PEORIA, Ill. -- Dave Snell will not serve in his traditional emcee role during the Bradley Braves Club Gameday Luncheon Jan. 15, which will feature the 2010 inductees into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame. As the longtime radio voice of Bradley Basketball, Snell instead will join former baseball slugger Nelson Correa and soccer star Jim Rasmussen in this year's Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame class.
In addition to the three individuals that will be recognized during the Gameday Luncheon and officially inducted into the Hall of Fame during halftime of the Jan. 16 men's basketball game versus Missouri State, former women's basketball star Heather Best also was elected for Hall of Fame induction. Now living in Alaska and training for a major triathlon event the same weekend, Best's induction instead will coincide with the women's basketball team's first game in the new Bradley Performance Center next season.
Tickets for each of the four Bradley Basketball Gameday Luncheons are $25 and may be purchased in advance by contacting the Braves Club Office at 309-677-2667. Tickets for the men's basketball game Jan. 16 versus Missouri State range from $8-20, based on locaction, and may be purchased in person at the Shea Stadium Box Office (309-677-2625), the Carver Arena Box Office or online at www.BradleyBraves.com beginning Monday, Nov. 9.
Heather Best, Women's Basketball (1995-99)
First player in Missouri Valley Conference history with 100 career 3-pointers and 100 career blocked shots ... Ended her career sixth on the school's all-time scoring list and currently remains seventh with 1,447 points ... Also sixth in program history by scoring in double-figures in 72 career games ... Scored a career-best 31 points in a game on two occassions -- Feb. 29, 1996 versus Indiana State and Jan. 23, 1999 at Wichita State ... Tied for fifth in program history with 21 career games scoring at least 20 points ... Third on Bradley's career list with 154 career 3-point field goals made and ranks seventh by shooting 35.7 percent from behind the arc ... Fifth in Bradley history with 276 career free throws made ... Eighth in school history with 670 career rebounds ... Seventh in school history with 330 career assists ... Second in school history with 153 career blocked shots (was first when she graduated) ... One of four players in program history to start at least 100 games (third with 107 career starts) ... First-team All-MVC in 1998-99 and honorable mention All-MVC in 1997-98 ... Three-time Valley Scholar-Athlete (1997-98-99) ... MVC All-Defense Team (1998-99) ... Two-time Valley Player of the Week ... Was recipient of both a NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship and Missouri Valley Conference Post-Graduate Scholarship (1999) ... 1999 Bradley University Charles Orsborn Award (formerly Watonga Award) ... Following her four-year basketball career, Best played one season of volleyball in 1999, earning first-team Valley Scholar-Athlete honors ... Originally from Davenport, Iowa, Best graduated from West High School.
Nelson Correa, Baseball (1996-99)
In 215 games at Bradley, Correa hit .353 with 170 runs batted in ... Team MVP as a senior in 1999 when he led the Braves with a .365 batting average ... Won the team's Kirby Puckett Gold Glove Award three straight years from 1996-97-98 and remains the only three-time winner in the 19-year history of the award ... Signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 1999 ... Set the school record with 251 base hits, 42 home runs and 170 runs batted in ... Although he is now second in hits, his 42 homers and 170 RBI's remain the school records (his RBI total is 24 better than the second-best totals compiled by Sean Watkins and Bradley Hall-of-Famer Brad Tilly) ... His 450 career total bases are 65 better than the No. 2 mark in program history ... Although he remains tied for sixth in school history with a .353 career batting average, Correa's career mark remains the best by a Brave since 1985 and the second-best since 1960 ... Second in school history with 59 career doubles ... A native of Rio Grande, P.R., Correa currently resides in Cuba, Ill.
Jim Rasmussen, Soccer, (1993-96)
Registered 43 points on 18 goals and seven assists in 69 career games ... First-team All-Missouri Valley Conference in 1996, the second player in program history to earn first-team all-conference honors ... Honorable mention All-MVC in 1994 ... 1996 team MVP ... 1994 team offensive MVP ... Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 28, 1996), the third player in program history so honored ... Recorded the second hat trick in program history and his seven points (3 goals and 1 assist) Oct. 27, 1996 at Northwestern remain tied for the third-best single-game total in Bradley Soccer history ... All three goals of his hat trick were scored in overtime ... Led the team in scoring in 1994 and 1996 ... At the time of his graduation, Rasmussen was third in program history for both goals scored (18) and total points (43) ... Originally from Winfield, Ill., and a graduate of Wheaton North High School, Rasmussen currently resides in Batavia, Ill.
Dave Snell, Voice of the Braves (1979-Present)
Snell has served as the radio voice of Bradley Basketball since the start of the 1979-80 season and he has taken part in every Bradley men's basketball radio broadcast of the last 30 years (921 consecutive games) ... A 1976 Bradley graduate, Snell served as co-sports information director during his senior year, then began his professional career by working for the NBA's Phoenix Suns ... In addition to his work as the Bradley Basketball play-by-play voice, Snell was the longtime sports director at WMBD-TV in Peoria ... He continues to emcee most Bradley Athletics events and is a popular speaker at local events ... 2001 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year, an award annually dominated by Chicago pro sports announcers ... A member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association national board ... A native of Pekin, Ill., Snell currently resides in Peoria.
