2021 MVC Transfers

[BEARZ77]

Add Bradley's Sean East to those in the portal, total remake of Bradley's backcourt coming in 2021-22. I find it difficult to evaluate Wardle at this point; I said last year that while he had achieved an obvious desired outcome with a pair of MVC tourney wins, he hadn't gotten Bradley above a 3rd place finish in what, 5years ? Now this year things regressed and he has significant culture issues and player retention problems. Now like Ford's 2nd year, he may not be upset with the player movement as again like Ford, he tried a quick boost via transfers and did a similarly poor job in vetting those players for his system/culture. Just like the old juco adage, they're transfers for a reason oft times. Buyer beware. I like a couple of his remaining frontline guys, Henry/Mast/Hannah, but that's a rebuild job now and he likely will have to roll the transfer dice again for back court help.

[bradley_townie]

Add Bradley's Sean East to those in the portal, total remake of Bradley's backcourt coming in 2021-22. I find it difficult to evaluate Wardle at this point; I said last year that while he had achieved an obvious desired outcome with a pair of MVC tourney wins, he hadn't gotten Bradley above a 3rd place finish in what, 5years ? Now this year things regressed and he has significant culture issues and player retention problems. Now like Ford's 2nd year, he may not be upset with the player movement as again like Ford, he tried a quick boost via transfers and did a similarly poor job in vetting those players for his system/culture. Just like the old juco adage, they're transfers for a reason oft times. Buyer beware. I like a couple of his remaining frontline guys, Henry/Mast/Hannah, but that's a rebuild job now and he likely will have to roll the transfer dice again for back court help.

Wardle has some leash for sure. Though any momentum they had from a 2-time Arch Madness champions really seems to have faded between the player suspensions this season and the disappointing 8th place finish. There are some recurring weaknesses starting to show. They completely whiffed on McAdoo, East and Nolan last year, and there hasn't been much success in the past with transfers (aside from Lundy lighting up AJ Green at Arch Madness).

There is probably only one true guard on the team right now that people will recognize next year (Ville), although I suppose Jayson Kent is kind of a guard/forward combo. All others will be incoming freshmen or transfers. Lots of work to do for this staff.

[BEARZ77]

I imagine he's got some rope left , but those two MVC tourney wins kinda mask a so-so overall record now for 6 years as the Bradley HC. The best he's done is one tie for 3rd place and a pair of 5th place [ one a tie for 5th] finishes. He won't go into next year picked among the teams to challenge for the top of the league, so if that plays out, I'd imagine the next year will be a little hot. Still, the Tourney wins stand out vs an overall pedestrian record, and Mast is a guy you can build around some if he can get a decent blend of transfers/ frosh to make his back court competitive. But it's a really open market on the transfer front and takes a very discerning eye to pick fit over flash.

[usmcsaluki]

East looked good, but Mast to me was awesome; hopefully he can stay to keep some talent in Peoria.

[municup14]

East doesn't know what the heck he wants

[Adunk33]

Added Bradley's Sean East and Illinois State's Abdou Ndiaye to the original post.

Birds fans were pretty stoked when Abdou signed. He was essentially a 6’10 PG in hs. Then look at the teams who the Birds beat out to get him, particularly Wichita State (at the time the Muller-Marshall rivalry was about a year removed), you can see why the excitement was there.

Abdou’s skillset is not one of a traditional 5, but a stretch four. Out of necessity, the Birds had to play him as Duce's primary back up when it should’ve been more like how Phil Fayne and Deontae Hawkins played together.

I’m not too surprised with this one. They are being very active with D1 transfer 4s and 5s. Gonna need to bring in at least two (preferably D1) experienced bigs.

[Adunk33]

Illinois State's Dedric Boyd added to the list. Grad Xfer.

Rumor has it now that INST's Tyreke Key is considering coming back.

[tribecalledquest]

I imagine he's got some rope left , but those two MVC tourney wins kinda mask a so-so overall record now for 6 years as the Bradley HC. The best he's done is one tie for 3rd place and a pair of 5th place [ one a tie for 5th] finishes. He won't go into next year picked among the teams to challenge for the top of the league, so if that plays out, I'd imagine the next year will be a little hot. Still, the Tourney wins stand out vs an overall pedestrian record, and Mast is a guy you can build around some if he can get a decent blend of transfers/ frosh to make his back court competitive. But it's a really open market on the transfer front and takes a very discerning eye to pick fit over flash.

Very good posts about Bradley.

After getting Darrell Brown and Nate Kennell this current BU staff has done an AWFUL job of evaluating guards. Just awful. And the program has been basically a .500 team in the league the last few years and got hot and had a fair amount of luck in STL the two prior seasons. You don't turn down the NCAA berths of course but in 2020 for example Bradley beat the 5, 8 and 9 on the way to the title.

I would call the program stuck in neutral. It is imperative the guard play get better (obviously). The frontcourt is good enough to be a top level MVC group. Reink Mast is legit, JaShon Henry is good, Ari Boya is a difference maker defensively when healthy and Darius Hannah will be good.

The good news is there are TONS of guards available via transfer and JUCO. The bad news is the staff hasn't done a good job of targeting and then evaluating guard play.

[Adunk33]

OP updated with Kingsby to Grambling State

[Adunk33]

Updated:
Cam Bacote from Indiana St is transferring
Nolan Jr to Towson
Fisher to El Paso

Valpo's Jacob Ognacevic.