Bradley to play in Thanksgiving tournament

[Da Coach]

Bradley has announced they will play in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Springfield, Mass., over Thanksgiving weekend. UMass is the host school. Two other competing teams are still being determined.

http://www.bradleyhoops.com/homepage/x43853884/Braves-sign-on-for-Thanksgiving-event

I am hearing the other teams in this tournament will be good teams.

Note the additional news about the new BU assistant coach-
The process to select Eric Buescher’s replacement on the BU coaching staff is nearing completion, Les said. From nearly 200 applications, the head coach has interviewed five candidates.

“We hope to have it done here in the near future,” he said. “It’s been a very positive process. It’s been very complimentary to Bradley and the program, the number of people who have inquired and made recommendations".

[jeffsu]

???We hope to have it done here in the near future,??? he said. ???It??™s been a very positive process. It??™s been very complimentary to Bradley and the program, the number of people who have inquired and made recommendations.???

Good to hear! Sounds like we'll have some news on that soon then


....

Les??™s comment about the Utah game should have appeared in Wednesday editions of the Journal Star. He returned a reporter??™s call and left a message, which was missed until Wednesday morning.

Good work, PJS. Let the raving begin

[houstonbrave]

After South Padre, Florida, Las Vegas, BU is going to make the sales job harder....honey Springfield is beautiful on Thanksgiving. Hope the competition is really good.

[Da Coach]

They had opportunities to play in tournaments in Florida, Cancun, and maybe even Las Vegas. But the competition they would have played for those was not going to be nearly as good as this HOF Tournament.

Here is an article about this tournament-

http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/02/umass_will_be_part_of_expanded.html

[dogsrus]

This is rather disappointing. From a travel standpoint...yikes..out EAST.

I always thought this was a reward to those fans that wanted to travel with the team. Can't see this getting much interest from nearly the amout that go to the warm weather sites.

Cancun...yes,,,Florida...yes...I'd have even done Vegas again.....but Springpatch, Mass. I think not.

[Bravesfan]

They had opportunities to play in tournaments in Florida, Cancun, and maybe even Las Vegas. But the competition they would have played for those was not going to be nearly as good as this HOF Tournament.

Here is an article about this tournament-
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index..._expanded.html

That's good to hear. I know UMass probably won't be one of the NCAA Tournament contenders from the A-10 this next season, but if the other two teams are really good, that would make this tourney worth it.

Now if we could get Butler on our schedule, that would seal things for next season!

[BUfan14]

Sounds pretty good, I can't wait to hear what the big teams are they get for this tourny if they are suppose to be pretty good.
Any hints DC?

I am also excited to hear about the new assistant, and John Wilkins, and hopefully the other recruit. One of the most exciting off-seasons I can remember in a while! To top it all off, the players will be practicing in a brand new facility and we will be watching all these new players on a brand new scoreboard next year, which I am also excited to see.

[Future Walk-On]

Sounds pretty good, I can't wait to hear what the big teams are they get for this tourny if they are suppose to be pretty good.
Any hints DC?

I am also excited to hear about the new assistant, and John Wilkins, and hopefully the other recruit. One of the most exciting off-seasons I can remember in a while! To top it all off, the players will be practicing in a brand new facility and we will be watching all these new players on a brand new scoreboard next year, which I am also excited to see.

there is no "other recruit" watch what you say.

[Bravesfan]

Sounds pretty good, I can't wait to hear what the big teams are they get for this tourny if they are suppose to be pretty good.
Any hints DC?

I am also excited to hear about the new assistant, and John Wilkins, and hopefully the other recruit. One of the most exciting off-seasons I can remember in a while! To top it all off, the players will be practicing in a brand new facility and we will be watching all these new players on a brand new scoreboard next year, which I am also excited to see.

Yeah. Just in time for the BCS to split off from the rest of the NCAA (see the other thread)!

Oh, who's the new assistant you're talking about? I must have missed this.

[Chico]

After South Padre, Florida, Las Vegas, BU is going to make the sales job harder....honey Springfield is beautiful on Thanksgiving. Hope the competition is really good.

I went to many road games, tournaments and otherwise, and always looked forward to new places. The Braves are playing aren't they?

[BUfan14]

Yeah. Just in time for the BCS to split off from the rest of the NCAA (see the other thread)!

Oh, who's the new assistant you're talking about? I must have missed this.

I don't know, but it will apparently be decided soon. In the article, it says it is down to 5 candidates from 200 and we should know soon.

Ya but it won't be next year they split for sure right? I would think it is too late this year, and it would be a few years off if it ended up happening.

[BradleyBrave]

You're right DC...it is a different one that I had heard. However, UMass being in the field puts this on par with the other tourney I had heard we were going to be in, as in not good. So, it will be interesting to see who the other schools are...so far it's nowhere close to as good as last year (Wofford, U of I, Oklahoma St). Here's to hoping we end up with a better field.

[tornado]

Hey -- this is a good tourney, with great teams -- no UMKC or FGCU!!!
And definitely no cupcakes like Norfolk State and Winston Salem State!

As hard as it is to do scheduling, and we see it said all the time that it's hard, then people should and will appreciate how good this tourney is for Bradley!

[BradleyBrave]

Hey -- this is a good tourney, with great teams -- no UMKC or FGCU!!!
And definitely no cupcakes like Norfolk State and Winston Salem State!

As hard as it is to do scheduling, and we see it said all the time that it's hard, then people should and will appreciate how good this tourney is for Bradley!

In the tournament with FGCU and UMKC (of whom we lost to), we also got to play a ranked Florida team, and a Richmond team that went to the NCAA's the following year. Do we know who the other teams are yet? UMass lost 20 games last year, so we're going to need to better than them to improve on the FGCU-UMKC tournament IMO. I'm glad we're in a tourney and hope we can play the max number of games in the non-con this year. I hate having an open date!

[TheAsianSensation]

I'll take a wait-and-see, but on the surface, seems like the tourney is a good idea.

If there's anything that Les has aced over the years, it's the non-conference schedule.