Nate Kennell commits to Bradley!

[Da Coach]

Nate Kennell has given Bradley a verbal commitment!

Welcome to Bradley, Nate!

[tornado]

I am very pleased and I think all fans will likewise also be pleased

[Da Coach]

From Nate's AAU coache, Mike Mullins-

https://twitter.com/wolves10/status/620995487051685888

ILLWolves 2016 SG Nate Kennel Metamora has accepted a scholarship to play for Bradley HC Brian Wardle of the MVC


And from a national recruiting expert, Frank Burlison-

https://twitter.com/FrankieBur/status/620997624796196864

One of the best jump shooters I saw in the spring . . .

[Da Coach]

Verbalcommits.com now listing Nate's commitment-

https://verbalcommits.com/players/nate-kennell

[Old Coach]

I think Nate's skill set will fill a nice role at Bradley. I'm looking forward to watching him develop.

[BU Bill]

Really impressive recruiting job by this staff. Less than 3 months ago Bradley did not even have a single commitment for the 2015 recruiting year yet, and had numerous open scholarships and not enough players to field a team thanks to the recruiting incompetence of the previous coaches, and the departures of players who weren't likely D1 caliber. Not only has Coach Wardle and his staff filled all those open scholarships with solid recruits, he already has 2 great 2016 recruits signed before the middle of July despite getting an extremely late start on recruiting for 2015 & 2016.

Great job by our coaches. And it will be great to see Nate and Koch Bar wearing Bradley uniforms!

[Old Coach]

Really impressive recruiting job by this staff. Less than 3 months ago Bradley did not even have a single commitment for the 2015 recruiting year yet, and had numerous open scholarships and not enough players to field a team thanks to the recruiting incompetence of the previous coaches, and the departures of players who weren't likely D1 caliber. Not only has Coach Wardle and his staff filled all those open scholarships with solid recruits, he already has 2 great 2016 recruits signed before the middle of July despite getting an extremely late start on recruiting for 2015 & 2016.

Great job by our coaches. And it will be great to see Nate and Koch Bar wearing Bradley uniforms!

Not yet signed.

I think Bradley will be fine with Nate, but I'm not holding my breath with Koch Bar.

[Da Coach]

I am not worried about Koch Bar as some seem to be. He is not interested in going to a higher ranked school, and his very close relationship with the Adams' family (Coach Drew Adams father) should be reassuring to Bradley fans.

Article about Nate Kennell from Dave Reynolds-

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150714/SPORTS/150719656/12701/SPORTS

As I have previously said, Nate always wanted to come to Bradley and once the offer was made, it was a done deal-

"There wasn't much more reason to wait," he said. "Bradley was my first choice anyway so there was no reason to wait."

[tornado]

overall, the Class of 2016 is not strong and not deep - neither here in Illinois or the midwest...

Note out recruiting thread - and how FEW 2016 commitments there are throughout the entire Valley...and yet we have TWO that are remarkably solid commits - so congrats go to Coach Wardle & staff!

[Da Coach]

Jim Mattson tweeted-

https://twitter.com/hoijim/status/621020777354297344

(but I think he got the spelling wrong)


Metamora all state star Nate Kenell on his commitment to Bradley- I grew up a Bradley fan--this is a dream come true

[Da Coach]

For those who have never seen Nate Kennell play and wonder how he might contribute for Bradley, think Jeremy Crouch. JC was never a superstar, and didn't get much interest from higher major schools, but without his shooting, passing, and playmaking, Bradley would not have seen the successes they had from 2005-2008. Especially the 2006-07 and 2007-08 teams, which were 22 and 21 win teams, and relied heavily on the perimeter shooting of Crouch and others (after big guys POB, Sommerville, and Andrews left). Many who have seen a lot of Nate think he can be the same kind of valuable player as Jeremy was. He needs to get stronger, and work on his ball-handling and passing, but I believe he has the skills to improve a lot in those areas.

[Old Coach]

For those who have never seen Nate Kennell play and wonder how he might contribute for Bradley, think Jeremy Crouch. JC was never a superstar, and didn't get much interest from higher major schools, but without his shooting, passing, and playmaking, Bradley would not have seen the successes they had from 2005-2008. Especially the 2006-07 and 2007-08 teams, which were 22 and 21 win teams, and relied heavily on the perimeter shooting of Crouch and others (after big guys POB, Sommerville, and Andrews left). Many who have seen a lot of Nate think he can be the same kind of valuable player as Jeremy was. He needs to get stronger, and work on his ball-handling and passing, but I believe he has the skills to improve a lot in those areas.

I think Crouch could be a pretty good comparison.

[Future Walk-On]

I think Crouch could be a pretty good comparison.

that would be sweet.

[tornado]

I'd like to think he has the potential to be very good - he's been very good at every level he's played already....
so comparison - Andrew Warren or Nate Funk or Ron Baker or Josh Young or Colt Ryan or ...

btw - kudos to those who predicted (or knew) that Nate Kennell was going to be our next verbal....
but I wonder this - does this affect whether we'd be in the running for AJ Youngman?

[Old Coach]

but I wonder this - does this affect whether we'd be in the running for AJ Youngman?

A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

I suspect that at the end of the day, A.J. will have to pass on a better offer to go to Bradley (if Coach Wardle even wants to offer A.J.).