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Missouri Valley Team Preview (Bradley Braves)

By Valley Voice, Section Other Sports
Posted on Tue Nov 09 2004 at 5:32 AM EST
More on: (all tags)

Forgive Bradley if they spend the pre-conference part of their schedule with "Hello, my name is..." stickers as part of their uniforms. Seven newcomers join a roster that has only one senior and two juniors. The transition of playing together with all the new teammates will be eased a bit by the fact the Braves were able to play five games in four days on a Canadian trip in mid-October. The result: five wins, and more of a comfort level with unknown teammates. On the flip side, Bradley lost nearly 50 ppg and 20 rpg due to graduation and departures. No Valley team lost even close to that.

No team in the conference lost more in the backcourt than the Braves. Phillip Gilbert, James, Gillingham, and Marcello Robinson were the backbone of the team for the last three seasons. The most experienced guard left is 6'3" Sophomore J.J. Tauai. He did see action in all 31 games last year to the tune of 3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, and 1.5 apg. In a league with many veteran guards, three newcomers will need to take notes fast. Expected to be the starting PG is lightning-fast 5'10" redshirt freshman Daniel Ruffin. Ruffin led the local high school team in Peoria to a state championship in his senior season. 6'0" Junior Tony Bennett comes in after averaging 20 ppg and 5 rpg at Pratt CC in Kansas. The third new guard is 6'5" Freshman Jeremy Crouch. Crouch is a local product as well, and comes in with the reputation of being a good shooter.

This team will certainly get better as the season goes on, and if Sommerville doesn't bolt for the cash after this season, they could be a real player in the conference race as early as next year. Coach Jim Les prefers a fast-paced, pressing style and said the lack of depth would not allow the team to play that way. He feels he can go 10 deep now instead of the 7 deep of a year ago, and will now be able to incorporate that style more. A little too much inexperience makes it difficult to pick them higher than eighth heading into the season, but to find them three to four spots higher up the rung at the end of the season wouldn't be surprising.

Predicted League Finish: 8th (6-12)