PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley men's basketball team has filled out its nine-game non-conference schedule by reaching an agreement for a two-year series with Southern Mississippi, Braves head coach Jim Les announced today. Bradley will visit Southern Miss Dec. 21 and the Golden Eagles are slated to complete the series by visiting Carver Arena Dec. 20, 2006.
Bradley won the only previous meeting versus Southern Miss, defeating the Golden Eagles 94-86 Dec. 16, 1988 in the first round of the Phenix NCAA Ball in Tokyo, Japan. If fans express enough interest in joining the Braves on the trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., Bradley University is considering making arrangements for fans to visit either Biloxi, Miss., or New Orleans.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Larry Eustachy, the Golden Eagles got off to a hot start in 2004-05 by winning nine of their first 11 games, including an 88-84 overtime win versus LSU on a neutral court in Biloxi. The Golden Eagles were 7-6 at home last season, including 5-0 in non-conference home games. Southern Miss struggled down the stretch, though, and finished 11-17 overall and 2-14 in Conference USA.
In his two previous head coaching stops, however, Eustachy's teams have turned in impressive second seasons. At Utah State, Eustachy's Aggies followed up a 14-13 campaign in 1993-94 by going 21-8 in 1994-95 and earning a postseason trip to the National Invitation Tournament. At Iowa State, Eustachy's Cyclones followed a 14-15 record in 1998-99 by going 32-5 in 1999-00 with a sweep of the Big 12 Conference regular-season and tournament championships and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
If Southern Miss is to make a similar turnaround in 2005-06, it will be done with an overhauled lineup. The Golden Eagles have signed six players to National Letters of Intent, including five since the 2004-05 season ended. Four of the six newcomers are junior college transfers.
Conversely, Bradley did not have a single senior on the 2004-05 roster. The Braves return 10 lettermen, including all five starters, from last year's team that finished 13-15 overall. In addition to the 10 returning lettermen, Bradley has added four new players. The 2005-06 Braves are expected to be led by all-star candidates Marcellus Sommerville (Peoria, Ill./Peoria H.S.) and Patrick O'Bryant (Blaine, Minn./Blaine H.S.). A 6-foot-7 senior, Sommerville is a two-time, first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer who is the only player to rank among the league's top three in both scoring and rebounding during either of the last two seasons. O'Bryant is a 7-foot sophomore center who averaged 10.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last year and became the second freshman to ever lead the Valley in blocked shots (2.8 bpg).
The Missouri Valley Conference is expected to announce the 18-game regular-season league schedule next week. That announcement will complete Bradley's 27-game regular-season slate for the 2005-06 season. Knowing Bradley will host nine Valley home games, Bradley's 2005-06 schedule consists of 14 home games, including visits from Chicago State (Nov. 26), Bowling Green (Dec. 3), Western Kentucky (Dec. 10), Delaware State (Dec. 17) and a to-be-determined Bracket Buster opponent (Feb. 18). The Braves will play 13 road games, including non-conference trips to DePaul (Nov. 19), Loyola-Chicago (Nov. 30), Butler (Dec. 6) and Southern Miss (Dec. 21).
