Nate Brafford to transfer from Tuscola to private school
Tuscola junior and star basketball player Nate Brafford will not be returning to the Mountaineers for the 2020-21 season. He will transfer to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, a private school, an anonymous source told the Mountaineer, and Nate’s father, Jason Brafford, confirmed Friday evening.
The family made the decision earlier this week, saying the biggest reason was it gives Brafford the opportunity to reclassify into the 2022 recruiting class for college basketball.
Brafford had an incredible junior season in 2019-20. He set a new school record for points in a single game with 51 in an overtime win over Enka and led the entire state of North Carolina in scoring with 33.9 points per game.
That drew the attention of college coaches; Brafford has one confirmed offer from North Florida and has drawn interest from ACC schools, Big 10 schools and many local Southern Conference Schools.
The issue, however, is his size. Brafford has the required height at 6-foot-8, but he weighs in at only 170 pounds. Many of the college coaches wanted him to reclassify into the 2022 class in order to take an extra year to get bigger and stronger.
Reclassifying isn’t an option at a public school like Tuscola, but it is at a private school. The Brafford family received offers from numerous private schools after the season, and decided on Rabun Gap-Nacoochee this week.
“Nate wants to play at the highest level he can possibly play at, like most kids,” Jason Brafford said. “That ultimately made the decision for us. Then it was down to picking which school we would like. If he was 200 pounds, we would have stayed where we were at. He loves his teammates, he loves his coaches. It’s going to be a little bit more intensive as far as training and stuff, nutrition programs, weight lifting, it’s a little bit more structured at these private schools.”
Brafford will live at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, which will offer a sizable discount on tuition, Monday through Friday, and the opportunity to work with a nutritionist with the goal of getting bigger.
While Brafford has the option to stay in high school the extra year, his father said he’ll likely have the required credits to graduate in 2021, and reclassifying doesn’t preclude him from heading to college then if he gets a desirable offer. He’ll also get to play against tougher competition and learn more about the mental side of the game as well.
“It’s going to be huge, not only to grow my body physically but also mentally,” Brafford said. “I’ve talked to the coach [Roger Cox] at Rabun Gap a lot, and he really stresses work ethic and taking yourself along, thinking and training more as a professional athlete instead of just a normal high school student. I definitely think it’ll help for recruitment.”
A difficult, but necessary choice
The decision to leave Tuscola, his coaches, teammates and fans was not one Brafford and his family made lightly. He has been playing with many of the same teammates since he was six years old, from PeeWee to Tuscola.
“I just wanted to say thanks to coach Messer and everyone at Tuscola for all the time I’ve spent there,” he said. “I’m grateful for all of it, all the friends that I’ve made since I played PeeWee ball when I was really little. I’ve played with the same group of guys and had the same group of friends. So I’m definitely going to miss everyone there.”
Brafford also thanked the Tuscola fan base, and those who supported him throughout his whole career in Waynesville.
Tuscola junior and star basketball player Nate Brafford will not be returning to the Mountaineers for the 2020-21 season. He will transfer to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, a private school, an anonymous source told the Mountaineer, and Nate’s father, Jason Brafford, confirmed Friday evening.
The family made the decision earlier this week, saying the biggest reason was it gives Brafford the opportunity to reclassify into the 2022 recruiting class for college basketball.
Brafford had an incredible junior season in 2019-20. He set a new school record for points in a single game with 51 in an overtime win over Enka and led the entire state of North Carolina in scoring with 33.9 points per game.
That drew the attention of college coaches; Brafford has one confirmed offer from North Florida and has drawn interest from ACC schools, Big 10 schools and many local Southern Conference Schools.
The issue, however, is his size. Brafford has the required height at 6-foot-8, but he weighs in at only 170 pounds. Many of the college coaches wanted him to reclassify into the 2022 class in order to take an extra year to get bigger and stronger.
Reclassifying isn’t an option at a public school like Tuscola, but it is at a private school. The Brafford family received offers from numerous private schools after the season, and decided on Rabun Gap-Nacoochee this week.
“Nate wants to play at the highest level he can possibly play at, like most kids,” Jason Brafford said. “That ultimately made the decision for us. Then it was down to picking which school we would like. If he was 200 pounds, we would have stayed where we were at. He loves his teammates, he loves his coaches. It’s going to be a little bit more intensive as far as training and stuff, nutrition programs, weight lifting, it’s a little bit more structured at these private schools.”
Brafford will live at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, which will offer a sizable discount on tuition, Monday through Friday, and the opportunity to work with a nutritionist with the goal of getting bigger.
While Brafford has the option to stay in high school the extra year, his father said he’ll likely have the required credits to graduate in 2021, and reclassifying doesn’t preclude him from heading to college then if he gets a desirable offer. He’ll also get to play against tougher competition and learn more about the mental side of the game as well.
“It’s going to be huge, not only to grow my body physically but also mentally,” Brafford said. “I’ve talked to the coach [Roger Cox] at Rabun Gap a lot, and he really stresses work ethic and taking yourself along, thinking and training more as a professional athlete instead of just a normal high school student. I definitely think it’ll help for recruitment.”
A difficult, but necessary choice
The decision to leave Tuscola, his coaches, teammates and fans was not one Brafford and his family made lightly. He has been playing with many of the same teammates since he was six years old, from PeeWee to Tuscola.
“I just wanted to say thanks to coach Messer and everyone at Tuscola for all the time I’ve spent there,” he said. “I’m grateful for all of it, all the friends that I’ve made since I played PeeWee ball when I was really little. I’ve played with the same group of guys and had the same group of friends. So I’m definitely going to miss everyone there.”
Brafford also thanked the Tuscola fan base, and those who supported him throughout his whole career in Waynesville.
