Summer 2006 • Volume 12, Issue 3
Sweet 16: Braves’ NCAA run
An inside look
Play-by-play radio announcer Dave Snell ’76 spent countless hours with the 2005-06 Bradley men’s basketball team—before and after games, at practices, on the road, and at home. He gives his insight about each member of the team.
Danny Adams #32, junior guard. “He squeezes out every inch of his ability from an effort standpoint. Of all the players on the team, he probably plays most like Jim Les ’86 did—all out. He had a long way to come back from his knee injury a few years ago, and his work ethic helped him do that. He garnered more playing time as the season went on, just because of his hustle and non-stop drive.”
Zach Andrews #21, junior forward. “His flip, which I call the Jerry Springer, is something I’ve never seen on the basketball court. It shows how athletic he is. He usually does it once a game. It usually takes a junior college player a year to make the transition to Division I. He was forced into an accelerated learning curve because of Patrick O’Bryant missing the first part of the season. He was a big part of the reason for our non-conference success. The energy he brought into a game would pick the team up when it hit a lull. We haven’t seen the best of him yet.”
Tony Bennett #5, senior guard. “From where he came from to where he is, he is one of the greatest success stories in Bradley history. He reminds me of Marcello Robinson ’03. In only two years, Tony became a man while he was at Bradley. With his unending mental toughness and refusal to yield, he exhibited a no-fear attitude not only in the NCAA tournament but in every game he played. A state champion on the Carver Arena floor, he became a people’s champion as he ended his collegiate career on that same floor.”
Ray Brown #2, freshman guard. “Ray was a freshman on a team loaded with veteran players. His work every day in practice against those players not only will make him better for the future, but the fact that he was on a winning team and saw the fruits of their labor will make him hungrier for an integral role. A very good shooter, he has a great body to be the same kind of player as Marcellus—inside, outside. He will be counted on heavily from this point on in his career.”
Jeremy Crouch #14, sophomore guard. “I’m sure Jeremy was disappointed with the decrease in his playing time, but the competitor in him means he’s far from settling. His desire to succeed should bring him back to—and exceed—the levels we saw as a freshman. He has a great mind for the game. He will be an excellent coach in the future, he will not make a bad play, and a bad shot is not in his vocabulary.”
Will Franklin #4, junior guard. “I call him $100 Will, because his last name is on the $100 bill. Considering he missed the first part of the season, his adjustment from junior college to Division I was a crash course passed. The team simply would not have had the success it had in the late run without him. He added scoring, ball handling, defense, leadership, and intangibles the team could not have done without. His half-time bank shot against Kansas gave the team a 10-point lead and sent a message like, ‘And take this to the locker room with you,’ from which the Jayhawks never recovered…$100 Will was a $100 thrill.”
Brandyn Heemskerk #55, senior center, “If there were a Purple Heart awarded for basketball, he would have it. He went through more trying times and injuries than perhaps any player since the late Joe Allen ’72. Yet, he never complained. On the occasions he was called upon, he not only played, but played at a high level. His minutes against Wichita State in the MVC semi-final win provided enough of a spark to make the difference in that game. He is loved by his teammates; ‘Big B’ he is called. His number one goal was to make Patrick O’Bryant the very best he could be. That unselfishness speaks volumes about his character and his value to this special group.”
Patrick O’Bryant #13, sophomore center. “As the Lennon-McCartney team would say, he’s getting better all the time. Having missed the pre-
conference schedule, he hit the ground running, being named MVC Player of the Week his first games back. At seven foot, he reminds me of Joe Allen,
Mike Williams ’88, and Donald Reese ’83, who are among the greatest centers in Bradley history. For a big man, he has a great touch from the free throw line, which is so very important with all the contact he gets. He has the natural ability to not only block a shot, but keep it in play to start breaks to the other end. There’s nothing unlucky about #13.”
