James "Pop" Weathers Commits to Bradley

[LongTimeFan]

https://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/bradley

[Da Coach]

James "Pop" Weathers commits tonight to Bradley.

Here is the info we posted back on January 1-

2022 James "Pop" Weathers- 6'0" second-year point guard at State College of Florida, a junior college in Bradenton, Florida. He is originally from Baton Rouge, LA. He leads the team with an average of 18,8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 5.1 apg. He is shooting 19.0% from three. He averaged 19.5 ppg last season as a freshman qualifier, and reportedly turned down D1 offers to return for his second season at SCF.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/james-weathers

https://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/...otweathersy254

And here is Pop Weathers' tweet from a few minutes ago-

https://twitter.com/james1kbg/status/1508953516580212737

[houstonbrave]

Welcome to BU. We look forward to you joining us….

[Da Coach]

Here are James' final stats for this season at State College of Florida in Bradenton, Florida-

https://www.scfmanatees.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/players/jamesquotpopquotweathersy254

He played 2 seasons at SCF, but will have 3 years of eligibility at Bradley due to the extra Covid year.

[Big Mike]

Nice....Welcome to Bradley James!

[LongTimeFan]

After Roberts left, I did not think Bradley could get his committal. Good job.

I still think they may sign another point guard. They wanted Weathers when Roberts was still at Bradley.

[Da Coach]

I believe what sold Weathers was Roberts entering the transfer portal. The coaches probably wasted no time getting on the phone to Weathers and pressing him even stronger. And Weathers probably realized there was a lot more playing time here, including a good shot at starting right away.

[Da Coach]

Some highlight videos of Weathers-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAvOaFFalgI (video quality poor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OD2og7_dlM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeC08VVNXAI

[bigjimmy]

Welcome to the Hilltop James! Hopefully looking forward to 3 years of many points and assists.

[️ Fanatic]

Thanks for sharing the "highlight" video's. Seems most of the focus was drive first AND his FT% has been pretty good. I am sure Wardle will have a focus on defense, hopefully he can be a strong player on both sides of the court + limited turnovers... Welcome to Bradley basketball James Weathers

[molar50]

Nice to hear some good news

[Da Coach]

Weathers has not been a great three point shooter. He shot just 28% for the season. However, he shot 34.4% in their conference games, and 35.3% in games in February, which included Regional playoff games.
Here is a breakdown of his stats-

https://www.scfmanatees.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/players/jamesquotpopquotweathersy254?view=splits&pos=sh

He had a bad shooting November, just 8.7% from three. He improved to 30.0% in December, 33.3% in January, and 35.3% in February. His overall shooting percentage and scoring totals remained very consistent throughout the season.
His ball handling numbers were terrific. He averaged 4.9 assists per game, and just 1.7 turnovers per game, though junior colleges do not tend to play the same kind of defense he will encounter in the MVC. And for a small guard, he averaged an impressive 6 rebounds per game.

https://www.scfmanatees.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/players/jamesquotpopquotweathersy254?view=splits&pos=bc

[LittleBrave]

We need a kid with some toughness, like DB Jr.
This guy might have that - and not to take anything away from TR, who was phenomenol, but he may not have had that toughness that we needed.

I thought when we were up big on the road (like 3-4 games), we needed someone to be mentally strong to keep us going, and we didn't have that last year. That, along with poor 3-pt shooting, and FT shooting, were the missing pieces to possibly contend.

[bradleyfan124]

We need a kid with some toughness, like DB Jr.
This guy might have that - and not to take anything away from TR, who was phenomenol, but he may not have had that toughness that we needed.

I thought when we were up big on the road (like 3-4 games), we needed someone to be mentally strong to keep us going, and we didn't have that last year. That, along with poor 3-pt shooting, and FT shooting, were the missing pieces to possibly contend.

Drake and Loyola had more experience because most of their players stayed. I expect Bradley will have the same situation next year. Even with TR gone I think Pop will fill in nicely plus the rest of the team will improve tremendously over the summer. Tremendous upside for this team. I expect big things from Bradley next year

[LittleBrave]

Tremendous upside for this team. I expect big things from Bradley next year

I would be pretty disappointed if we finish outside of the Top 3 next season, even with Murray St coming in as the likely favorite.
Lot of key players will be gone from last season from Drake, Mo St.

Northern Iowa should be good, but I think we're just as good as them.
Still TBD, but I expect Belmont to finish middle pack most seasons.