The time has arrived.
After reaching the 20-win mark last season for the first time since 2009, the Bradley men’s basketball team feels ready to compete for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
“It’s very realistic,” senior guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye said. “We’ve been preparing for this. We know what we’re capable of doing. When we play the right way we play together. It’s on everyone’s mind. Everyone is ready.”
One of the major questions of the offseason was how the Braves would fill the void forward Donte Thomas left after graduating last spring. Thomas led the team in rebounds and was the team’s second-best scorer last season.
Despite losing Thomas, head coach Brian Wardle said the team’s depth and scoring ability will be the driving factor to the team’s success.
“We have a lot of weapons, offensively,” Wardle said. “We could have a new leading scorer every game. We have six or seven guys that could put the ball in the basket and have some big games for us.”
Among the talent returning to the Braves are guards junior Darell Brown, last season’s leading scorer and a Preseason All-MVC honoree and junior Nate Kennell, the team’s go-to 3-point marksman.
The team’s big men include sophomore forward Elijah Childs, who is poised to take over the rebounding effort Thomas left and junior center Koch Bar, who started 22 games last season.
The incoming freshman class features 7-foot-1 center Ari Boya, who is sidelined at least until conference play with an ankle injury and second-team IHSA All-State honoree Armon Brummett from Decatur. Ja’shon Henry, a native of Saskatchewan, Canada, was ranked as the ninth best Candian basketball player in the class of 2018.
“[This group of freshmen was] what we wanted to recruit,” Wardle said. “We needed to get longer and stronger and more athletic and these three guys are not freshmen bodies. They’re junior, senior bodies as freshmen. It’ll be fun to see how they grow and develop.”
Wardle particularly noted Henry’s diverse skill set makes him unique.
“He can handle the ball. He can shoot it from three a little bit,” Wardle said. “He’s kind of like an old-school Charles Barkley. He’s a 6-foot-6-inch matchup problem. He can go post you up, but he’s quick off his feet and uses his body well.”
Wardle pointed to the team’s defense and rebounding, two areas the Braves excelled in compared to the rest of the MVC, as the team’s biggest strengths. Despite having one of the lower 3-point total in the conference (217) compared to rival Illinois State who ranks 42nd in the nation (301), Wardle said the Braves would rely on post presence to find scoring.
“We’ll shoot threes when they’re presented to us, but we will play inside out and we’ll get in that paint a lot,” Wardle said. “You’ll be seeing that from us especially from Koch, Elijah, Luuk [van Bree], and when Ari gets back, we got a lot of size down here that can score.”
With young blood and depth on board, this year will be the last go-round for four seniors Luuk van Bree, Lautier-Ogunleye, Peter Hanley and Luqman Lundy.
Lautier-Ogunleye reflected on his time at Bradley, being one senior who played during the 2015-16 season when the team won five games, the program’s lowest win total in the MVC era.
“It feels weird,” Lautier-Ogunleye said. “When I got here as apart of the youngest team in America, we had 11 freshmen and now it’s gone completely full circle and now I’m the old man of it. The coaches have challenged me to take more of an older role and just try help out with the younger guys.”
In the offseason and during a trip to Europe, the team had extensive time to spend with each other. Lautier-Ogunleye said spending time with his teammates eating meals, playing games and traveling took team chemistry to new heights and it was apparent in practice.
“We’ve been able to get defensive rotations down a lot smoother and a lot earlier than normal,” Lautier-Ogunleye said. “We’ve never had all our plays in this early and we want to concentrate on executing the little things rather than teaching.”
The team’s first game against UW-Parkside is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at Carver Arena in downtown Peoria. The schedule also features a matchup against NCAA-tournament regulars SMU in Cancun, Mexico on Nov. 20 and New Mexico on Dec. 1 at Carver Arena.
After being narrowly defeated by Final Four finalist Loyola in the second round of the MVC Tournament, the team is determined to make up for last season shortcomings.
“We’re on a mission,” Lautier-Ogunleye said. “Yes, there’s going to be fun games like Cancun and the home games in non-conference, but every Missouri Valley [game is important] because we know every game matters.”
