Always A Brave Adds Taylor Brown

Bradley Alumni Team Boasts the Most "Experience Points" of Any Team in 2017 TBT Field

Bob Hunt - Photographer

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications General 6/26/2017 9:46:00 AM

PEORIA, IL - With less than two weeks remaining until the start of the team's pre-tournament training camp for the 2017 The Basketball Tournament, the Always A Brave Bradley alumni team announced two roster adjustments Monday morning. Guard Sam Maniscalco has opted to transition from a playing position to the team's coaching staff and his roster spot will be filled by for former Bradley forward Taylor Brown.

A 6-foot-6 forward, Brown played at Bradley from 2009-12, averaging 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds during his three seasons on the court. Captain of the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Most Improved Team, Brown blossomed during his final two seasons by averaging 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. Now a five-year professional player, Brown's career has taken off in the last year: after averaging 22.2 points and 7.0 rebounds in Mexico's CIBACOPA last summer, he signed with King Szczecin for the 2016-17 Poland TBL this past season and averaged 16.4 points before moving to Lithuania's LKL Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in February.

The roster adjustments gives Always A Brave six guards and six frontcourt players as the team prepares to defend its TBT Midwest Region championship. Always A Brave (115) boasts the most "Experience Points," chart created by TBT to track the highest level of play by participants, among the 173 teams that attempted to enter TBT 2017. Of the 12 Always A Brave players, all 12 played at least one season of professional basketball after college, including eight during the 2016-17 season. Shooting guard Andrew Warren was the Germany ProA player of the year for league champion MBC after averaging 17.5 points per game and shooting 50.7 percent from 3-point range, while the team's lone non-Bradley alum, point guard Jerome Randle, was the 2017 Australian NBL Player of the Year after averaging 21.3 points and 5.4 assists for the NBL regular-season champion Adelaide 36ers.

2017 Always A Brave Roster

#	Player	at Bradley	Pos.	Ht.	Notes
2	Jerome Randle	Cal 2006-10	PG	5-10	2010 Pac-10 Player of the Year Cal all-time scoring leader (1,835 points) 7-year professional, 2017 Australia NBL Player of the Year
3	Taylor Brown	2009-12	F	6-6	2012 All-MVC Honorable Mention 5-year professional
4	David Collins	2007-09	C	7-0	Helped Bradley to 2008 CBI finals and 2009 CIT finals 4-year professional
5	Tony Bennett	2004-06	G	6-1	2005 MVC All-Newcomer Team Starting guard for 2006 Sweet 16 squad 11-year professional
13	Patrick O'Bryant	2004-06	C	7-0	2006 MVC Defensive Player of the Year 2006 NBA Draft Lottery Pick (No. 9 by GS) 11-year professional
15	Marcellus Sommerville	2003-06	F	6-7	3-time All-Missouri Valley Conference 14th on Bradley career scoring list (1,493 points) 11-year professional
20	Daniel Ruffin	2004-08	PG	5-10	2-time All-Missouri Valley Conference 22nd on Bradley scoring list (1,280 points), 3rd with 644 assists 4-year professional
21	Matt Salley	2006-08	F	6-8	Bradley Defensive MVP 2008 Helped Bradley to 2007 NIT 2nd Round, 2008 CBI finals 7-year professional
22	Lawrence Wright	2004-06	F	6-5	2005 MVC All-Bench Team Reserve forward for 2006 Sweet 16 squad 10-year professional
24	Andrew Warren	2006-11	G	6-5	2-time All-MVC 11th on Bradley all-time scoring list (1,621 points) 7-year professional, 2017 Germany ProA Player of the Year
25	Walt Lemon, Jr.	2010-14	G	6-3	2-time All-MVC, 2014 MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year 7th on Bradley career scoring list (1,721 points) 3-year professional
55	Will Franklin	2005-07	G	6-1	2007 All-MVC 2nd Team Bradley record career 3FG% (.420) 9-year professional

Maniscalco starred at Bradley from 2007-11 and was a member of the Always A Brave squad that reached the 2016 TBT semifinals. Although his formal playing career ended following his final season at Illinois in 2011-12, Maniscalco played 12.3 minutes per game for Always A Brave last summer, averaging 3.8 points and 1.4 assists, while shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Maniscalco joins the Always A Brave coaching staff, led by Peoria High School alum, Indiana All-American and NBA veteran A.J. Guyton. The other three assistant coaches are Chuck Buescher, Jeremy Crouch and Phillip Gilbert.

Now in its fourth year, The Basketball Tournament is an open-application, 5-on-5 summer basketball tournament that will award a $2 million, winner-take-all prize to its champion, who will be crowned Aug. 3 in Baltimore. Modeled after the NCAA Tournament bracket, the 64-team field will begin single-elimination play when the South (Charlotte) and Northeast (Philadelphia) Regions tip off Saturday, July 8. The Midwest Region will be played July 15-16 at Bradley University's Renaissance Coliseum, while the West Region games will be played the same dates in Las Vegas. All 48 TBT regional games the first two weekends of the tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Always A Brave will be joined by 15 other teams in the two-day Midwest Regional, including six more collegiate alumni teams and one NBA G League alumni squad, as well as a second hometown favorite, Peoria All-Stars. Midwest Regional play will begin Saturday, July 15 with a 9 a.m. game between Purple & Black (Kansas State alumni) against Canton Bulldogs. Following the 2:15 p.m. game featuring Ohio State alumni team Scarlet & Gray, Always A Brave is scheduled to take the court at 4 o'clock against Mid American Unity and that game immediately will be followed at 5:45 by Peoria All-Stars versus Fort Wayne Champs, a squad consisting of players from the NBA G League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Saturday's eight winners will return to action Sunday, July 16 in four second-round games, beginning at 11 a.m., to determine the four squads that will advance out of the Midwest to the TBT Super 16 July 20-23 in Brooklyn, NY.

2017 TBT Midwest Region Schedule
Saturday, July 15 | Peoria, IL | Renaissance Coliseum

Game	Time	Matchup
Game 1	9:00 AM	4 Purple & Black (K-State Alumni) vs. 13 Canton Bulldogs
Game 2	10:45 AM	5 Hilton Magic Legends (Iowa St. Alumni) vs. 12 Illinois Hoopville Warriors
Game 3	12:30 PM	7 Banner Boys (Milwaukee Alumni) vs. 10 Jackson TN Underdawgs
Game 4	2:15 PM	2 Scarlet & Gray (Ohio St. Alumni) vs. 15 The Region
Game 5	4:00 PM	3 Always A Brave (Bradley Alumni) vs. 14 Mid American Unity
Game 6	5:45 PM	6 Fort Wayne Champs vs. 11 Peoria All-Stars
Game 7	7:30 PM	1 Golden Eagles vs 16 Midwest Dream Squad
Game 8	9:15 PM	8 Majerus SLU Crew vs. 9 HBC
Sunday, July 16
Game 9	11:00 AM	Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 10	12:45 PM	Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Game 11	2:30 PM	Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 12	4:15 PM	Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

2017 TBT Midwest Region | Tickets | Merchandise
Saturday, July 15 (8 games) or Sunday, July 16 (4 games)

Category	Full Price	Promo Code BRAVEFAN10
Official Always A Brave T-Shirt	$25	$22.50
Single-Day Adult GA Ticket	$20	$18
Single-Day Child (13U) GA Ticket	$5	$4.50
Single-Day Student, Faculty, Staff GA Ticket	$10	$9
Family Four Pack (4 GA Tickets) - Online Only	$40	$36
Weekend Pass (All 12 weekend games) GA	$30	$27
VIP Room Access	$25	$22.50

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