Shawn Bradley made basketball fans gawk as a 7-foot-6 Brigham Young University freshman, but that's nothing compared to the figure he cuts as a Mormon missionary in Australia with a new-found love for rugby.

      The towering, rawboned center who led BYU to a 21-13 record and the NCAA playoffs in 1991 is no less imposing now that he's traded trunks and jersey for suit and tie.But his parents say Bradley's quick smile and love for children have won many new converts for the 8.4-million member church.

      "Shawn loves Australia and has had a lot of success," says his mother, Teresa. "Shawn's always been really friendly. That, and his height, have helped him a lot," she said in a telphone interview from Castle Dale, Utah. "The first thing they ask is, `How tall are you?' and if he plays basketball."

      Oh yes, Bradley can play basketball, though he may now be a bit rusty. In his few hours of free time he coaches an undefeated 10-year-old basketball team that won its last game 103-0.

      In his first season at BYU, Bradley led the nation in blocked shots (177) while averaging nearly 15 points and eight rebounds per game.

      If he had a weakness, it was maintaining weight. At a spare 210 pounds, he lacked the bulk to hold his position under the basket against heftier, though shorter foes.

      But the cooking of Polynesian members of a Mormon ward in Sydney has done what BYU trainers were unable to do - add some bulk to Bradley's scarecrow-like frame.

      "He talked about the pit roasts they'd have, where they throw in a pig and some chickens. He said it was the most delicious thing he'd tasted," said his father, Reiner.

      Bradley, whose Church labors have since taken him from Sydney to Tamworth and Canberra, may soon be feasting again. His mission president has told him he'd try to put him back with the Polynesian brethren in the final months of his mission, which ends in May.

      That's welcome news to BYU coach Roger Reid, who would love to see Bradley stride back on campus this summer around 280 pounds.

      "I was hoping he'd gain a lot. He needs weight and strength," he said. "The minute he gets back, we'll get our strength coaches with him."

      Reid also hopes Bradley can resist the lure of potential NBA millions to forget about earning a degree. Bradley's parents say he'll play at least one more season at BYU, but their son won't commit to more.

      "That's something Shawn will have to decide," Reid said. "When we recruited him, the situation was he was going to come here to play and graduate. I think it would be a mistake (to go pro early)."

      So does Scott Layden, director of basketball operations for one potential pro suitor - the Utah Jazz.

      "He really needs some time filling out and developing, and I think that's what college is for," he said. "He's got great God-given talent, anyone off the street can see that - but right now he just needs to mature."

      For the Bradleys it's a tough call, and probably not the last they will face with an athletic family genetically programmed for height - Reiner is 6-8, Teresa 6 feet.

      In addition to Shawn, there's Justin, a 6-8 Emery High sophomore, and Tasha, a 6-footer whose earned a full-ride basketball scholarship to College of Eastern Utah. Adrianne, at 5-6, is the only seventh-grader on her junior high team.

      "If Shawn continues through his senior year, there's always the chance his little brother could play with him. He'd be a freshman," Reiner muses.

      But first, Bradley must try to overcome his two-year layoff from serious basketball.

      While Bradley will have the maturity of age and perhaps needed poundage, returning missionary athletes often find their skills and timing are off, Reid says.