POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Ace Bailey wants to make something very clear every time he talks to the media: He’s from Chattanooga.
A lot of people may not know that, but Bailey grew up on Brainerd Road before moving to the East Lake community. Midway through his sophomore year of high school at Boyd-Buchanan, though, he made the decision to move to Atlanta and play for basketball factory McEachern in suburban Cobb County, where the 6-foot-8 wing has blossomed into the consensus No. 2 prospect in the country as a senior.
“I’m sad that I couldn’t finish it out in Chattanooga, but I still held it down, still continued to work my butt off and play as hard as I can to be in the position that I am now,” Bailey said after totaling 21 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in a recent postseason win. “That’s where I grew up, where I was raised. Everything I know is Chattanooga, Tennessee. That’s where I grew up and I learned all my tools and all this was started.”
His decision was not universally lauded in his hometown, where many local fans wanted to be able to flock to gyms to watch him play and possibly bring back some of the Scenic City hoops tradition that has faded. The last signee to a power conference in men’s college basketball produced by a Chattanooga high school was Tyner’s Michael Bradley in 2010 with Connecticut.
It does sting a bit as the departure of the McDonald’s All-American — Bailey will be the first player from the Chattanooga area in the prestigious high school showcase since Cleveland wing Vincent Yarbrough in 1998 — created one of the bigger what-if situations for the area in recent memory.