PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley men's basketball team completed its recruiting class Wednesday with the announcement that high-scoring wing player Theron Wilson (Topeka, Kan./Highland Park H.S.), a 6-foot-5 guard/forward from Seward County Community College, has returned his signed National Letter of Intent to the Braves.
Wilson was named first-team NJCAA All-Region VI and second-team Jayhawk West all-conference this past season after leading Seward County in four major statistical categories. Wilson averaged 19.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and also led the Saints with 74 steals (2.4 spg) and 45 blocked shots (1.5 bpg) during a 17-14 campaign. A two-time NJCAA national player of the week during his sophomore season, one of his season highlights included a 33-point, 20-rebound effort Nov. 22 against the Newman University junior varsity. He also led the NJCAA in free throws made for a good portion of the season before finishing fourth with 199 charity makes in just 31 games (6.4 FTM/game).
Wilson's signing was coupled with the news that local product DeAaron Williams (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.), who signed with the Braves in the fall during his sophomore season at Illinois Central College, will not continue his college playing career at Bradley.
With the pair of announcements Wednesday, Bradley maintains a seven-player recruiting class for the 2007-08 season, which is made up of four junior college transfers and three high school stars. Joining Wilson among the junior college recruits are power forward Rashad Austin, combo guard Tyrone Cole-Scott and 7-foot center David Collins. The high school trio includes versatile big-man Will Egolf, point guard Sam Maniscalco and 6-foot-10 center Anthony Thompson.
The Braves will lose four seniors from the 2006-07 squad that finished with a 22-13 overall record and advanced to the second round of the MasterCard NIT. While Bradley does lose its leading scorer (Will Franklin) and rebounder (Zach Andrews), the Braves return seven lettermen. Rising senior guards Jeremy Crouch and Daniel Ruffin both averaged 13.8 points per game last season and are the top returning scorers in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Bradley's 2006-07 Recruiting Class
Player Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown High School Last School
Rashad Austin Jr. F 6-7 Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Etiwanda H.S. Northeastern (Colo.) J.C.
Tyrone Cole-Scott Jr. G 5-10 Waterloo, Iowa East H.S. Tyler (Texas) J.C.
David Collins Jr. C 7-0 Toronto, Ontario Emery Collegiate Institute Missouri State-West Plains
Will Egolf Fr. F/C 6-9 Juneau, Alaska Douglas H.S. Douglas H.S.
Sam Maniscalco Fr. G 6-0 Chicago, Ill. St. Patrick H.S. St. Patrick H.S.
Anthony Thompson Fr. C 6-10 Houston, Texas Klein Forest H.S. Klein Forest H.S.
Theron Wilson Jr. G/F 6-5 Topeka, Kan. Highland Park H.S. Seward County (Kan.) C.C.
