Bradley Scholarship Grid

[BUfan14]

I'll take a little bit of a nuanced approach to my opinion here:

I do not like coaches pulling scholarships for kids for just basketball reasons. If they mess up off the court, in the classroom, or are bad teammates then fine. Wardle doesn't seem to do that from the outside. He seems to give kids an honest assessment of where they are going in to next year and let them make their call. Most will leave if they don't have a guaranteed role, but guys like Linke and Biliew seemed to value their degrees and just the general experience of Bradley basketball. You made a commitment, so did they, and both sides honored it. Sometimes it can cost you depth and proper roster construction, as it did last year, but if a coach expects kids to follow through he must too.

However, that four year commitment has come to an end in this case. If he wants to come back as a walk-on then great, happy to have him. But when we could still use another point (or at least a combo guy) with some height, an athletic big, and a stronger center type big with our last three rides, I don't think it is a good idea to hand out wasted scholarships just for hard work. If we use those last three as stated, then we would have 7 guards (if you count Davis) and 6 posts (I'm putting Atlason and van der Knaap as stretch fours) with 3 point guards, which to me is ideal balance and roster construction, something we haven't had the last couple of years to our detriment at times. We were lucky injuries didn't take a huge toll. Imagine with Jim Les's injury luck where we would have been last year?

Now, will all 13 play? No. Will all 13 work out? No. Some won't work out and others make take a few years to (see Darius Hannah), but it'd be nice to have a roster of guys we at least see potential in working out on the court as well as off. I certainly don't want those guys at the end of the bench being bad teammates, and Linke certainly isn't that. In case of injury or other guys not working out, I just don't want to waste a scholarship knowing the on the court contribution will be extremely limited at best. We did end up needing to play him this year, and next year may be the most important year in this program's history with the way the college game is today. You have to take every chance to be relevant and good that you can.

So if absolutely nothing works out for a 13th scholarship in recruiting, then fine give it to him as we did the walk-ons this year. But there really is no excuse for that to be the case with the number of players out there right now. Thank you Connor Linke for being a great representative of Bradley, you're welcome to come back as a walk-on, but our four year scholarship commitment is done and you received your degree would be what I think of the situation. Being as though this situation seems to be in a holding pattern, that seems to be the approach Brian is taking anyway. I'm not going to through a fit if he's back as a scholarship guy, but that's not the direction I would take certainly at this point.

[BUfan14]

Better like we did with Pettigrew, Ellis, and Thomas? Linke played more and outperformed anything those 3 did for BU, and sometimes I think it’s ok to do something just because it’s the right thing to do.

Building a program, especially in the current environment means building trust and showing that team is family. When BW gave Peter Hanley a scholarship in his last year, the players and fans loved him for it and it spoke volumes to what matters most and we were able to put together one of the best teams we’ve had. Nothing stopping that from happening again.

I certainly respect wanting to keep a good person around. I'm curious what your view is on this when you mention right thing to do. Once a player is committed to Bradley, let's assume they work hard on and off the court to be a good person, do you believe Bradley should stay committed to them? I agree with you on that general principle, but this is such a weird case in that it'll be the last year of this "5th year" allowance and Linke should already have his degree. Are you just saying that principle extends into a 5th year if Linke wants it? Just curious if that is where your thoughts come from on this, of if you genuinely believe having Linke on next year will improve the team (whether just chemistry or on the court).

[Tommy]

I certainly respect wanting to keep a good person around. I'm curious what your view is on this when you mention right thing to do. Once a player is committed to Bradley, let's assume they work hard on and off the court to be a good person, do you believe Bradley should stay committed to them? I agree with you on that general principle, but this is such a weird case in that it'll be the last year of this "5th year" allowance and Linke should already have his degree. Are you just saying that principle extends into a 5th year if Linke wants it? Just curious if that is where your thoughts come from on this, of if you genuinely believe having Linke on next year will improve the team (whether just chemistry or on the court).

No. I agree with you that it needs to be mutual interest. If Linke wants to come back and BW wants him to come back, I think the right thing to do is continue with the scholarship.

[yoda]

No. I agree with you that it needs to be mutual interest. If Linke wants to come back and BW wants him to come back, I think the right thing to do is continue with the scholarship.

a lot of people maybe don't know the time and effort commitment college athletes are required. I had a couple kids who played
in college, and the time required daily even in the offseason was 2-3 hours/day for workouts, training, lifting, & other team activities.
(this, of course, is all-year long - even summer - in addition to whatever academic work & classwork is also required)
But...that's JUST in the off-season when a lot of people think the athletes aren't doing much of anything.

Then, once the "season" starts (a couple months before games) - then time and effort commitment increases a ton...
Maybe up to 6 to 12 hours a day... more workouts, film sessions, meetings, practices, 6am workouts, weight lifting, then add in team meals, travel, games, road trips, and even community service and meetings with boosters/donors.
It's actually pretty amazing from the standpoint of how they do it at all, but remember - some are walk-ons & not getting anything, and in most sports, all but a few are NOT getting full scholarships - maybe just 0.5, 0.2 or even 0.1 of a partial scholarship. You gotta admire how many stick with it knowing they won't play pro and yet give four full years.

