2016–17 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by second-year head coach Brian Wardle, played their home games at Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 13–20, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Drake in the first round before losing to Wichita State in the quarterfinals.

2016–17 Bradley Braves men's basketball
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	13–20 (7–11 MVC)
Head coach	Brian Wardle (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Drew Adams Mike Bargen Jimmie Foster
Home arena	Carver Arena
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Illinois State	17	–	1		.944			28	–	7		.800
No. 19 Wichita State†	17	–	1		.944			31	–	5		.861
Northern Iowa	9	–	9		.500			14	–	16		.467
Southern Illinois	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Loyola Chicago	8	–	10		.444			18	–	14		.563
Missouri State	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Bradley	7	–	11		.389			13	–	20		.394
Evansville	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
Indiana State	5	–	13		.278			11	–	20		.355
Drake	5	–	13		.278			7	–	24		.226
† 2017 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Braves finished the 2015–16 season 5–27, 3–15 in Missouri Valley play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to Loyola–Chicago.

Preseason

The Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll picked Bradley to finish in eighth place in the MVC.^[1]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Ka'Darryl Bell	0	G	6'1"	200	Senior	Chicago, IL	Graduated
Anthony Fields	3	G	6'0"	160	RS Senior	Detroit, MI	Graduated
Joel Okafor	4	G	5'11"	175	Freshman	Richmond, IN	Transferred to Indiana Wesleyan
Davante Cooper	5	C	6'10"	215	Freshman	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to Tyler JC
Jackson Kane	10	G	5'10"	175	Senior	Roseville, IL	Walk-on; graduated
Scottie James	24	F	6'8"	215	Freshman	Tarpon Springs, FL	Transferred to Liberty
Mike Shaw	32	F	6'8"	230	RS Senior	Chicago, IL	Graduated

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
JoJo McGlaston	24	G	6'3"	180	RS Junior	Dublin, CA	Junior college transferred from Diablo Valley College

2016 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Koch Bar C	Jacksonville, FL	Arlington Country Day School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jul 2, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (76)
Jayden Hodgson PG	Gosford, Australia	Centre of Excellence	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A	Nov 30, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NG)
Nate Kennell SG	Metamora, IL	Metamora Township High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A	Jul 1, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NG)
Darrell Brown Jr. PG	Memphis, TN	Germantown High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Feb 7, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NG)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: –    Rivals: –
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Bradley Commit List for 2016". Rivals. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "ESPN – Bradley Braves Basketball Recruiting 2016". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved August 29, 2016.

