# 2015–16 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves were led by first year head coach Brian Wardle, who was hired in the offseason to replace Geno Ford. The Braves were members of the Missouri Valley Conference and played their home games at Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois. They finished the season 5–27, 3–15 in Missouri Valley play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to Loyola–Chicago.

## Previous season

The Braves finished the 2014–15 season with an overall record of 9–24. The team finished in last place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a conference record of 3–15. Following a first round upset of No. 7 seed Drake in the MVC tournament, the Braves season ended with a loss to Northern Iowa.
On March 22, 2015, Bradley fired head men's basketball coach Geno Ford, who compiled a 46–86 (19–53) record in four seasons at Bradley. Ford was replaced less than a week later by UW–Green Bay head coach Brian Wardle.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Warren Jones | 2 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Centralia, IL | Graduate transferred to Wisconsin–Parkside |
| Auston Barnes | 4 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Senior | Lansing, MI | Graduated |
| Tramique Sutherland | 5 | G | 5'11" | 175 | Junior | Toronto, ON | Transferred to UT Permian Basin |
| Darrion Harris | 12 | G | 5'10" | 155 | Junior | St. Louis, MO | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Kendahl Amerson | 13 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Detroit, MI | Transferred to Central Oklahoma |
| Josh Cunningham | 21 | F | 6'7" | 180 | Freshman | Chicago, IL | Transferred to Dayton |
| Xazavier Taylor | 22 | F/C | 6'9" | 225 | Sophomore | Chicago, IL | Transferred to IPFW |
| Omari Grier | 24 | G | 6'4" | 180 | RS Junior | Erial, NJ | Graduate transfer to Rutgers |
| Nate Wells | 52 | C | 7'1" | 260 | Junior | Davenport, IA | Graduate transfer to Ball State |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Alex Foster | 34 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Joliet, IL | Transferred from Texas Tech. Under NCAA transfer rules, Foster will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

## 2015 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Joel Okafor PG | Richmond, IN | Richmond High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Apr 20, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Ronnie Suggs SG | Washington, MO | Vermont Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 19, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: POST ||||||
| Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye SG | Briston, England | Stroud College | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Scottie James SG | Tarpon Springs, FL | Tarpon Springs High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | May 17, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Bradley Commit List for 2015". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015. "ESPN – Bradley Braves Basketball Recruiting 2015". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 11/04/2015* 7:00 pm | Edgewood College | W 78–42 | | Carver Arena (5,829) Peoria, IL |
| 11/09/2015* 7:00 pm | Saint Joseph's (IN) | W 84–65 | | Carver Arena (4,957) Peoria, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Ball State | W 54–53 | 1–0 | Carver Arena Peoria, IL |
| 11/16/2015* 7:00 pm, P12N | at No. 12 Arizona | L 60–90 | 1–1 | McKale Center (14,238) Tucson, AZ |
| 11/19/2015* 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | vs. No. 6 Virginia Charleston Classic quarterfinals | L 57–82 | 1–2 | TD Arena (2,517) Charleston, SC |
| 11/20/2015* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. Seton Hall Charleston Classic consolation round | L 59–67 | 1–3 | TD Arena (2,820) Charleston, SC |
| 11/22/2015* 12:30 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Towson Charleston Classic 7th place game | L 60–62 | 1–4 | TD Arena (1,553) Charleston, SC |
| 11/25/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | New Orleans | L 51–64 | 1–5 | Carver Arena (5,379) Peoria, IL |
| 11/28/2015* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | Ole Miss Charleston Classic | L 54–67 | 1–6 | Carver Arena (5,603) Peoria, IL |
| 12/01/2015* 6:00 pm | at Delaware | L 47–70 | 1–7 | Bob Carpenter Center (1,361) Newark, DE |
| 12/05/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | North Dakota | L 59–65 $^{2OT}$ | 1–8 | Carver Arena (5,557) Peoria, IL |
| 12/08/2015* 7:00 pm | at Texas–Arlington | L 61–97 | 1–9 | College Park Center (1,833) Arlington, TX |
| 12/17/2015* 7:00 pm | Maryville | W 61–53 | 2–9 | Carver Arena (5,601) Peoria, IL |
| 12/20/2015* 1:00 pm, ROOT | at Boise State MW–MVC Challenge | L 70–90 | 2–10 | Taco Bell Arena (4,405) Boise, ID |
| 12/23/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | TCU | L 49–53 | 2–11 | Carver Arena (5,560) Peoria, IL |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season |||||
| 12/30/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Northern Iowa | L 44–80 | 2–12 (0–1) | McLeod Center (5,230) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/03/2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | Wichita State | L 58–85 | 2–13 (0–2) | Carver Arena (6,597) Peoria, IL |
| 01/06/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Southern Illinois | L 44–65 | 2–14 (0–3) | Carver Arena (5,639) Peoria, IL |
| 01/09/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Evansville | L 35–67 | 2–15 (0–4) | Ford Center (5,873) Evansville, IN |
| 01/13/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Loyola–Chicago | W 54–53 | 3–15 (1–4) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,386) Chicago, IL |
| 01/16/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | Missouri State | L 42–61 | 3–16 (1–5) | Carver Arena (6,076) Peoria, IL |
| 01/20/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Illinois State | L 52–55 | 3–17 (1–6) | Carver Arena (7,300) Peoria, IL |
| 01/23/2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Wichita State | L 54–88 | 3–18 (1–7) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| 01/27/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | Northern Iowa | L 50–68 | 3–19 (1–8) | Carver Arena (5,334) Peoria, IL |
| 01/30/2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Drake | L 70–80 | 3–20 (1–9) | Knapp Center (3,524) Des Moines, IA |
| 02/02/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Missouri State | L 71–77 | 3–21 (1–10) | JQH Arena (3,723) Springfield, MO |
| 02/06/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Indiana State | W 63–58 | 4–21 (2–10) | Carver Arena (6,028) Peoria, IL |
| 02/10/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Loyola–Chicago | L 43–54 | 4–22 (2–11) | Carver Arena (5,400) Peoria, IL |
| 02/14/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Illinois State | L 60–75 | 4–23 (2–12) | Redbird Arena (7,888) Normal, IL |
| 02/17/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Southern Illinois | L 59–71 | 4–24 (2–13) | SIU Arena (5,002) Carbondale, IL |
| 02/20/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Drake | W 73–70 | 5–24 (3–13) | Carver Arena (7,149) Peoria, IL |
| 02/23/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | Evansville | L 55–67 | 5–25 (3–14) | Carver Arena (5,523) Peoria, IL |
| 02/27/2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Indiana State | L 58–77 | 5–26 (3–15) | Hulman Center (3,700) Terre Haute, IN |
| Missouri Valley tournament |||||
| 03/03/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Loyola–Chicago First round | L 66–74 | 5–27 | Scottrade Center (6,929) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||