PEORIA, Ill. -- Boasting the top two returning scorers in the Missouri Valley Conference and a highly-touted recruiting class, Bradley has been picked No. 8 in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, according to a vote of 31 coaches from around the country and released Wednesday evening.
Bradley is one of five Missouri Valley Conference teams to make the preseason Top 25 and the Braves are the third Valley team among the top eight, following Southern Illinois (2) and Missouri State (7). In addition to the two games Bradley will play against each of its MVC opponents, the Braves also are scheduled to play No. 3 Butler (Dec. 19) and No. 5 VCU (Dec. 22) this season. The home game Dec. 22 versus VCU is part of the Power Pack multiple-game home ticket package currently on sale at the Robertson Fieldhouse Box Office, which also includes tickets to the Iowa State (Nov. 14), Michigan State (Dec. 4) and O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters (Feb. 23) games for a total of just $40.
Although Bradley did lose its top two scorers from a year ago, the Braves do return seven lettermen from a squad that finished 22-13 overall, claimed fourth in The Valley with a 10-8 league record and advanced to the second round of the MasterCard NIT. Senior point guard Daniel Ruffin (Peoria, Ill./Central H.S.) is the nation's active leader with 475 career assists and senior shooting guard Jeremy Crouch (Pekin, Ill./Pekin H.S.) was the nation's co-leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.500) last year. Both players averaged 13.8 points per game last season, making Bradley the first Valley team since at least 1975 to boast the league's top two returning scorers.
Bradley also gained some attention in the recently-released college basketball previews by The Sporting News and CBSSportsline. In the Sporting News 2007-08 College Basketball preview magazine, the Braves are picked to finish second in The Valley behind Southern Illinois. Among the magazine's preseason league superlatives, Ruffin landed on the five-player all-conference team and was named the league's “best penetrator.” In addition, Crouch was tabbed The Valley's “best shooter” and sixth-year head coach Jim Les was rated the “best recruiter.” The magazine also ranked the nation's top 65 junior college transfers, a list that included three of Bradley's four junior college newcomers -- 6-foot-7 forward Rashad Austin (Northeastern J.C.), 7-foot center David Collins (Missouri State-West Plains) and 6-foot-5 swingman Theron Wilson (Seward County C.C.).
In an ongoing series of conference previews by CBSSportsline columnist Gary Parrish, The Valley checks in as the nation's seventh-ranked league and Bradley is again picked to finish second behind Southern Illinois in the conference race. Parrish also predicts the Braves to earn one of the league's two spots in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Both Ruffin and Crouch are on his preseason all-conference squad.
The 2007-08 Braves will make their public debut Friday night during the annual Red-White Scrimamge at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse. Following the annual Spaghetti Supper, which will run from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in Haussler Hall, the Red-White Scrimmage will begin at 6:30 with the introduction of the Bradley women's basketball team. Following a pair of 10-minute scrimmages by the women, the Bradley men will be introduced at approximately 7:15, and their intrasquad scrimmage will be followed by a pair of shooting games involving selected fans and a dunk contest. Both teams will be available for autographs during the Spaghetti Supper and after the Red-White Scrimmage.
Tickets for the Spaghetti Supper are $10 for adults, $5 for children (ages 5-12) and $25 for a Family Pack (two adults and up to four children) and will be available at the door. General admission tickets for the Red-White Scrimmage are $5 for adults, $2 for youth (grades k-12) and free for Bradley University students, faculty and staff and are available at the Robertson Fieldhouse Box Office.
