After playing the waiting game, Braggs is grateful to be at Montana

On a typical day over the past year, Johnny Braggs will wake up early to get ready for remote school at 8 a.m. During his lunch break, he'll sneak a home workout in, taking advantage of a weight room in his house. Once his school day is complete, Braggs will finally leave the house to get a second workout in, this time with his personal trainer.

After dinner, it's back to the gym for shooting and open gym.

The past year has been a challenge for most around the world, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but especially for a person like Braggs. While the 6-3 shooting guard is grateful for his health, his senior season didn't go as he envisioned.

Most of his AAU schedule last summer was wiped away, leaving a void during a prep star's most pivotal summer. Instead of playing in gyms across the country filled with college basketball coaches left and right, Braggs was stuck at home, shooting in an empty gym.

The pandemic also wiped out Braggs' senior season at Bishop Gorman High School, another opportunity for him to be in the spotlight.

"After COVID hit, we tried to find tournaments, but that didn't last long," Braggs said. "Maybe two, three weeks, before it was all cut off. Since then, it's been pretty hard to have anything going on aside from training."

There's something readers should know about Bishop Gorman, Braggs' high school in Las Vegas: it's unlike any high school you've likely experienced.

"It's unreal," Braggs described. "It's a power-house program, and athletically, we want to be ready to play at a national level, against the top competition, so everything is very structured. We don't have a lot of free time because everything is planned out so that we can be the best athletes possible."

From the way its athletes train to the way it travels and competes, and the exposure it receives, Bishop Gorman is more a college-level university than a high school – and ask any one of its players, and they'll tell you they could beat more than a handful of Division-I schools.

"It's just so different," Braggs continued. "In a normal league, you might play against one or two players who go on to the next level. Here, pretty much everyone we're playing is going on to the Division-I level or higher."

Bishop Gorman not only is the best team in the state of Nevada, but among the top high school programs in the entire country. Playing for a national powerhouse like Bishop Gorman, it took a few years for Braggs to earn his role.

But as teammates continued to transition from Las Vegas to the Division-I ranks, Braggs worked his way up. Braggs started his junior season as the Gaels' sixth man, but when Noah Taitz – who became a top-100 recruit and recently finished his freshman season at Stanford – went down with an injury, Braggs entered the starting lineup, where he averaged 12.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Bishop Gorman won a ninth consecutive state title and earned a No. 14 national ranking.

"I had to step up, so that whole year I just kept pushing myself and working hard," Braggs said. "It wasn't really pressure, but our team, the expectation was for us to win, so I just had to make sure I didn't let my teammates down."

He was ready to take an even bigger step in 2021, trying to elevate his personal game while also vying for a 10^th consecutive state championship, which would have set a national record.

But playing for a private high school that mostly plays public schools on a national level, traveling from state to state, Bishop Gorman's season was canceled, leaving Braggs without an opportunity to showcase his talents on the big stage.

Most high-school prep stars sign their National Letter of Intent to play at the collegiate level during the early signing period, in November. But with less exposure, and even greater, less scholarship opportunities, considering the NCAA marked the 2020-21 season an exempt year – meaning current student-athletes could play the year without losing eligibility – it in turn left fewer open scholarships on college rosters.

In short, opportunities were scarcer than they should have been for a talent like Braggs.

Montana, for example, did not sign a single player to an NLI in November, instead choosing to wait and see what needs developed. The Grizzlies weren't alone, with many teams doing the same thing, and thus leaving a large sum of high school players unsigned.

"I was ready to have a breakout senior season," Braggs said. "I was hoping for a great senior year, I was hoping for that 10^th state championship. Obviously that didn't happen.

"It was hard, working out and practicing but not getting to play, not having as many opportunities to play in front of coaches. I tried to keep my spirits up and prayed to God that something would work out, but it was hard."

Braggs had interest from a wide range of schools. He was in talks with places like Duquesne, Pepperdine, Oregon State and others. But when Montana presented him his first Division-I offer, he didn't hesitate.

"Montana was my first offer and I committed right away," Braggs said. "I loved everything the coaches had said, and once other schools started to look more at me, I shied them away, because my commitment to Montana was 100 percent."

Braggs announced his decision on Twitter in February and made it official in April, during the spring signing period. He will graduate from Bishop Gorman this weekend, before moving to Montana at the end of the month.

Due to recruiting restrictions he wasn't able to visit campus, but spent plenty of time on the phone with the coaching staff and even some of his new teammates, as they showed him around campus via FaceTime.

"Montana seems like a college basketball community," Braggs said. "The college is the whole center of attention, and I liked that. Then, you throw in how much the coaches pursued me and showed me they wanted me, and the players I talked with, they seemed like great guys and I liked their vibe and energy. Everything seemed like a family."

As good as Bishop Gorman has been at basketball, its following is just as strong. Braggs is used to big crowds, and big exposure, and he's excited to experience Griz Nation in person.

"The energy that the crowd gives… The heckling, the cheering, the noise. It's crazy, and I miss that," Braggs reflected. "I'm excited to be back in that environment again."

Braggs is a 6-3, 200-poud wing whose frame makes him look older and more developed than a typical 18-year-old true freshman. That's to say, he will come in and have an opportunity to compete right away, especially playing a position that Montana has lacked, at times, over the past two years.

He can shoot the ball, but he says more than that, he prides himself on his defense, which is where he thinks he can make the biggest impact initially.

"I'm a defensive-minded player," Braggs said. "I like defense and I focus a lot on it. The coaches said that if I come in and play my defensive role, I should be a great fit."

Added his new head coach, Travis DeCuire: "Jonathan Braggs is a combination of a few things. You can never have too many shooters, you can never have too much athleticism and you can never have too much versatility. We think he brings all three of those things, and is someone who can defend in multiple positions and make open shots."

Braggs is excited for the opportunity to play for Montana. He's ready to prove that he's capable of playing right away, and eager to reward the Grizzlies for trusting in him and offering him a scholarship.

Mostly, though, after more than a year away, he's excited to hoop again.

"I'm looking forward to getting to work and showing my teammates what I can do for them," Braggs said. "My journey was kind of choppy, it wasn't a smooth ride. But we got to where we are now and I'm grateful for that."

About Braggs: Goes by Johnny or Jonathan… Is a 2021 graduate of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada… Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin… Raised in Las Vegas… Parents are Deann and Thedious Braggs… Father played basketball at Wisconsin-Whitewater… Played AAU for Vegas Elite… Intends to study communications, with a minor in psychology.

University of Montana Athletics

After playing the waiting game, Braggs is grateful to be at Montana

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