2018 Always a Brave- a #5 seed in the TBT-Midwest Regional- Columbus July 21 at 7:15 am CDT

[Da Coach]

The Always a Brave team awaits word on whether they will get an at-large bid to The Basketball Tournament.

A few more players have been added-
Auston Barnes
Jimmy Gavin
Walt Lemon
Will Franklin
Marcellus Sommerville
J.J. Tauai

Players previously announced-
Donte Thomas
Zach Andrews
Patrick O'Bryant
Tony Bennett
Daniel Ruffin
Matt Salley

https://thetournament.com/teams/always-brave-bradley-alumni

[Dubl R 1]

The Always a Brave team awaits word on whether they will get an at-large bid to The Basketball Tournament.

A few more players have been added-
Auston Barnes
Jimmy Gavin
Walt Lemon
Will Franklin
Marcellus Sommerville
J.J. Tauai

Players previously announced-
Donte Thomas
Zach Andrews
Patrick O'Bryant
Tony Bennett
Daniel Ruffin
Matt Salley
https://thetournament.com/teams/alwa...bradley-alumni

Should be fun group to watch. Excited to have Zach back!! We definitely have some size this year!!

[FortyTwo]

Looks like Always A Brave failed to qualify via the fan vote, so they will need to be selected as an at-large team in the Midwest region (4 will be selected). The field and bracket are being revealed later today. Hopefully given past success they will be given strong consideration.

[tornado]

I have a good "feeling" about this...

[lightsout]

Always a Brave team got the #5 seed in the Midwest Region. They will face the #12 seeded Prime Time-Players.

https://thetournament.com/teams/primetime-players

Bracket

https://thetournament.com/bracket

[tornado]

I have a good "feeling" about this...

#5 seed-- pretty darned solid!!

but if that bracket and the times are correct - then our guys play at 8:15am in Columbus OH
That would be 7:15 am our time

[Jim]

Open practice?

Will the current Bradley team get to practice with the Always A Brave team? Any change it would be open to the public?

[tornado]

NCAA bans such summer activity...
any Division I player can play during the summer but they are subject to regulations...

-they must play in NCAA sanctioned events or leagues - this is why the Bradley guys no longer ever play in the Hersey Hawkins Summer League down at the RiverPlex in Peoria. However many of the Drake, UNI, Iowa State & Iowa kids do play in the Capital City League and Prime Time League in Iowa. Those are NCAA sanctioned event - but see below...

-One other restriction is that NO MORE THAN two players from any NCAA team can play on the same team during the summer. Thus, you can never have all the Drake guys on one team and they have to be split up so there's no more than two on any given team.

So - it would not be possible for the Bradley players to publicly compete against the TBT players. They can do what they want in private open gyms but cannot be coached or observed by the staff.


...when they held that Hoopin' on the Hilltop a couple years ago - the alumni players engaged in a Red-White game (with Brian Wardle reffing)
but the current players did not participate in the public event - LINK
However, there were "rumors" that the current players and the TBT guys held an "open gym" with no fans nor staff around- LINK


btw- UPDATE and ROSTER

https://bradleybraves.com/news/2018/6/6/mens-basketball-always-a-brave-returns-for-tbt-2018.aspx

[tornado]

The Always a Brave team awaits word on whether they will get an at-large bid to The Basketball Tournament.

A few more players have been added-
Patrick O'Bryant

well congrats to the Warriors - POB's old team....
time to break out my Patrick O'Bryant Warriors jersey!!!

[MDCowboy]

Did anyone else see how the East region let Milwaukee (Marquette) host a pod, and then the West region let Spokane (Gonzaga) host a 4 team pod.

I wish they let Peoria do this again like last year..... even if we only got a 4 team pod, it would be fine. Playing at 8:15am Eastern is just awful. I don't know why Columbus is hosting and also why they have more time in between games. Last year in Peoria, it was MUCH better how the games started literally 10 minutes after the other game. It was great being able to see some of every game without a long delay.

Again, really wish that they let Bradley atleast host a 4 team pod..... it stinks that Bradley had the most attended ever and then they don't get to host again....

[Da Coach]

The Basketball Tournament never reveals publicly what kind of deals the host cities/venues make with the organizers to get the privilege of hosting. I don't think there were any major financial guarantees made by Bradley when they hosted, though I actually don't know what it involved. But I wouldn't be surprised if the popularity and home-team draw is big enough now that hosting sites may pay the organizers to host. It certainly is a major advantage to the home town team to play in a familiar arena and have the home town fan support. It seemed to help the Always a Brave.

[tornado]

but I would think that the ability for a location or arena to put in a bid that gives a monetary guarantee probably fits into it...

[tornado]

uniform design revealed

[Da Coach]

Note that Puma is making a major push to get back into the basketball shoe and apparel market-

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/6/21/17490472/puma-hoops-nba-resurgence-marvin-bagley-deandre-ayton-michael-porter-jr-zhaire-smith

In addition to signing several of the top players who were just drafted in Thursday night's NBA Draft, Puma is designing and making the uniforms for all 72 teams in The Basketball Tournament and they've signed a multi-year deal the TBT-

https://www.thetournament.com/news/puma-signs-multi-year-agreement-be-official-partner-tbt

[tornado]

Early round game for The Tournament begin next week, June 29

https://twitter.com/thetournament/status/1010583483146792960

Bradley does not play until 3 weeks later -
our first game will be at 8:10am Eastern Time on Saturday, July 21
vs. Prime Time Players - tickets on sale here - LINK

If Bradley wins they advance to play at 4:00pm (Eastern) Sunday July 22 - tickets HERE

If they win and advance to the Super 16 then they play the following weekend in Atlanta