Despite posting 20-win seasons in five of the last seven years, Bradley has only made one NCAA Tournament appearance in that span. Could the Braves dance for the first time since 2019?
To say that the Missouri Valley Conference underwent some changes this offseason would be an understatement. Gone are the head coaches from both the defending MVC champions (Indiana State) and the runners-up (Drake). So, too, are 15 of the total 16 all-conference selections.
In addition to Matthew Graves taking over the Sycamores and Ben McCollum now leading the Bulldogs, more fresh faces are set to walk the Missouri Valley sidelines. Scott Nagy (Southern Illinois) and Rob Ehsan (Illinois-Chicago) are making their head coaching debuts in the MVC, while Cuonzo Martin is returning to his old stomping grounds at Missouri State.
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In a league with so much change, perhaps its steadiest teams are poised to emerge on top. Bradley is still led by head coach Brian Wardle, who has led the program to at least 20 wins in five of the last seven years, and he also brings back three key players from a 23-12 (13-7 MVC) unit. One of those, point guard Duke Deen, is the only All-MVC selection to return to the league for 2024-25.
The sneakiest “stability” might be at Drake, where new head coach McCollum brought along four of his key contributors from a 29-5 team at Northwest Missouri State last season. They experienced a ton of success over the years in Division II, but how will the Bearcats-turned-Bulldogs fare in D-I? Don’t forget about longtime mid-major threats like Northern Iowa, Belmont and Murray State, either.
All in all, the regular season could twist in many different ways on the road to Arch Madness. Buckle up.
1. Bradley Braves
With Indiana State and Drake dominating headlines last season, Bradley got a bit lost in the shuffle despite posting its best KenPom finish (No. 64) since 2007. In fact, only Drake has won more MVC games than Bradley since 2019. But with the DeVries boys gone for West Virginia, the door is wide open for a Braves team that returns 61.6 percent of its scoring.
The lone returner from the All-MVC First Team, Duke Deen (13.9 ppg, 3.9 apg, 38.1 3P%, 88 3PM) sets the tone offensively at point guard. He and 6-8 forward Darius Hannah (11.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) will spearhead the attack, while senior wing Christian Davis (7.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) also returns after averaging 27.2 minutes. However, the loss of two-time MVC DPOY Malevy Leons is a huge one.
With Leons anchoring the paint, the Braves finished top-two in MVC defensive efficiency for three consecutive years. Without him, Wardle will need even more out of Hannah, who had a superb block rate (5.4, 148th in D-I, per KenPom), steal rate (2.9, 246th) and offensive rebounding rate (10.7, 171st). Expect MVC all-freshman Almar Atlason (4.6 ppg, 41.0 3P%, 41 3PM) to chip in, too. While not a “stocks” producer (0.5 steals+blocks), Atlason is poised for a larger role as a sophomore. Bradley was 8.8 adjusted points per 100 possessions better defensively with him on the floor:
D-II transfer Connor Dillon (21.6 ppg, 39.0 3P%, 87 3PM at Winona State) will help offset the loss of Connor Hickman and give Deen some support on the perimeter. Zek Montgomery also returns to Bradley after spending last season at URI, where he averaged 9.6 points. In the frontcourt, 6-10 JUCO transfer Corey Thomas (12.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 36.6 3P% at Cowley) supplies some of the floor spacing that Leons left behind.
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