PEORIA, Ill. -- Add recent Bradley Basketball star Marcellus Sommerville to the list of former Braves returning to campus for the 2007 Bradley Basketball Alumni Game Sunday afternoon at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse.
Sommerville is the most recent former Bradley player to confirm his intention to attend the event, which will coincide with the 80th birthday celebration for former player, assistant coach, head coach, assistant athletic director and current radio analyst Joe Stowell. To date 37 former Bradley players and managers have confirmed their plans to attend the alumni game. Sommerville intends to do more than just attend, however, as he also expressed an interest in competing in both the game and the 3-point contest.
Updated List of Alumni Game Attendees
A 6-foot-7 forward, Sommerville starred for three seasons at Bradley from 2003 through 2006 after transferring from Southwestern Illinois College. A native Peorian and graduate of Central High School, Sommerville earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in 2003-04 and 2004-05, then earned second-team all-league notice in 2005-06 before leading the Braves to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Sommerville was the only player in The Valley to rank among the league's top five in both scoring and rebounding during each of his three seasons and he ended his abbreviated Bradley career 12th in school history with 1,493 career points.
Sommerville just completed his rookie professional season in Europe by helping Chalon to the semifinals of the France Pro A playoffs. Sommerville originally signed with Atomeromu SE Paks in Hungary's top division, where he played until Europe's winter break. His contract was bought out by Angers BC 49 during the break and he completed the second half of the season in the French Pro B division. After averaging 17.1 points and 6.4 rebounds during the second half of the year with Angers BC 49, Sommerville was signed by Chalon for the Pro A playoffs.
Tickets for the Alumni Game, which will tip off at 3 p.m. Sunday and will serve as one of the last public events associated with the Bradley men's basketball program in Robertson Fieldhouse history, are $5 for adults and $2 for children or $12 for a family pass. The general admission tickets may be purchased in advance at the fieldhouse ticket office. The postgame dinner, which requires a separate ticket, is nearly sold out. Proceeds from the events will benefit the Joe Stowell Endowed Scholarship at Bradley University.
Stowell has been directly associated with Bradley Athletics for the better part of the last 60 years. He played at Bradley from 1947 through 1950, helping the Braves to the championship game of both the National Invitation Tournament and NCAA Tournament during his senior season in 1950. Following his graduation, Stowell returned to Bradley in 1956 as an assistant coach for Chuck Orsborn, then took over as the program's eighth head coach in 1965. He served as the head coach for 13 seasons and his 197 career victories from 1965 through 1978 rank second in program history. Stowell worked as an assistant athletic director at Bradley from 1978 through 1985 and doubled as the women's basketball head coach from 1981 to 1983. He joined Dave Snell as an analyst for the WMBD AM 1470 broadcasts of Bradley Basketball in 1985 and recently completed his 22nd year as a member of the broadcast team. In his five positions, Stowell has had a role in 1,466 Bradley men's basketball games since 1947.
