Tuscola's Brafford shoots to milestone

“Coach [Nathan] Messer said before the game, just go in and handle business,” Brafford said. “[Skip Moss] even said, don’t do anything out of the ordinary, just shoot normal shots. I didn’t really think about scoring, I just wanted to come up with the win.”

As Brafford continued to pile up points in his third varsity season, the milestone came up quickly, without many realizing how close it was.

“It was unbelievable because of how rapidly it happened,” Messer said. “We were just talking at the beginning of the year, we didn’t know how many points he was going to have to score. We were thinking he was going to have to score 30 points a game and we didn’t know if he was going to be able to do it. Then we go out and he’s doing it, it crept up on us really quick. It was very exciting to see.”

For a Tuscola team that sits third in the WMAC conference at 4-3 in league play and has big expectations, Brafford’s leadership by example and play has played a huge role.

He sets the tone, and his teammates follow his lead.

“Leadership, IQ, he demands a lot from the kids and they respect him for that,” Messer said. “The reason is that when we walk off the floor, he’s still practicing. He works with [Kevin Cantwell], and other kids see that and are like ‘Oh, my Lord.’ That’s mad respect from kids. They understand that’s why he is where he’s at.”

Brafford’s numbers have skyrocketed from his freshman season to now, something he’s quick to credit his teammates for.

“I’ve just gotten more confident with myself, my dribbling, shooting, pretty much everything” Brafford said. “I think the team has also gotten a lot better since the beginning of the year, everyone finding each other, people being unselfish. We’ve got people in there that don’t really score much, but they set screens on my man too. They’re really unselfish.”

A big mantra of Messer’s coaching philosophy has always been roles. Everyone on the Tuscola team has a defined role and knows what it is.

Nate has blossomed from a do-it-all, supporting cast type player early in his career to the undisputed leader and go-to scorer.

“He went from being a role player and sitting behind Landon Henley and Max Rogers,” Messer said. “He started but he was back there. He’s just bided his time, and still does everything, rebounding, assists, steals, blocking shots. Now, he’s the man with the scoring, so he’s growing and his IQ just gets better and better and better as he’s going.”

What Brafford’s done this season has been jaw-dropping from a statistical standpoint. As of last Thursday’s win over Franklin (a comeback in which Brafford put up 33 points in the fourth quarter), MaxPreps had him as the leading scorer in the state of North Carolina with 39.4 points per game.

He set a school individual game record with 51 in an overtime win over Enka, and has scored over 40 points four times this season, and 50 or more twice. And people outside of Haywood County, and outside the State, are taking notice.

“He’s put us on the map,” Messer said. “We’re there, and he’s put us on another level. We just got invited to play in a tournament next season in Illinois because of Nate. That’s huge respect for our program, our school and what he stands for.”

Being able to put his school and community “on the map”, as Messer said, is something Brafford takes pride in.

“It’s pretty cool,” Brafford said. “The mountains, especially Tuscola and Haywood County, we don’t really get much recognition anywhere else. So it’s definitely cool getting more people starting to take notice of us.”

Of course, Brafford’s exploits have gotten plenty of attention locally.

He’s a role model for local kids, not just because of his eye-popping production, but his hard work and approach to the game.

“I’ve got a child that’s playing middle school and I’ve got kids that come and watch him,” Messer said. “All the kids talk about Nate. They’re looking up to him, and now I can tell you, he’s there because of his hard work. We’ve coached tall kids before. But he is working at his skill, and that’s the only way he can get there. It’s easy now to point him out and have a great example for those kids and the young kids in the Waynesville area to see.”

Being that role model, and the player everyone is watching, is something Brafford doesn’t take lightly.

“It means a lot,” Brafford said. “I’ve just got to come out every night and play my best, never take a night off. If people do come to watch me, the kids or even a college scout, people are always watching, you’ve always got to bring your A-game every night.”

As Brafford continues his junior season and prepares for the rest of his high school career, he’s got goals in mind. A conference championship and state playoff run for the Mountaineers is chief among them.

Landon Henley’s school record of 1,930 points could be in play. Whether Brafford knocks down more records or not, one thing’s for certain: the people he means the most to are his teammates, as evidenced by Tuesday night’s pregame conversation.

“It’s a team sport and our kids understand it’s a team sport,” Messer said. “But they want to see his success. Before the game, we talked about if it happens, it happens. One of the kids said, ‘If he scores 27 and we win, we’re excited.’ and Nate was all in on that. But one of the other kids said, ‘If you can’t get a timeout, coach, we’re going to foul somebody so that we can celebrate with him. That’s what’s so huge about this team. The camaraderie they have is great.”