CARLOS BRACKLEY CLASS OF '97 YEAR OF INDUCTION: 2018 Hey Roger Bigos and Bob Hutchinson! If you didn't know it already, Carlos Brackley was really listening to what you were saying in the 1990s. He might be better known for his extensive baseball accomplishments, but Carlos was very important to the basketball program at Steinert High School. "Basketball was just as fun and important to me as baseball," said Brackley, a three-sport varsity performer at SHS. "Mr. Bigos and Mr. Hutch told me to embrace my role. I'm not those guys, they are star basketball players, but I have a contribution I can make to this team." "Those guys" are teammates such as Dahntay Jones, who would later become a pro, as well as Brian Bigos and Dave Hutchinson – all of whom have been inducted into the SHS Athletic Hall of Fame chiefly for their basketball exploits. "My role on the team changed through my sophomore, junior and senior seasons as Brian Bigos, David Hutchinson and Dahntay Jones emerged as 'The Big 3.' But I genuinely embraced that, and one of the great honors I received in high school was being named by the late Trentonian writer Jim Davis to his 'All-Davis' Team both my junior and senior seasons," he said. "The honor was given to players that exemplified the values of team, hustle, work ethic and enthusiasm." His impact was felt as a senior on the SHS team that went 25-3 winning the conference title and Central Jersey sectional banner and finishing runner-up in the state finals. "I made a last-second steal in the state semifinal game against Middle Township, passed the ball up the court to Dahntay who made the game-winning basket as time ran out to send us to the state final in Atlantic City," he remembered. "That was a special moment and I am as proud of it as any in my high school career, baseball included." And, that is really saying something since Carlos played on multiple championship baseball teams at SHS, made the all-state team twice and played for two Carpenter Cup teams. Later, he was also selected to the Mercer County All- Decade Team for the 1990s. He moved on to Wake Forest University where he captained the 2001 team that won the ACC championship. "I was very lucky to have been on three (ACC) championship teams with great players at Wake Forest," Brackley said. "Over my four years, 20 Wake Forest players signed professional contracts." Brackley was signed by the Boston Red Sox and was named Tops Minor League Player of the Month for August of 2001. Twice he was named a minor-league all- star and compiled a .283 average with 35 homeruns over five professional seasons. RETURN TO THE HALL OF FAME MEMBERS PAGE