2017 Recruiting class

College recruiting information (2017)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ryan Stipanovich SF	Saint Louis, MO	De Smet Jesuit High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 16, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: –    Rivals: –
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Bradley Commit List for 2017". Rivals. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "ESPN – Bradley Braves Basketball Recruiting 2017". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved August 29, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved August 29, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 Bradley Braves men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Lou Griffith (W) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Washington Community HS Washington, IL F 1 Donte Thomas 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Thornwood HS Calumet City, IL G 2 Ronnie Suggs 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Vermont Academy Washington, MO G 3 Antoine Pittman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Auburn HS Rockford, IL G 10 Darrell Brown 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Germantown HS Memphis, TN C 12 Koch Bar 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Arlington County Day School, FL Abyei, South Sudan F 13 Luuk van Bree 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Canarias Basketball Academy Venray, Netherlands F 14 Peter Hanley (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Notre Dame HS Peoria, IL F 20 Jerome Merritt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Oldsmar Christian School Hudson, FL G 23 Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Bristol Academy Flyers London, England G/F 24 JoJo McGlaston 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Dublin HS Diablo Valley College Dublin, CA G 25 Nate Kennell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Metamora Township HS Metamora, IL F 30 Callum Barker 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Notre Dame Prep Hobart, Australia F 34 Alex Foster 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Seton Academy Texas Tech Joliet, IL G 35 Jayden Hodgson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr UCSSC Lake Ginninderra Gosford, Australia	Head coach Brian Wardle (Marquette) Assistant coach(es) Drew Adams (Tennessee) Mike Bargen (Marquette) Jimmie Foster (South Dakota) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 6, 2016* 2:00 pm		Wisconsin-La Crosse	W 83–66		Carver Arena (4,682) Peoria, IL
Non-conference regular season
Nov. 11, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Illinois-Springfield Gulf Coast Showcase Opening game	W 70–55	1–0	Carver Arena (5,176) Peoria, IL
Nov. 13, 2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Delaware	L 49–63	1–1	Carver Arena (4,897) Peoria, IL
Nov 18, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Southeast Missouri State	W 84–78	2–1	Carver Arena (5,142) Peoria, IL
Nov 21, 2016* 12:30 pm		vs. Hofstra Gulf Coast Showcase	L 90–92	2–2	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
Nov 22, 2016* 10:00 am		vs. Wofford Gulf Coast Showcase	W 70–62	3–2	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
Nov 23, 2016* 12:30 pm		vs. George Mason Gulf Coast Showcase	L 66–77	3–3	Germain Arena  Estero, FL
Nov 29, 2016* 7:00 pm, WEIU-TV		at Eastern Illinois	W 87–83 OT	4–3	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
Dec 3, 2016* 7:00 pm, CSN+/ESPN3		Nevada MW–MVC Challenge	L 69–91	4–4	Carver Arena (5,384) Peoria, IL
Dec 6, 2016* 6:00 pm		at Ball State	L 63–80	4–5	Worthen Arena (2,477) Muncie, IN
Dec 10, 2016* 8:00 pm, ESPN3		Chicago State	W 83–48	5–5	Carver Arena (4,943) Peoria, IL
Dec 16, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Texas–Arlington	L 51–56	5–6	Carver Arena (4,711) Peoria, IL
Dec 19, 2016* 8:00 pm, SECN		at Ole Miss	L 49–66	5–7	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (7,792) Oxford, MS
Dec 21, 2016* 8:00 pm, FSN		at TCU	L 42–74	5–8	Schollmaier Arena (6,258) Fort Worth, TX
Missouri Valley Conference regular season
Dec 29, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Southern Illinois	W 60–51	6–8 (1–0)	Carver Arena (5,989) Peoria, IL
Jan 1, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Wichita State	L 66–100	6–9 (1–1)	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
Jan 4, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Evansville	W 74–63	7–9 (2–1)	Ford Center (3,614) Evansville, IN
Jan 7, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Loyola–Chicago	L 62–78	7–10 (2–2)	Carver Arena (5,506) Peoria, IL
Jan 11, 2017 8:00 pm, MVC-TV		Northern Iowa	W 72–61	8–10 (3–2)	Carver Arena (5,138) Peoria, IL
Jan 14, 2017 12:00 pm, ESPN3		at Indiana State	L 71–81	8–11 (3–3)	Hulman Center (3,969) Terre Haute, IN
Jan 18, 2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Illinois State I-74 Rivalry	L 49–69	8–12 (3–4)	Carver Arena (7,170) Peoria, IL
Jan 21, 2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Missouri State	L 62–76	8–13 (3–5)	JQH Arena (4,854) Springfield, MO
Jan 25, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Loyola–Chicago	L 50–70	8–14 (3–6)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,089) Chicago, IL
Jan 29, 2017 3:00 pm, ESPNU		Wichita State	L 49–64	8–15 (3–7)	Carver Arena (6,001) Peoria, IL
Feb 1, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Southern Illinois	L 65–85	8–16 (3–8)	SIU Arena (4,689) Carbondale, IL
Feb 4, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Drake	W 79–72	9–16 (4–8)	Carver Arena (5,815) Peoria, IL
Feb 8, 2017 8:00 pm, MVC-TV		Indiana State	L 54–56	9–17 (4–9)	Carver Arena (5,004) Peoria, IL
Feb 11, 2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU		at Illinois State	L 50–64	9–18 (4–10)	Redbird Arena (9,380) Bloomington, IL
Feb 15, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Iowa	L 61–64	9–19 (4–11)	McLeod Center (4,225) Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 18, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Evansville	W 84–72	10–19 (5–11)	Carver Arena (5,968) Peoria, IL
Feb 22, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Missouri State	W 77–68	11–19 (6–11)	Carver Arena (5,474) Peoria, IL
Feb 25, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Drake	W 82–74	12–19 (7–11)	Knapp Center (7,152) Des Moines, IA
Missouri Valley tournament
Mar 2, 2017 8:25 pm, ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC	(7)	vs. (10) Drake First Round	W 67–58	13–19	Scottrade Center (5,057) St. Louis, MO
03/03/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC	(7)	vs. (2) No. 21 Wichita State Quarterfinals	L 56–82	13–20	Scottrade Center (9,124) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[2]