Peoria, IL. After months of recruiting and weeks of roster overturn across the country, the Bradley Braves have completed their 2023 recruiting class which features five newcomers.

Demarion Burch | FR | Guard | Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
Demarion Burch comes to Bradley as true freshman from the state of Wisconsin by way of Hamilton High School in Milwaukee. Burch stands 6'4'', 175lbs and joins fellow Milwaukee native Darius Hannah on Bradley's roster. Burch helped lead Hamilton to a 21-7 record, including three playoff victories in his senior season. Burch finished his senior season as a top-10 recruit for his home state while averaging 27.3 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 4.8 RPG. Burch has been be described as an uber-athletic wing prospect with a good mid-range game to compliment his downhill driving ability. When he arrives on the Hilltop, he will have four years of eligibility remaining.

Almar Atlason | FR | Forward | Iceland

Almar Atlason makes his way to Bradley as a 6'8'', 215lb true freshman forward from Iceland. As an eighteen-year-old, Atlason participated in the European Championships for Iceland and made headlines across the tournament averaging 17.9 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 3.1 APG through seven tournament games. Atlason is no stranger to the international scene of basketball. In 2021-22, Atlason played in the Iceland Subway league for KR Reykjabik putting up 4.2 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 22 league games. After his time playing in Iceland, Atlason enrolled to Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas, where he played the whole of the 2022-23 season as a skilled multi-level scorer. He will join Bradley this upcoming summer with four years of eligibility remaining.

Kyle Thomas | SO | Forward | Bolingbrook, Illinois
A former Benet Academy standout, Kyle Thomas was an all-area selection during the 2021-22 season while helping lead Benet Academy to the IHSA Class 4A Sectional Semifinals. During the Spring of 2022, Thomas earned All-Midwest Challenge Honors for Team Illinois Prep Ball Stars event where he averaged 21 PPG, 9 RPG, and 2 BPG. In his lone season at Eastern Illinois, Thomas appeared in 29 games during the 2022-23 season and put up 5.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, in roughly 13 MPG. Thomas also earned OVC Freshman of the Week three times this past season. Basketball is something that runs deep in the Thomas family; Kyle is the son of McDonald's All-American and Indiana Standout Daryl Thomas, as well as the nephew of Derrick Thomas, the former Bradley University Men's Basketball player who played during the 1978-79 season. Thomas joins Bradley as a sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining.

Trey Pettigrew | SO | Guard | Chicago, Illinois
A former three-star rated recruit by both 247Sports and Rivals, Trey Pettigrew returns to his home state of Illinois after spending one year with the Nevada Wolfpack Men's Basketball program. The 6'4'', 185lb former Kenwood Academy product and Chicago native appeared in six games for the Pack and averaged 5.2 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 2022-23. Pettigrew recorded a scoring high of 12 points against William Jessup in November of 2022 for Nevada and a high of 22 minutes played against Mountain West Conference foe Utah State. Pettigrew will join Bradley as a sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining.

Emarion Ellis | R-SO | Guard | Davenport, IA 

Emarion Ellis enters his first year on the hilltop as a redshirt sophomore guard from Davenport, Iowa, and is a former top-rated player in the state of Iowa for the class of 2021, according to 247Sports. Ellis attended Davenport Assumption H.S. before accepting a scholarship to attend the University of Texas. Ellis never played a game for the Longhorns after Texas made a coaching change which ended in Shaka Smart moving to Marquette and Ellis promptly followed. While at Marquette, Ellis appeared in 14 games during the 2021-22 season and averaged 2.1 PPG in roughly 85 minutes of game action. Following the 2021-22 season, Ellis suffered a stress fracture to his knee just before the 2022-23 season, which sidelined him for roughly four months. Ellis, as a result, claimed a redshirt for the 2022-23 season and has since fully recovered. He will join Bradley on the Hilltop during this upcoming summer.