Bradley Announces 2018-19 Hall of Fame Class

Multiple induction ceremonies create change to Braves Club Luncheon schedule

Braves Club Luncheons Info

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications General 11/13/2018 10:00:00 AM

PEORIA, IL – Six former student-athletes representing five sports will be inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame during a pair of ceremonies to take place during the 2018-19 men's basketball season, according to announcement made by the school Tuesday morning.

Former men's basketball star Jerome Robinson, now an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico, will be inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame during his team's visit Dec. 1 for the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series game between the Braves and Lobos. The other five inductees – baseball player Ryan Curry, women's cross country and track runner Tamara Hart, soccer player Luke Kreamalmeyer, men's golfer Andy Mickelson and men's basketball player Daniel Ruffin - will be honored during events surrounding the Feb. 2 men's basketball game versus Southern Illinois.

As part of Robinson's recognition, the season's first Braves Club Game Day Luncheon, presented by Busey Bank, originally scheduled for Friday, Nov. 30, has been changed to a Game Day "Bruncheon" Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Renaissance Coliseum Basketball Performance Center. Doors will open an hour earlier than normal, 10:15 a.m., with a brunch menu to be served at 10:30 and the speaking program to begin at 11 o'clock. Bruncheon attendees will receive complimentary game tickets for the day's 1 p.m. Bradley Women's Basketball game versus Oakland. Robinson will join Bradley men's and women's basketball coaches Brian Wardle and Andrea Gorski as featured speakers during the Dec. 1 bruncheon and his official Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place during halftime of the 7 p.m. men's basketball game against the Lobos at Carver Arena.

The other five Hall-of-Fame honorees in the Class of 2018-19 will be the featured speakers during the Braves Club Game Day Luncheon Friday, Feb. 1 at the Renaissance Coliseum Basketball Performance Center. In keeping with the traditional luncheon schedule, doors will open at 11:15 a.m. with lunch to be served at 11:30 and the speaking program featuring all five honorees to follow at noon. Two additional Braves Club Game Day Luncheons are scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 23 and Wednesday, Feb. 13 in conjunction with the in-state rivalry games versus Illinois State and Loyola Chicago, respectively.

Reservations for the Braves Club Game Day Luncheons, presented by Busey Bank, may be made in advance by contacting the Braves Club Office: (309) 677-2667 or bravesclub@bradley.edu. Tickets for each luncheon are $25 for the general public or $20 for Braves Club members.

Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018-19
Ryan Curry, Baseball (2004-07), Downers Gove, IL/Downers Grove South H.S.
Curry remains Bradley Baseball's all-time hits leader, banging out 253 base hits during his four-year Braves career. Eleven years removed from his graduation, Curry also remains first in Bradley Baseball history with 784 at-bats, second with 542 assists, tied for second with 15 sacrifice flies, seventh with 334 total bases and eighth with 136 runs batted in. As a senior in 2007, he led the Missouri Valley Conference with a .416 batting average, which stood as the modern-day program single-season record until 2013.

A three-time All-MVC selection, Curry earned second-team recognition as a utility player in 2004, honorable mention at shortstop in 2006 and first-team at second base in 2007. He also was a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete, voted honorable mention in 2006 and first team in 2007. Among the annual Bradley Baseball team awards, he was voted the A.J. Robertson MVP in 2007 and he was a three-time (2005, 2006, 2007) recipient of the Troy Guidotti Hustle Award. Selected in the 21st round of the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Florida Marlins, Curry played professionally for five seasons, including his final two years for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns, and hit .264 during his five pro seasons.

Tamara Hart Gearhart, Women's Cross Country/Track (1999-2002), Petersburg, IL/Petersburg-Porta HS
One of three recipients of the 2003 Charles Orsborn Award, Hart went on to earn a Missouri Valley Conference Post-Graduate Scholarship and also claimed the MVC's Dr. Charlotte West Award in recognition of excellence in athletics, academics and service. Among her running highlights, Hart set five school records at Bradley (cross country 6K, indoor track 800 meters, outdoor track 800 meters and as a member of the indoor and outdoor distance medley relay teams). She held the cross country 6K mark for 10 years. One of eight individuals in Bradley Women's Cross Country history to place among the top three at the MVC Cross Country Championship, Hart's third-place finish at the 2002 championship helped the Braves to a runner-up team finish. She went on to become The Valley's top finisher at the 2002 NCAA Midwest Regional with a 12th-place individual finish, leading the Braves to a fourth-place team showing. She remains one of three runners in program history to finish among the top 12 at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

In addition to her athletic success, Hart was a three-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete selection and she added Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District honors as a senior, as well as national scholar-athlete recognition from the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association in 2002.

Luke Kreamalmeyer, Soccer (2001-04), Edwardsville, IL/Edwarsdville H.S.
A two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference first team selection, Kreamalmeyer was the Most Valuable Player of the 2005 Major League Soccer Combine before being selected in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft by Real Salt Lake. One of six Braves to play at the highest level of American professional soccer, Kreamalmeyer played the 2005 season for Real Salt Lake and was a member of the starting lineup for RSL's first-ever MLS game in 2005.

