4. Bradley Braves
Brian Wardle is second only the Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson in terms of coaching in the MVC. Wardle is starting his eleventh season in Peoria, Illinois but for the first time his coaching staff has undergone some big changes and his roster is a little less ‘known’ than in recent seasons.
He may have his best high school recruiting class ever, two outstanding transfers and a nucleus of returners that should make this another successful season. Last year’s team won two of three National Invitation Tournament games and finished the season with a gawdy 28-9 record. Gone is team leader Duke Deen, but his protégé’s DeMarion Burch and Jaquan Johnson are prepared to step in. Burch is a high-flying 6’4 lefty and Johnson a 5’11 bowling ball. While Johnson didn’t start a game as Deen’s understudy, Burch started the three NIT contests. Johnson was named to the Valley’s all-freshman team.
Three big men with great experience return. 7’1 Ahmet Jonovic, 6’10 Corey Thomas and 6’8 Timoty Van der Knaap are a formidable group of frontcourt players. Van Der Knaap came on late in the season and was highly productive at the NIT. Jonovic started 18 games last year and is a traditional center from Serbia.
Thomas put on ten pounds of muscle and is an athletic player that will take on the role left by Darrius Hannah last year and Malevy Leons the previous season. He can hit the three, block and shot and make a steal. He has big upside.
Local prep stars Matthew Zobrist and Deitrich Richardson are two of the top ten players coming out of the State of Illinois. They were high school rivals and AAU teammates. Wardle’s ability to land these two players could be program changing.
Montana Wheeler is another highly touted rookie coming to Bradley from Texas. All three players come from basketball families where fathers, uncles and brothers played high-level hoops.
Transfers Alex Huibregste and A.J. Smith bring a combined 139 starts and proven D1 credentials. Wright State transfer Huibregste averaged 13.5 points last season and accumulated 1,179 over his four-year career. Smith is a 6’7 senior from James Madison. He averaged over seven points and six boards last year.
Wardle wins with veterans and he has plenty of those and now he also has explosive rookies. Watch out for an explosive season in Peoria.