Daniel Ruffin #20, sophomore guard. “There will be players who score more points and get more rebounds, but he is the most valuable player. He’s the straw that stirs the Bradley drink. In Jim Les’ system, the offense begins with a point guard. His contributions can’t be measured in numbers. Leadership, poise, and desire—all learned at Peoria High from now-assistant coach Chuck Buescher ’68 MA ’70—translated to excellence on the floor his sophomore season. A tenacious defender with unflappable personality on the floor, he has the perfect demeanor for the general he is.”
Marcellus Sommerville #15, senior forward. “The perfect ending to his collegiate story, the Sports Illustrated photo captures it all. He is proud of his school, proud of his community, proud of his family. It’s the exclamation point to three wonderful years of playing in his hometown. Jim Les’ first recruit, at the beginning of the year, he took to heart the phrase, ‘How will you be remembered?’ In Bradley’s basketball-rich tradition, he will be remembered as the best player on one of its all-time most successful teams. Nobody wanted to win more. His personality is such that he wanted it more for his teammates, the school, and its fans than he even did for himself. His love for family is parallel to his love for his teammates. He blossomed into a wonderful leader. Thirty years from now, he’ll look at the cover of Sports Illustrated and remember his one shining moment in Bradley history.”
J.J. Tauai #10, junior guard. “The fortunes of the season turned when the co-captain entered the line-up after the only home loss of the season. ‘Sacrifice’ is a word often used to describe players on the floor. Never has it been more true than in the case of J.J. He played his role to perfection. He seized the opportunity he was given and transformed a team searching for identity into the face of a winner. With an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio, whether at the point or the three-spot, he hit big shots to change an entire game in the 22-point win at Northern Iowa. Just about the time the opponent would forget J.J. was on the floor, he would hit them with a three, a steal, or an amazing assist. His persistence was an example to his teammates that you never, ever quit. This became evident as the team overcame the odds on its Sweet 16 run. There would have been no run without J.J.”
 Lawrence Wright #22, senior forward. “The most incredible, gifted—freakish, perhaps— athlete since Willie Betts ’69, he seemed to have an extension on his arm. Playing with an absolute emotionless demeanor, he would do things on the floor and in practice that you had never seen and likely never will see again. The remarkable thing is, he did so many of those things. He improved his free throw ability his senior year and was an impossible match-up for every team in the Missouri Valley Conference. He had the great ability to take over a game, played with no fear, and sometimes no conscience. He could just make plays no normal player could make. It will be eons before we see the likes of him again. ‘Boogie’ is the nickname the players gave him because he liked to dance, and he ended his career in the big one.”
Saihou Jassey #1, redshirt freshman guard. “He is a tremendous athlete, has a nice-looking shot, and has had valuable practice time after his injury to learn the system. That will pay dividends down the road.”
Brian Lavin #44, freshman guard. “Brian is from a basketball-rich family. His father played on a Peoria Spalding team that finished second in the state. Often, he was called upon to play the scout team’s point guard. An intelligent player, it takes a special individual to practice, to lift, to run, and know there’s nearly no chance he will ever play. He’s every bit as vital to the success of the team as a starter.”
Sam Singh #54, redshirt freshman forward. “For the second straight year, injuries cut short Sam’s freshman year. He has great hands, is a tremendous post passer, has a soft shooting touch, and is a big body physical rebounder. In my 27 years, I have not met a student-athlete like him. His personality, his intelligence, and his basketball IQ can take him just about anywhere he wants to go. I can see him as a public relations executive or a radio color commentator, but he still has much basketball to play. He’s a picture-perfect definition of what you would want a Bradley student-athlete to be.”
2005-06 Bradley Braves team members, pictured above, met Marcus Pollard ’94 during their Sweet 16 run. Shown are 1) Andrews, 2) Adams, 3) Lavin, 4) Ruffin, 5) Tauai, 6) Pollard, 7) Bennett, 8) Crouch, team managers 9) Patrick Foerster, 10) Joseph Fulton, and 11) Steve Jackson, 12) Wright, 13) Jassey, 14) Sommerville, 15) Brown, 16) Franklin, 17) O’Bryant, 18) strength and conditioning coach Ronnie Wright, 19) Singh, 20) Heemskerk. Not pictured are team managers Michael Peplow and Gabe Secrist. |
