Brady MacAdams’ ‘night and day’ transformation is leading Archbishop Wood through the PCL playoffs
MacAdams, a role player last year at Wood, averages 16.8 points per game this season and will lead No. 10 seeded Wood against top-seeded St. Joseph's Prep in Thursday's PCL quarterfinal matchup.
Archbishop Wood junior Brady MacAdams has an insatiable desire to improve, win, and prove people wrong.
The 6-foot-4 wing with deft shooting touch and spring to spare likely has the attention of Catholic League opponents.
He was, after all, a first-team All-Catholic League selection earlier this week.
If that wasn’t enough, perhaps PCL opponents also recognize a familiar focus coming from a guard at Wood who unexpectedly emerged.
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“I see a little bit of a Collin Gillespie, who came on later in his four years,” Wood coach John Mosco said of MacAdams Wednesday.
Gillespie took the league by force as a senior at Wood and parlayed his prowess into an offer from Villanova, a PCL crown, a PIAA title, an NCAA championship, Big East player of the year awards, and a 2023 NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets.
Mosco also sees traits reminiscent of brothers Tommy and Andrew Funk, both former standouts at Wood.
Tommy finished his career at Army as the Patriot League’s all-time leader in assists. Andrew played at Bucknell and Penn State and is currently with the Nuggets’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold.
It’s not so much MacAdams’ game that conjures those who came before him. He’s more explosive athletically than many of his predecessors. His competitiveness and work ethic, though, appear on par with the others.
“He sent me a text today,” said Wood assistant coach Pat Haggerty. “It was a Collin Gillespie tweet from February of 2014 that says, ‘I’m going to get to the Palestra.’”
MacAdams texted, “This gave me chills.”
Haggerty shared the exchange with Gillespie to show that players at Wood are still following his lead.
On Thursday at 4 p.m., MacAdams will get his chance when Wood (11-12), the No. 10 seed in the PCL playoffs, faces host St. Joseph’s Prep (17-5), the league’s top seed, in the quarterfinals.
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MacAdams already helped the Vikings get past host Bonner-Prendergast, 71-59, in Tuesday’s first-round matchup. He led all scorers with 22 points.
On the season, MacAdams, a role player last year at Wood, averages 16.8 points per game. He’s also shooting 52% from the field, 52% from behind the three-point line, and 80% from the foul line.
In 28 games last season, he scored just 106 points total while shooting 42% from the field, 34% from three, and 59% from the foul line.
“Night and day,” Mosco said of the transformation. “He just came back with so much confidence.”
MacAdams earned his confidence the hard way. He’s a “gym rat,” according to his coaches, who joked that it was odd to see him in a suit and tie at a school dance recently instead of his usual workout attire.
After practices, MacAdams often heads to a local gym to lift weights. Then he’ll return home, eat, and spend more time shooting.
Teammates have noticed. Instead of MacAdams hoping to give the ball to former Wood star Jalil Bethea like last season, teammates now look for him.
“I would say I’m comfortable,” MacAdams said of the new role. “Like I said, I put in the hours. So I’m comfortable with the moment and everything that comes with it.”
It seems frequent battles with his older brother, Collin, a 6-5 forward who graduated from Central Bucks West in 2018, also may have contributed.
“We battled every day,” MacAdams said. “Playing one-on-one it was always a fight. Every time, it turned into a fight.”
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So far, MacAdams has gotten recruiting interest from some Division I programs, but high school juniors aren’t a priority for college coaches who can choose veterans from the transfer portal.
MacAdams isn’t worried about college just yet anyway. If Wood wins, it would become the first 10-seed to reach the PCL semifinals at the Palestra.
“I just want people to know,” he said, “that we’re coming to play.”