins former Birmingham, Alabama high school star and Auburn Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan in the 2012 class of the National High School Hall of Fame.
Bradley, Sullivan and 10 others from around the country will be inducted into the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame July 11 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The 30th Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be the closing event of the 93rd annual NFHS Summer Meeting.
Bradley retired in 2010 with a record of 1,019-322 in boys basketball and 353-91 in girls basketball. His 1,019 victories in boys basketball ranks eighth all-time nationally. Bradley, whose longest coaching stints were at Newton County High School (21 years) and George Walton Academy (12 years), won three state championships in boys basketball. A three-sport star and 1953 graduate of Avondale High School in DeKalb County, Bradley also coached football (130-69-6) and baseball (158-60).
While at Newton County, Bradley’s teams established a national record by winning 129 consecutive home basketball games from Dec. 11, 1959 until Dec. 28, 1967.
The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 by the NFHS to honor high school athletes, coaches, contest officials, administrators, performing arts coaches/directors and others for their extraordinary achievements and accomplishments in high school sports and activity programs. This year’s class increases the number in the Hall of Fame to 398.
The 12 individuals who will be inducted this summer were chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders. Nominations were made through NFHS member associations.
