MVCfans.com

For those of you going through college basketball withdrawal this summer, there are a few former Valley players participating in the Basketball Tournament. It's an open tournament with a mix of pro, semi-pro, former college and amateur players with a $2 million winning team takes all pot. The top 100 fans who "recruit" the most votes for the winning team are also eligible for some cash. These games will be broadcast on the ESPN networks starting in July. There is one team made up of primarily of former Bradley players from the Sweet 16 year in 2006. I for one am looking forward to watching these guys play (maybe since it was the last good year of Bradley basketball). Anyways, here's the MVC representation:

Rico Hill - Illinois St. - Illinois Hoopville Warriors
Lonnie Randolph (Coach) - Drake - The Region
Jake Kitchell - Indiana St. - 7Outz
Zach Andrews - Bradley - Team 23
Grant Gibbs - Creighton - 120 Sports
Daishon Knight - Illinois St. - Team BDB
Tony Bennett - Bradley - Always a Brave
Jeremy Crouch - Bradley - Always a Brave
Will Franklin - Bradley - Always a Brave
Phillip Gilbert - Bradley - Always a Brave
Sam Maniscalco - Bradley - Always a Brave
Patrick O'Bryant - Bradley - Always a Brave
Danny Ruffin - Bradley - Always a Brave
Matt Salley - Bradley - Always a Brave
Marcellus Sommerville - Bradley - Always a Brave
Andrew Warren - Bradley - Always a Brave
Walt Lemon Jr. (contingent) - Bradley - Always a Brave
Chuck Buescher (Coach) - Bradley - Always a Brave

It would be fun seeing more MVC schools get alumni teams going in the future. Here's the link to the tourney site: https://www.thetournament.com/

I thought Grant Gibbs reached mandatory retirement age during his third junior season.

Elite 8! The Braves alumni beat Jason Williams and Mike Bibby led Pedros Posse 92-65 and face the Marquette alumni team tonight, 7pm Central on ESPN2. Cellus has still got it!

If they win they go to NY and play the winner of the Utah and Colorado alumni teams on ESPN.

I thought this thing was a joke when it started but it's gotten huge.

Let's go braves! Up 1 6 minutes in

Always a Brave to the final four.

This is a reminder of how special that 2006 Bradley team was. Most of these guys are in their 30s now, but they can still play. The fact they've gotten this far without Andrew Warren or Walt Lemon is impressive.

The MVC was special that year, and Bradley, with POB, had world class athleticism.

Wufan wrote:The MVC was special that year, and Bradley, with POB, had world class athleticism.

4 Valley teams in the tourney that year. Will we ever see that again? A lot has changed in a decade.

ptownbraves wrote:

Wufan wrote:The MVC was special that year, and Bradley, with POB, had world class athleticism.

4 Valley teams in the tourney that year. Will we ever see that again? A lot has changed in a decade.

Two went to the sweet 16 with low seeds and a Bears team that was screwed by the selection committee.