Brad grew up in Washington, NC. He was 9 years old when his father took him and his younger brother to Hunters Pointe to shoot their first round of sporting clays. That is where they met Scott Downs, an All-American and former Junior National Sporting Clays champion. Scott quickly recognized that young Brad was a natural shotgunner and took him under his wing. They started to travel to shoots together and Scott took Brad to his first National Championship in 1992 where Scott would capture the National title