Bradley Central High School : History, Athletics, Demographics, Notable alumni Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bradley Central High School

American public high school

Athletics13 Interscholastic Sports TeamsAthletics conferenceTSSAAMascotBearNicknameBearsWebsitebchs.bradleyschools.org

Bradley Central High School is a public high school located in Cleveland, Tennessee that serves approximately 1,700 students from grades 9-12. It was founded in 1916, and is part of the Bradley County Schools system.^[2] The school maintains a crosstown rivalry with Cleveland High School, as well as fellow county rival Walker Valley High School.^[3]

History

The school opened its doors on September 11, 1916, and was the second public high school in the county, after Charleston High School in Charleston, which opened in 1913.^[4] The original campus was located on the present site of Ocoee Middle School, and was called Central High School at first. It was renamed Bradley County High School in 1920 and Bradley Central High School in 1948.^[2] The school was moved to its current location on South Lee Highway (U.S. 11/64) in 1972.^[4] The Jim Smiddy Arena opened Jan. 6, 1973.^[5]

In 2011, the school opened a newly-constructed 25,000 square-foot Fine Arts Center. The $3.3 million project was finished within twelve months and includes 600 seats.^[6]

Athletics

Bradley competes in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) and its sports are:

Baseball (state champions 1994)^[7]
Basketball (state champions 1940, 1942, 1962)^[7]
Bowling
Cheerleading
Cross Country
Football (state champions 1961, 1976)^[7]
Golf
Softball
Soccer
Tennis
Track and Field
Volleyball (state championships 1982, 1991, 1993, 1994)^[7]
Wrestling (27 state championships total)^[7]

Demographics

96.6 percent of the students are white, while two percent are Hispanic, 1.1 percent are African American, 0.1 percent are Asian, 0.1 percent are Pacific Islander and 0.1 are Native American.^[8]

Notable alumni

Mike Bell, Tennessee state senator
Anthony Burger, southern gospel singer and musician attended but did not graduate^[9]
Ryan Casteel, current professional baseball player^[10]
Charles Paul Conn, president of Lee University^[2]
Chad Copeland, basketball player
Rex Dockery, former football college head coach
Dee Gibson, former professional basketball player
Rhyne Howard, current women's basketball player
Brittany Jackson, former professional basketball player
Dale Jones, former professional football player and football college coach^[11]
Tim Long, former professional football player^[12]
Toby McKenzie, businessman and entrepreneur
Terrence Oglesby, professional basketball player in the International Basketball Federation
Christian Pitre, actress^{[citation needed]}
Alvin Scott, former professional basketball player
Steve Sloan, former football college head coach^[13]
Ray Stephens, former professional baseball player

References

^ "Bradley Central High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Armstrong, Christy (May 13, 2016). "Historic Graduation Honors 100th Class". Cleveland Daily Banner. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
^ Nyman, Rick (September 15, 2017). "Bradley Central Coaches Recall Historic Rivalry With Cleveland". WDEF News 12. Chattanooga. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Lillard, Roy G. (1980). Bradley County. Memphis State University Press. pp. 51–52. ISBN 0-87870-099-4 – via Internet Archive.
^ MacCoon, Patrick (December 13, 2016). "Jim Smiddy Arena poses daunting challenge for WV" (PDF). Cleveland Daily Banner. Cleveland, TN. p. 9. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
^ "Bradley Central High School, Fine Arts Center". Architect Magazine. May 26, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bradley Central High School - TSSAA
^ "Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee (TN) - Test Results, Rating, Ranking, Grades, Scores, Classes, Enrollment, Teachers, Students, and Report Card". www.city-data.com.
^ "Gospel Pianist Anthony Burger Dies At 44 While On Gaither Cruise". The Chattanoogan. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
^ "Texas League notebook: Colorado Rockies' Ryan Casteel comes back strong with Tulsa Drillers - Texas League News". Texas League. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
^ "Dale Jones bio". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
^ "Cleveland Daily Banner - Bear trio ink scholarships". Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
^ Ownbey, Gary (October 22, 2016). "Sloan stands alone as best Bear". Cleveland Daily Banner. Cleveland, Tennessee. Retrieved March 23, 2019.