COLUMBIA, S.C.
Former South Carolina standout Jamel Bradley has changed his basketball shorts and high-tops for police blues.
But he's not chasing bad guys, he's walking the halls of local schools as a resource officer, hoping to keep children from becoming troublemakers.
The 29-year-old former guard shares with the kids how he overcame an 80 percent hearing loss as a toddler to become the Southeastern Conference's career leader in 3-pointers made while at South Carolina.
"I want them to understand there will be obstacles in life, but that if you persevere, you can achieve your goals," Bradley said.
Bradley learned to play basketball in the fourth grade, but it was not until he got to South Carolina and got fitted with a pair of state-of-the-art hearing aids that he "was really able to hear myself," he said.
"I used to talk loud. Now people tell me I talk softly."
He now wears digital hearing aids in each ear.
Bradley completed training at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy this summer and joined the Richland County Sheriff's Office.
He hadn't considered a career in law enforcement until last year when he kept running into Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott at a prayer breakfast and a golf tournament. Lott was a fan from Bradley's basketball days.
"All he talked about was how he wanted to help kids," Lott said.
"That, to me, is what a school resource officer has got to have a love of children. He had that. He came to me with that."
One thing that Bradley wants to do is show the kids in the two elementary schools where he splits his time that police officers are the good guys. He tries to seek out the children who might need a little extra attention or who might not have a positive male role model in their lives.
"He presents himself in a positive way to students," said Lynne Ladue, the principal at Keels Elementary School.
"In an elementary school, it's extremely important students see law enforcement in positive light."
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