Bradford, a 6-foot-7 former Kansas University guard/forward, plans on attending the Utah Jazz’s minicamp on July 11 in Salt Lake City.

If all goes well, the Fayetteville, Ark., native could play for Utah’s summer league team in hopes of landing an invitation to fall training camp. If things don’t pan out, he still could try out for Kansas City’s new ABA team or apply for a spot on an IBL or CBA roster.

“I’m going to try to play. I’m going to go to the free-agent camps with a very confident attitude,” Bradford said Wednesday after serving as speaker at Roy Williams’ basketball camp.

“When I finish playing, I want to get into coaching. I still have eight hours of school left. When I finish that, I’m going to try to get a grad assistant job.”

The left-handed shooting Bradford, who averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 boards a year ago, currently has a soft cast on his sprained left wrist. He says the wrist will be 100 percent healed by the time he visits the Utah camp.

On Wednesday, Bradford told the campers there were some trying moments during last year’s 23-10 campaign.

“After we lost to Michigan State and Illinois, my mother could tell I was down so she sent me some inspirational material I put on my locker and read every day,” Bradford said, sharing the material with the campers.

“We did play well in the (NCAA) tournament and came together as a team. I wasn’t happy we lost (to Duke in Round Two) but we gave it 100 percent and left it all out on the floor.”

Bradford fielded one of the most shocking questions ever put to a player by a camper.

“Why do you guys choke in the tournament every year?” a youngster asked Bradford during a question-and-answer session.

“To choke … you have to get there. We get there every year,” Bradford said. “We won three conference championships while I was here. I don’t think you could call it choking.”

Later, Bradford chuckled when asked about the youth’s question.

“One thing about kids, they are very open. They don’t hide anything,” Bradford said. “He had enough guts to say it. I respect that.”

All’s well that ends well for Stevenson: KU signee DeShawn Stevenson, a 6-5 guard from Fresno, Calif.’s Washington High, was taken by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA Draft.

KU coach Roy Williams predicted Wednesday at his camp Stevenson would be taken by, guess who?

The Jazz.

“I don’t think anybody is ever really ready, but if there is anybody at that stage, DeShawn has all the tools. He’s a great youngster. He will work extremely hard,” Williams said.

“He’s like a sponge. He’ll try to get as much coaching as he can, and do what the coaches tell him to do. And he’s got a lot of gift. If you start out with the gift he has, then you are starting out ahead of most people.”

Can Stevenson excel right away?

“When you get a player like that, you realize it might take him a little more time,” Williams said. “But when he gets there he can possibly be at a higher level than some of those other guys that don’t have those gifts that may have had that experience in the college game.”

Can Stevenson compare to Paul Pierce, who left KU after three years?

“DeShawn is a better ballhandler right now than Paul was when Paul left here,” Williams said. “DeShawn played point guard half the time in high school. DeShawn does not compare to Paul Pierce. His is not as ready as Paul Pierce. But neither was Jonathan Bender and he was the fifth pick (last year by Indiana).”

Like Williams, Bradford wishes him well.

“The NBA wasn’t his first choice. He had some things not work out (with test scores) so he went that way. He turned a bad thing into a good thing. I wish him the best. I always thought for sure he was coming here. He loved the guys and wanted to play in college, but it didn’t work out.”

Of Stevenson, ex-Jayhawk Raef LaFrentz said: “He’s got exceptional ability. One thing … at that level everybody does. He’s going to have to get with the right people to nurse him along. It remains to be seen how long it takes him to catch on,” added LaFrentz, a standout with the Denver Nuggets.