Ron Bradley is a household name in Newton County and a legend in Georgia.

Now he will be known across the country, as the former Newton High basketball coach will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. on July 11.

"That's pretty neat, we're excited about it," Bradley said. "Sometimes someone in your neighborhood knows when you accomplish something, but when someone across the country recognizes what you accomplish, it's pretty neat."

Bradley coached the Rams for 21 of his 49 years as a high school coach.

He became one of the winningest coaches in high school basketball history amassing a record of 1,019-322 as a boys coach and 353-91 as a girls coach.

The Rams received national fame under Bradley by winning a national record 129 consecutive home games from Dec. 11, 1959 until Dec. 28, 1967.

He retired in 2010 from Heritage High School, finishing with the eighth most boys' basketball wins in history.
Bradley will join such names as Jack Nicholas, Pat Summeral, Paul Horning, Tom Landry, Jerry West, Bill Walton and Herschel Walker in the Hall of Fame, of the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The only other Georgia high school basketball coach in the hall is H.B. Porter, who led Lanier High School in the 1920's.

Bradley will join Porter, Anne Pitts, Larry Campbell and Wright Bazemore as the only other Georgia coaches in the NFHS Hall of Fame.

"It's a nice honor for all these youngsters," Bradley said of the players he coached. "They accomplished something, and I just happened to go along with them for the trip. It sure has been a great ride."

Along with basketball, Bradley was also a baseball and football coach at Newton.

Along with the Rams, Bradley coached George Walton Academy for 12 years.

He attended Avondale High School in DeKalb County, where he starred on the basketball, football and baseball teams until his graduation in 1953.

"Any honor that comes our way, I always feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of a lot of former players and coaches, and the coaches that coached me back in high school and gave me the opportunity," Bradley said. "It's hard to grasp receiving this type of honor at the national level. At the state level we've been fortunate to receive numerous Hall of Fame awards, and on the national level it's very humbling."

The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 by the NFHS to honor high school athletes, coaches, contest officials, administrators, performing arts coaches/directors and others for their extraordinary achievements and accomplishments in high school sports and activity programs.

This year's class increases the number in the Hall of Fame to 398.

Twelve individuals will be inducted this summer and were chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders.

Nominations were made through NFHS member associations.