PEORIA, Ill. - The Bradley Soccer program continues to gain preseason recognition as the start of the 2011 regular season draws closer. A day after senior forward Bryan Gaul was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List, teammate Bobby Smith (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart-Griffin H.S.) today was named one of 30 candidates for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in men's soccer, while the Braves have debuted at No. 37 in the preseason TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 48 National Rankings.
Smith becomes the second Brave (Todd Reedy, 2007) to earn a spot on the 30-player "Candidate" list for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award since men's soccer was added to the award's sports menu in 2007. Smith also becomes the ninth Bradley University student-athlete recognized at the "Candidate" level in the sports of baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, soccer and softball in the last five years.
To be eligible for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Smith's entire award bio is available at http://www.seniorclassaward.com/athletes/bobby_smith/. In summary, the senior defender is enrolled in Bradley University's Accounting 3:2 program, which is designed to award students both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in five years. Smith currently boasts a 3.93 cumulative grade point average and will complete the program in just four years in May. He was the inaugural winner of the Missouri Valley Conference Elite 18 Award in 2010, when he also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District V and NSCAA Midwest Region Scholar-Athlete honors.
Now a fourth-year starter in Bradley's defensive scheme, Smith is a team leader on and off the field and is an active volunteer in several community service initiatives. He is currently serving a rare third term on the Braves Council student-athlete advisory board, as well as a second term on the MVC Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
The list of 30 candidates for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award will be trimmed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot, which will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans.
TopDrawerSoccer.com will be projecting the 48 entries into the 2011 NCAA Tournament on a weekly basis throughout the season in its Tournament 48 National Ranking. While Bradley opens the season at No. 37 in the weekly rankings, four opponents also appear among the projected 48 postseason participants. Creighton is No. 15, South Carolina is No. 20, South Florida is No. 24 and Green Bay is No. 41. Both Creighton (Oct. 19) and Green Bay (Sept. 3) will visit Shea Stadium, while Bradley will take on both the Bulls (Sept. 9) and Gamecocks (Sept. 11) at a neutral setting in a tournament at Dartmouth (No. 28).
The Braves return a program-record 21 lettermen from their 2010 squad that picked up steam in the second half of the season and rode the momentum to the State Farm MVC Tournament championship and the program's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000. Among the 21 lettermen, the Braves return nine of the 10 players who scored at least one goal last season, as well as the entire back line and the top two goalkeepers.
Bradley will visit Dayton Thursday in a preseason exhibition, before opening the 2011 regular season with a two-game road swing to Butler (Aug. 26) and IPFW (Aug. 28). The Braves will host former Valley rival Eastern Illinois in their regular-season home opener Sept. 1 at Shea Stadium.
