FLINT, MI – As badly as five-star basketball recruit Miles Bridges is itching for a Flint return to close out his high school career, that won’t be happening.
His mother, Cynthia Bridges, said she is making her son stay put in Huntington, West Virginia, at Huntington Prep High School.
Bridges was rumored return to Flint and possibly play at Powers Catholic or Carman-Ainsworth this season. He would have been eligible immediately, according to MHSAA rules, but his family thought it would be best for him to stay in West Virginia.
“Because of the trouble here and killings, I just don’t want him involved with anything like that … I want him to stay focused on his grades,” Cynthia Bridges said.
Bridges left Flint Southwestern Academy to transfer to Huntington Prep after his freshman year in 2013. He recently narrowed his top five schools list to Michigan State, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Indiana and will make his final decision in the fall.
Bridges returns to Flint for summers, where he keeps his local hardwood ties strong through open gyms and AAU tournaments. His sister, Tara Rushing, said she doesn’t see the need for her brother to change schools.
“It’s not happening,” Rushing said. “He gets a better opportunity out there. He gets to travel. I’m not downing the Flint Schools, I went to Central, but he gets more chances to meet more people and that’s the best thing for him.”
Bridges is a 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward. He averaged 15.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks for Huntington Prep as a junior. Despite how highly touted Bridges’ name is around the national high school hoops circuit, he still has to answer to the head woman of his household when it comes to making big decisions.
“I’d rather come back here but I’ve got to do what my mom says,” Bridges said.