Bradley University Athletics

Two Join Bradley Basketball for 2019-20

Men's Basketball 4/17/2019 3:23:00 PM

The Bradley men's basketball team added two players to its roster for the 2019-20 season as Danya Kingsby and Rienk Mast signed to join the Braves program on Wednesday.

"We are excited to have Rienk and Danya join our BU family," said Bradley head coach Brian Wardle. "They are both very talented basketball players and feature the winning intangibles that have helped our program grow upward every year."

A 6-foot-1 guard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kingsby joins Bradley after stints at Southern Idaho (2016-18) and LSU (2018-19). The No. 26 ranked player nationally among junior college prospects in 2018, Kingsby helped lead Southern Idaho to the championship game of the National Junior College Division I Tournament. He averaged 13.3 points and 3.7 assists with the Golden Eagles, while shooting 45.8 percent from the field.

Kingsby will have two years of eligibility remaining at Bradley. After not appearing in a game during the 2018-19 campaign, Bradley will file a waiver for him to play during the 2019-20 season.

"Danya is an explosive combo guard that can score, play-make and really guard the dribble," Wardle said. "He fills a need as a breakdown guard that can create his own shot and cause problems for the defense with his speed and quickness."

A 6-foot-9 forward from Netherlands, Mast joins Bradley after playing for Donar in the Dutch Basketball League. As a 17-year old in Netherlands' top division, Mast averaged 9.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game, shooting 50.6 percent overall and 46.4 percent from 3-point range during the 2018-19 campaign. He also collected DBL All-Rookie Team accolades in 2017-18, while helping Donar to the national championship in 2018 as well as the Dutch Cup and Dutch Supercup titles.

Mast has also enjoyed success at the international level. He helped Netherlands to a second-place finish at the 2017 FIBA European Under-16 Championship Division B and was named to the tournament's all-star team. He then helped Holland to the 2018 European Under-18 Championship Division B title just a year later.

"Rienk is a very skilled and experienced forward for his age," Wardle said. "He is physically college ready and understands the game beyond his years. He is also very versatile as he can shoot the three and score inside."

The duo joins a Bradley program that won its first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in 31 years last season, earning an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The Braves return seven letterwinners from its championship team – including its top three scorers – to go along with four signees during in November in Stephan Gabriel, JaMir Price, Ville Tahvanainen and Antonio Thomas.

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