After a long road filled with twists and turns, freshman combo-guard Ronnie Suggs has found a new home for himself at Bradley.
The 6 foot 6 inch, lefty sharp-shooter has shown great versatility playing guard and forward, which he displayed in his 17-point effort against No. 12 Arizona on the road, a breakout performance for Suggs.
Suggs’ journey to Peoria began at Washington High School in Washington, Missouri. He led the Blue Jays to consecutive district championships in 2013 and 2014, while also earning All-State honors from the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association both years. Suggs said he always had aspirations of playing college basketball like his brother Scott, who played for the University of Washington.
However, Suggs delayed his college enrollment for an additional year and decided to attend college prep school Vermont Academy from 2014-2015.
“It was difficult being so far from home and having to trudge through 50 feet of snow all the time, but my time at Vermont Academy was a great experience for me,” Suggs said.
Once at Vermont Academy, Suggs began gaining attention from various programs.
against Ball St., No. 13. Suggs is averaging 5.8 points per game. Photo by Moira Nolan.
“At first, I only had offers from local schools, but the move to prep school opened up so many more opportunities,” Suggs said. “I got the opportunity to play with and against a lot of Top 100 players, which was fun and really helped me improve my game.”
At Vermont Academy, Suggs put up big numbers while leading the team to a 26-2 record, averaging 18 points a gam, and shooting at about 40 percent from three-point range.
While at Washington, Suggs made a verbal commitment to play for coach Frank Haith at Mizzou, but after Haith was fired, Suggs decommitted and re-opened his recruitment.
When he visited Bradley in April 2015, Suggs said he saw an opportunity to play for a school with a great basketball history.
“When I visited, I just felt that the coaching staff here was really bought in and committed to me,” Suggs said. “I walked through and saw all the pictures and banners, and saw that Bradley had such a great history of fan support from from the students and the community.”
In his first season, Suggs said he’s concentrating on improving individually and as a part of the team. He is averaging 5.8 points per game in just over 25 minutes per game so far this season. The sweet-shooting lefty said he’s focused on scoring as well as being committed to being a “glue-guy” on the defensive end of the floor.
“We haven’t won a conference title since 1996, and as a team, we are working hard to get back to that level,” Suggs said.
Off the court, Suggs is a sports communication major, and he is leaning toward minoring in advertising or marketing. Growing up, he said he always wanted to be one of the guys on SportCenter, and he said he still wants to continue pursuing a career in the sports industry, whether it be in broadcasting or journalism.
On a young Braves team, Suggs is concentrating on being a leader, staying talkative on the floor and doing his best to make the team better.