[bradleyfan124]

a lot of people maybe don't know the time and effort commitment college athletes are required. I had a couple kids who played
in college, and the time required daily even in the offseason was 2-3 hours/day for workouts, training, lifting, & other team activities.
(this, of course, is all-year long - even summer - in addition to whatever academic work & classwork is also required)
But...that's JUST in the off-season when a lot of people think the athletes aren't doing much of anything.

Then, once the "season" starts (a couple months before games) - then time and effort commitment increases a ton...
Maybe up to 6 to 12 hours a day... more workouts, film sessions, meetings, practices, 6am workouts, weight lifting, then add in team meals, travel, games, road trips, and even community service and meetings with boosters/donors.
It's actually pretty amazing from the standpoint of how they do it at all, but remember - some are walk-ons & not getting anything, and in most sports, all but a few are NOT getting full scholarships - maybe just 0.5, 0.2 or even 0.1 of a partial scholarship. You gotta admire how many stick with it knowing they won't play pro and yet give four full years.

I often heard a quote that players are made during the summer and teams are made during the winter

[Tommy]

Great info, Yoda. Thanks for sharing that.

[bradleyfan124]

a lot of people maybe don't know the time and effort commitment college athletes are required. I had a couple kids who played
in college, and the time required daily even in the offseason was 2-3 hours/day for workouts, training, lifting, & other team activities.
(this, of course, is all-year long - even summer - in addition to whatever academic work & classwork is also required)
But...that's JUST in the off-season when a lot of people think the athletes aren't doing much of anything.

Then, once the "season" starts (a couple months before games) - then time and effort commitment increases a ton...
Maybe up to 6 to 12 hours a day... more workouts, film sessions, meetings, practices, 6am workouts, weight lifting, then add in team meals, travel, games, road trips, and even community service and meetings with boosters/donors.
It's actually pretty amazing from the standpoint of how they do it at all, but remember - some are walk-ons & not getting anything, and in most sports, all but a few are NOT getting full scholarships - maybe just 0.5, 0.2 or even 0.1 of a partial scholarship. You gotta admire how many stick with it knowing they won't play pro and yet give four full years.

And this may be the reason Thomas is not coming back. Wardle is big on commitment and efffort

[BUBraves2006]

We might need a grid update again.

[Da Coach]

We might need a grid update again.

It's done!
Bradley now has 2 or 3 open scholarships left for 2024, depending on the status of Connor Linke. He has the option of returning for a 5th year (Covid year), and if he returns for 2024-25, the number of scholarships available will depend on whether he is a scholarship player.

Go Bradley!

[LongTimeFan]

Everyone is assuming that Bradley has to give 13 scholarships. Maybe I am wrong in thinking with the high costs of sports that the money could be saved for things like recruiting next year. Wardle will have a lot of recruiting for several scholarships. I always thought that the talent also ranged high in the qualities needed on the court. All I am seeing is quality and character. A lot of us may have those but should never be a recruit.

I'll admit in advance that everyone is more talented than I am and keep it out of the argument I am sure will follow. A lot of this may depend on whether Hardtke is also given a scholarship.

I'll take the time to dig my foxhole now. I should have not filled up the last one.

[Da Coach]

Scholarship Grid updated to show commitment of 2025 Montana Wheeler - https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...rid#post494018

[BUfan14]

Did we ever officially determine if Linke or Hardtke is the walk-on? The PJ Star article written months ago made it sound like Cade was the scholarship player?

[Da Coach]

I do not know, and I have not seen an official announcement.
On the Scholarship Grid at the top of page 1, I have Linke as the 13th scholarship player and Hardtke as a walk-on. If anyone knows for certain, let us know.
Scholarship Grid (unofficial)- https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...rid#post494018

[yoda]

I know this may be no more "official" than anyone else's opinions but Dave Eminian was at a summer workout and talked to the players and said this...
"Former walk-on, now scholarship guard Cade Hardtke...
Veteran big man Connor Linke is on the Braves roster as a walk-on."

[Da Coach]

I know this may be no more "official" than anyone else's opinions but Dave Eminian was at a summer workout and talked to the players and said this...
"Former walk-on, now scholarship guard Cade Hardtke...
Veteran big man Connor Linke is on the Braves roster as a walk-on."

That was in an article dated June 20, 2024. Has there been any official report whether that applies to this current academic year which began August 21, 2024?

Cade Hardtke and Sam Hennessy were awarded scholarships for the second semester last year after Pettigrew and Ellis left.
Here is what Dave Eminian said in an earlier article dated January 27, 2024 - https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/...p/72374148007/

"Hardtke and Hennessy, both juniors, have been given the second semester portion of the 2023-24 scholarships vacated when guard Trey Pettigrew and guard Emarion Ellis left the Bradley team earlier this season during the fall semester.
They will be scholarship athletes for the remainder of this season. Then those scholarship slots will be used for incoming players in 2024-25 while Hardtke and Hennessy return to walk-on status."

It seems unusual to me that a coach would take a scholarship away from a player who has been on scholarship for 4 years, then give it to a walk-on.