NAM PHO Junior guard Jalina Bradley does
her part to help the women’s basketball team keep their spirits
up.
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
It is not easy to lose, especially when a team is associated
with an athletic program known for its tradition of excellence.
But the UCLA women’s basketball squad still plays its guts
out game in and game out. Practice after practice, they find a
way.
Much of UCLA’s continued mentality to fight is due to its
5-foot-7 starting guard, Jalina Bradley.
She has contributed significant numbers to the team, averaging
6.3 points and 3.5 boards per game.
But it is not only what shows up on the stat sheet that makes
her a valuable part of the team. Rather, it is her pure optimism
before and after games that sets her apart from any other
athlete.
“After every one of our losses, she was always there for
us and always telling us to keep our heads up,” Bruin point
guard Natalie Nakase said.
In her circle of close friends and teammates, Bradley is known
as “A.J.” ““ short for Air Jalina, a nickname she
earned during her early years of playing, and rightly so.
Bradley has been nothing but a positive source of energy and
confidence for a team that has been struggling as of late. The
Bruins could have easily thrown their hands up in the air and
simply surrendered.
Instead, according to head coach Kathy Olivier, Bradley provides
the team with the encouragement that her players are currently in
desperate need of.
“She’s fun to coach because she is so
confident,” Olivier said. “I can get on her, and
she’ll look me dead in the eye and say, “˜What do I do
next?’
“She doesn’t get down, and I think that says a lot
about her personality more than anything.”
Always the first one to laugh and to cheer, Bradley has the
ability to basically keep her head up after hard-to-swallow
defeats.
“We have to let losses slide pass by us and look
forward,” Bradley said. “If we keep on dwelling on
losing the game before, then we will lose focus on the game that is
in the present.
“If I continue to stay positive, then maybe we as a team
will also be positive.”
After being first introduced to basketball by a good friend at
the tender age of 12, Bradley quickly grew fond of the sport and
played it whenever she could.
Under the tutelage of coaches Pat Bell and Luis Johnson of
Oxnard Channel Islands High School, Bradley matured from playing
against friends to battling against real, competitive teams.
Slowly, she was becoming more of an offensive threat, averaging 20
points and five assists per game during her high school stint.
Named Pacific View League MVP and first-team All-State in her
senior year, she quickly carved a name for herself in the Ventura
County area.
With such an impressive resumé, there is little doubt as to
why she captured the eyes of many college coaches.
But when UCLA showed some interest, the decision was easy.
“I really wanted to come here since I was in fifth grade,
so when the opportunity came up, I just wouldn’t let it pass
me by,” Bradley said. “I’m very
grateful.”
Her dreams of being able to proudly don UCLA’s blue and
gold were somewhat disrupted her freshman year. After playing in
just nine games, A.J. suffered a season-ending injury, fracturing
her right foot. For the first time in her career, she was watching
her team from the bench dressed in street clothes.
“It hurt just sitting back, watching your team, and
knowing you could be in there doing something to help them out. I
was still in the sideline, cheering and being positive, but I just
wished I was in the game.”
A little injury could not possibly stop her ““ Olivier knew
it and so did Bradley. Working hard to get back to her pre-injury
form in the summer, she quickly bounced back and earned her first
starting position in the Bruins’ season-opener against
Duke.
And, in true A.J. fashion, she did all of it with a smile.
Since then, it has just been a little too surreal for the
Bruins’ guard, who does what she loves the most in the place
where her heart belongs.
“Yesterday, I was walking around, and I just kind of took
my time looking at the banners, at the floor, at the seat ““
it is just really nice,” Bradley said. “It just feels
like home to me.”
Fortunately for the Bruins, she still has one more year left in
her collegiate career. That means one more season of hustle plays,
tireless effort and, maybe more importantly, confidence boosting
smiles from the Bruin guard.
Undoubtedly, Olivier will be pushing A.J. to improve even more
before letting her move onto the increasingly competitive WNBA
““ a transition that Bradley hopes and is confident of
making.
“I know she’s a smart kid and I think she can do
whatever she wants to,” Olivier said. “I know
basketball is a big part of her life, and she hopes to continue
that after college.
“Hopefully, she gets that chance.”
But, until then, A.J. could be seen in the venerable Pauley
Pavilion floor, in the bench, in the locker room jumping and
routing like an endless source of energy.