PEORIA, Ill. -- Eric Buescher, who is preparing for his sixth season as a member of the Bradley men's basketball coaching staff, has been promoted to associate head coach, Braves head coach Jim Les announced today.
“Eric has been a huge part of building this program,” Les told Peoria Journal Star reporter Dave Reynolds when announcing Buescher's promotion. “He works his tail off behind the scenes and was quite content with that. But I wanted to recognize him with a new title and a bump in salary. It's my way and Bradley's way of saying, ?A job well done.' “
Buescher, 35, was one of Les' first staff hires in 2002 when he was added to the staff as an administrative assistant and he has quickly gained more responsibility with the Braves during his first five years. Buescher was made a full-time assistant in his second year on the staff in 2003-04 and was tabbed the recruiting coordinator in 2005, all the while helping the Braves to back-to-back 22-win campaigns, which were highlighted by the 2006 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run and a trip to the second round of the 2007 MasterCard National Invitation Tournament.
The list of players Buescher has played a key role in recruiting for Bradley includes Zach Andrews, Tony Bennett and Will Franklin, as well as incoming players Rashad Austin and Tyrone Cole-Scott. In addition to his recruiting work, Buescher has had on-court coaching duties with both the post players and guards during his first four years as an assistant coach. During the last two years, he has worked primarily with the guards. In 2006-07, guards Will Franklin and Daniel Ruffin both earned second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, while Jeremy Crouch joined Franklin on the league's Most Improved Team. Crouch also led the nation in 3-point field goal percentage this past season and joins Ruffin as the top returning scorers in The Valley for 2007-08, as both players averaged 13.8 points per game last season.
After beginning his coaching career by taking of the Peoria Central High School freshman squad while still a student at Illinois State University, Buescher was named an assistant at Galesburg High School following his graduation from ISU in 1994. He earned his first head coach position at age 24 by taking over the boys varsity program at VIT for two seasons (1995-97). Buescher also coached at Dixon High School for two years (1997-99) and Springfield High School for three years (1999-2002) before joining the Bradley staff.
FOUR BRAVES EARN DEGREES, FIVE LAND ON AD HONOR ROLL
Four Bradley men's basketball players, as well as team manager Joe Fulton, earned their degrees from Bradley University during spring commencement ceremonies last Saturday at the Peoria Civic Center. Center Zach Andrews joined guards Will Franklin, Daniel Ruffin and J.J. Tauai as Bradley Basketball's most-recent graduates. Junior college transfers, Andrews received his bachelor's degree in theatre - performance arts, while Franklin earned his degree in sociology. Ruffin also received his bachelor's degree in sociology and Tauai received his degree in administration of criminal justice.
Originally ruled a non-qualifier out of high school, Ruffin has regained his fourth year of eligibility for the Braves and will return for his senior season as one of the top point guards in the nation. Joining teammate Jeremy Crouch as the top two returning scorers in the Missouri Valley Conference (13.8 ppg), Ruffin also is second among the nation's active players with 475 career assists and he is first among active Valley players with 154 career steals.
Ruffin's return for the 2007-08 season will mark the third consecutive year the Braves will feature a graduate on the active roster. Brandyn Heemskerk (2005-06) and Danny Adams (2006-07) both received business degrees as fourth-year juniors and pursued second undergraduate degrees while completing their eligibility as fifth-year seniors. Adams also received his second degree in marketing during last weekend's commencement ceremony.
In addition to the graduation news, five members of the men's basketball team landed on the Bradley Athletic Director's Honor Roll for posting a minimum 3.0 semester grade point average during the spring term. Andrews, Crouch, Ryan Phillips, Ruffin and Tauai all earned a spot on the AD Honor Roll, helping the Braves post the second-best semester GPA in at least the last 21 years.
BRADLEY RECRUITING CLASS RANKED 24TH NATIONALLY
National recruiting expert Bob Gibbons of Scouts Inc. has ranked Bradley's incoming class of recruits for the 2007-08 season 24th nationally, according to his rankings posted at ESPN.com. Bradley joins UNLV (12) and Gonzaga (17) as the only teams outside the BCS football power conferences -- ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC -- among Gibbons' top 25.
Bradley has signed seven players for the 2007-08 season. The class includes junior college transfers Rashad Austin, Tyrone Cole-Scott, David Collins and Theron Wilson, as well as high school stars Will Egolf, Sam Maniscalco and Anthony Thompson. Gibbons ranks the 6-foot-10 Thompson as the No. 30 high school center prospect in the nation and the 6-foot Maniscalco as the No. 59 point guard.