A two-time All-Midwest Region pick, earning first-team recognition in 2004 and second-team honors in 2003, Kreamalmeyer also was named to the MVC All-Newcomer Team as a freshman in 2001. As a sophomore, he helped the Braves to a program-best 15-game unbeaten streak (11-0-4) to start the 2002 season, which ended with an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament. On Bradley's career lists, Kreamalmeyer remains fourth with 86 career games played, fifth with 20 career assists, sixth a .151 scoring percentage, seventh with 72 career points, eighth with 26 career goals and eighth with six career game-winning goals. He never missed a game during his four-year career, helping the Braves to a 47-27-12 (.616) record from 2001-04.

Andy Mickelson, Men's Golf (1999-2003), Tinley Park, IL/Lincolnway H.S.
Mickelson earned All-Missouri Valley Conference first-team honors in 2003 after breaking Hall-of-Famer Tim Sweborg's 37-year-old school record for season scoring average at 73.28. During his record-setting senior campaign, Mickelson broke 80 in all of his 32 rounds, highlighted by a career-best 68 in October of 2002, which was the best round by a Brave in 18 years. He ended his career with five career rounds below 70 and at the time of his graduation, no other Bradley player could boast more than three sub-70 rounds. Mickelson's 75.16 career stroke average stood for 12 years after breaking Sweborg's 75.5 average set from 1963-66.

Following his graduation, Mickelson played professionally for two years and he also qualified for the 2007 U.S. Amateur. Now the Director of Golf at Mistwood Country Club in Romeoville, IL, Mickelson won the 2015 National Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship and the 2016 TaylorMade National Championship at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill.

Jerome Robinson, Men's Basketball (1997-2001), Malton, Ontario/Westwood Secondary School
Robinson played in 113 games during his four-year Bradley career, helping the Braves reach the NIT in 1999 and 2001. Known as a defensive specialist during his first three years, the 6-foot-4 swingman enjoyed a breakout senior season, when he also mentored the freshman guard trio of Phillip Gilbert, James Gillingham and Marcello Robinson to a 19-12 record and second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season race, as well as a runner-up finish in the MVC Tournament.

The 2001 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, Robinson also was the league's third-leading scorer in 2000-01 by averaging 16.9 points per game during his senior season. He earned All-MVC first-team honors by leading the Braves in scoring, assists and steals, still one of just three players (Walt Lemon and Anthony Manuel) to lead Bradley in all three categories in a season. Robinson opened his stellar senior season by pouring in 31 points at USC, the first of five games scoring at least 25 points that season.

Robinson participated with the Canadian National Team program during and following his Bradley career as a member of the 1999 World University Games team, as well as the Senior National Team in 2000 and 2001. Teaming with Steve Nash, Robinson helped Canada to a third-place finish in the 2001 Copa America Tournament. He went on to play professionally in Europe for seven seasons from 2001-08 and was the Austrian Bundesliga Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star Game participant in 2004 and 2005.

Following his retirement as a player, Robinson worked as an agent for European-based players before beginning his college coaching career in 2011 at Eastern Michigan. He was a member of the St. Bonaventure staff that led the Bonnies to their first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title in 2017 and he now is in his second season on the New Mexico coaching staff.

Daniel Ruffin, Men's Basketball (2003-08), Peoria, IL/Peoria H.S.
A four-year starter at point guard, Ruffin helped the Braves to three postseason appearances - 2006 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, 2007 NIT second round, 2008 CBI championship round - and he was the point guard for Bradley's only back-to-back 22-win teams since 1959 and 1960. Playing 122 games for the Braves, Ruffin finished his career 20th (now 22nd) in school history with 1,280 career points.

Ruffin played his senior season in 2007-08 as the nation's active career assists leader and he trails only Bradley Hall-of-Famers Anthony Manuel and Jim Les with 644 career assists. Also on Bradley's career lists, Ruffin remains fourth with 3,988 minutes played, fourth in free throw percentage (.819), fifth with 207 steals and seventh with 183 3-point field goals made. He joins Hall-of-Famer Billy Wright as the only players in program history to lead the team in assists four times and Ruffin is the only Brave to do so while averaging better than 10.0 points per game.

A three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, Ruffin was second team in 2007 and honorable mention in 2006 and 2008. He also was named to the NABC All-District 11 second team in 2008 and was selected to The Valley's All-Defense Team in 2007.

The 5-foot-10 point guard played professionally for four seasons, including the 2008-09 campaign in Germany's second division. Ruffin has suited up for the Always A Brave Bradley alumni team to participate in The Basketball Tournament each of the last three summers. He helped the alumni squad reach the semifinals of the nationally-televised tournament in 2016, as well as the Super 16 in 2017, and it is a popular belief Always A Brave would have won the $2 million, winner-take-all prize in the 2016 TBT had he not ruptured his Achilles tendon in the semifinal game versus Team Colorado. Though retired from professional basketball for several years, Ruffin averaged 7.4 ppg on 59.1 percent shooting, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range, with a 15-3 assists-to-turnover ratio during the 2016 TBT. Recovering from the Achilles tear, Ruffin scored the go-ahead basket in Always A Brave's opening-round win of the 2017 TBT Midwest Regional at Renaissance Coliseum.

In addition to working for the local chapter of the Boys & Girls Club, Ruffin is a boys basketball assistant coach at his alma mater Peoria High School, where he teamed with Shaun Livingston to win the 2003 IHSA AA state championship.

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