Family Connection Leads to Backcourt Depth

Former Pac-10 Player of the Year Jerome Randle Joins Always A Brave for #TBT2017

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications General 4/27/2017 7:54:00 AM

PEORIA, IL - Always A Brave used a family connection to add backcourt depth to its roster for this summer's The Basketball Tournament, adding 2010 Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year Jerome Randle to a squad that otherwise consists of Bradley University alumni.

A 5-foot-10 point guard currently completing his seventh professional season with Limoges CSP Elite in the same league, France ProA, as Bradley star Marcellus Sommerville, Randle is related to former Bradley guard and Always A Brave player Tony Bennett. Similarly, Always A Brave head coach A.J. Guyton did not play at Bradley, but the former Indiana All-American and NBA player is the half brother of AAB point guard Daniel Ruffin.

Randle remains the all-time leading scorer in California history and ended his college career as just the sixth player in Pac-10 history to record at least 1,700 points (1,835) and 500 assists (524). In addition to his school-record scoring total, the Chicago native also still owns Cal records with 252 career 3-point field goals and by shooting 88.1 percent from the free throw line. He also remains third in Bears history with his 524 assists and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.404).

Owning dual citizenship (US and Ukraine), Randle was a member of the 2015 Ukranian National Team and he has been a part of three championship teams as a professional - 2017 Australia NBL, 2016 Lithuanian League, 2013 Belgian League. He was the 2017 Australia NBL Player of the Year after averaging 21.3 points and 5.4 assists, leading Adelaide 36ers to the NBL title and he is finishing out the season with Limoges CSP Elite in France.

Randle's addition pushes the Always A Brave roster to eight players for #TBT2017 and the Bradley alumni team is one of three teams already accepted into this summer's 64-team tournament field, joining the Team 23 that once again will feature former Bradley center Zach Andrews and the Team Colorado (Colorado Alumni) squad that eliminated Always A Brave in last summer's semifinal. Both Team 23 and Team Colorado are registered in the West Region.

Always A Brave will host the first two rounds of the TBT Midwest Region July 15-16 at Renaissance Coliseum. Additional players are expected to be added to the roster in the coming days as their verification videos are submitted to TBT organizers.

Tickets for all of this summer's TBT sites are currently available for purchase online at www.thetournament.com with single-day pricing ranging from $5 per day for children 13 and under under to $20 for general admission adult seating for the Midwest Regional at Renaissance Coliseum.

Always A Brave Roster | #TBT2017 | as of April 27, 2017
Tony Bennett, G, 6-0, 2004-06
David Collins, C, 7-0, 2007-09
Will Franklin, G, 6-0, 2005-07
Patrick O'Bryant, C, 7-0, 2004-06
Jerome Randle, G, 5-10, Cal 2006-10
Daniel Ruffin, G, 5-10, 2003-08
Matt Salley, F/C, 6-7, 2006-08
Lawrence Wright, F, 6-4, 2004-06
Assistant Coach/GM: Jeremy Crouch (2004-08)
GM: Bobby Parker

2017 TBT Important Dates
June 1: Team application period and voting closes
June 6: 60 teams in the tournament field announced
June 17-18: Inaugural TBT Jamboree contested in Philadelphia to determine the 16th participant in each region
July 8-9: Northeast (Philadelphia) and South (Charlotte) Regionals
July 15-16: MIDWEST (PEORIA) and West (Las Vegas) Regionals
July 20-23: Super 16 (New York)
Aug. 1: Semifinals (Baltimore)
Aug. 3: Championship (Baltimore)

TBT Midwest Regional Ticket Options*
Online Purchases Only Until July 15 (Click HERE to Buy Now) | Onsite Purchasing Available July 15-16
General Admission Adult: $20
General Admission Bradley students, faculty and staff: $10
General Admission Child (13 and under): $5
Family Four Pack: 4 for $40
Braves Club Room VIP Access: $25
Weekend Pass (Saturday and Sunday): $30
*All tickets are for general admission seating and allow access to all games played each day of purchase (8 games July 15 or 4 games July 16)

Preparing for its fourth presentation this summer, TBT is an annual, 5-on-5, single-elimination basketball tournament, which will award a $2 million cash prize to the champion of its 64-team field. Modeled after the NCAA Tournament, 16 teams will compete in four regions with four teams from each region advancing to the Super 16 in New York and the four region champions advancing to the tournament semifinals in Baltimore. Of the 16 teams to compete in each region, nine will be selected based upon online voting totals via thetournament.com, six will be "at-large" selections and one will play its way into the field through the inaugural TBT Jamboree, which will take place June 17-18 in Philadelphia.

As the defending Midwest Region champion and having met the minimum TBT qualification standards, Always A Brave has secured one of the Midwest Region's six "at-large" spots. To date, 31 teams have registered for the Midwest Region, including alumni teams from Iowa State, Marquette, Kansas State, Milwaukee and Saint Louis, as well as a squad comprised of players from the NBA D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants and two teams with Peoria ties - Peoria Allstars and Peoria Clutch.

Although Always A Brave has secured the minimum number of fan votes for #TBT2017 eligibility, fans still are encouraged to participate in the voting process to become eligible to share in the winning team's $200,000. The top 100 fans to secure the most votes for the winning team will split $200,000 of the championship team's $2 million prize. While fans may vote only once for up to four teams, they may accumulate points by encouraging additional fans to vote for their teams.

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