PEORIA — Bradley Basketball arrives in May with a variety of lineup options after a five-strong rookie class filled out its roster for the 2024-25 season.
May is for camps, the beginning of the scheduling process, and figuring out who will fill out the starting lineups. So let’s take a speculative look at Bradley’s potential lineups ahead of a new 2024-25 season in the Missouri Valley Conference.
2024-25 Bradley Basketball Roster: Who still has eligibility?
Picking Bradley’s 2024-25 starters
The Braves had center Darius Hannah work on his 3-point shot this offseason. It is possible that he will test in 4th place. That will likely depend somewhat on the development of 6-foot-10 newcomer Corey Thomas, sophomore big Almar Atlason and 7-foot-10 Ahmet Jonovic as potential solutions at No. 5.
There appear to be three starters etched in place: Duke Deen at point guard, Zek Montgomery at the 2nd guard or wing, and Hannah at the 4th or 5th spot.
The Braves are deep and versatile. They could play Deen and Montgomery at guards, Christian Davis at wing, Hannah at 4 and Thomas at 5 and bring Atlason off the bench.
Or they could go with Deen at point guard, former Notre Dame star and fifth-year guard Connor Dillon or Demarion Burch at 2-guard, Montgomery at wing, Davis at 4 and Hannah at 5 and have Atlason and Thomas off the bench .
Davis can also come off the bench, while Atlason, Thomas and Jonovic fight for two attacking spots. There are several combinations that could work, and coach Brian Wardle will find them once camp begins.
Who is on Bradley’s agenda for 2024-25?
Later this spring, the task of building Bradley’s schedule will begin. Wardle says the process will begin in May, after teams have finalized their rosters and assessed what type of team they have.
He says the process heats up in July. Bradley has no games back from past contracts, all of his game agreements have been fulfilled. Therefore, the Braves’ schedule is open for 2024-25.
New Missouri Valley Coaches for 2024-25
The 2024-25 campaign could be known as the season of change in the Missouri Valley Conference. At least in charge of almost half the league team. Missouri State, UIC, Southern Illinois, Drake and Indiana State all have new coaches. Here’s a look:
Transfer Portal: Missouri Valley basketball players in the NCAA transfer portal
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State of Indiana: Matthew Graves takes over for Josh Schertz after an outstanding season. Schertz switched to SLU. Graves, who has been an associate coach since 2021 at Indiana State, takes over a program hit hard by 10 players leaving for the NCAA transfer portal. Among those who left were center Robbie Avila and guards Isaiah Swope, Jayson Kent, Julian Larry and Ryan Conwell, all MVC players.
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Drake: Darian DeVries’ departure for West Virginia opened the door for Ben McCollum. He is the architect of an NCAA Div.-II dynasty program at Northwest Missouri State University. He capped his 15 seasons there with national championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022. He went 394-91 and won five NABC Div.-II national coach of the year awards.
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Illinois-Chicago: The Flames fired head coach Luke Yaklich after four seasons and hired Rob Ehsan. The former UAB coach spent the last three seasons as associate head coach and offensive coordinator for Pac-12 Conference team Stanford. He was the Cardinal’s top recruiter and their offense ranked among the top 35 in the country.
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Southern Illinois: The Salukis dispatched Bryan Mullins on the weekend of the Arch Madness tournament. In his place comes Scott Nagy, the former Wright State and South Dakota State coach whose 577 career wins ranks 18th among active NCAA Div.-I coaches. He was a three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year with Wright State and took the team to the NCAA and NIT tournaments. Nagy was on the coaching staff at the University of Illinois under Lou Henson on the Illini team that reached the Final Four in 1989.
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State of Missouri: The Bears fired Dana Ford at the end of the Arch Madness tournament and made his old coach their new coach. They brought back Cuonzo Martin, who led the Bears to their only Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship in 2011. He has a 264-198 career record in 14 NCAA Division I seasons at the helm at Missouri State ( 2008-11), Tennessee, California and Missouri. His teams have made nine postseason appearances in that span, including four in the NCAA and NIT.
Dave Eminian is a sports columnist for the Journal Star and covers Bradley, Rivermen and Chiefs men’s basketball. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared in the Journal Star: 2024-25 Bradley basketball roster: Missouri Valley starters, schedule and new look
