Bradley Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Braves

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 9: Darrell Brown #5 of the Bradley Braves shoots the ball over Bruno Skokna #4 of the Loyola Ramblers during the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 9, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

The returning cupboard is full for Wardle and the Braves

Wardle does return six of his top nine scorers from last season, including the top three who will all be seniors, Darrell Brown and Elijah Childs led the team in scoring and rebounding respectively last season. Brown scored 14.8 points per game and dished out a team-high 3.2 assists while being the team’s sharpshooter from distance, knocking down 44.4% from behind the three-point line. The 6’7 Childs led the 7.8 rebounds per game and swatted 1.4 shots as well.

While Brown and Childs are the only starters to return from last season, senior guard Nate Kennell and sophomore forward Ja’Shon Henry and even though both players are 6’6 they both have the ability to handle the ball if needed. Senior Koch Bar is the team’s primary big man at 6’11 averaged 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a junior. The other backup big man is sophomore Ari Boya who at 7’1 missed the first half of the season, he saw action in 13 games in the second half of the season.

The newcomers to the Braves’ squad is full of players that are comfortable with the ball in their hands. Of the seven new faces, only one, 6’9 Rienk Mast is a definite forward. The other six, including transfer Danya Kingsby, give Wardle the ability to use some parts interchangeably. The 6’1 Kingsby, who began his career at LSU spent the last two seasons at Southern Idaho where he averaged 12.8 points and 3.8 assists over the two seasons, leading the team to the JuCo national title game in 2018.

The five other freshmen on the roster range in height from the 6-2 Antonio Thomas, who played at East High School in Memphis, formerly coached by Penny Hardaway to 6-7 Stephan Gabriel from Irvington, N.J.