Bradley's Best Power Forwards in the Past 40 Years

[tornado]

Past 40 years........since there were some way back who I never saw...

There is some overlap since some may have also played the small forward but I have taken the liberty to judge who have been our BEST Power Forwards since the Joe Stowell era....
(I am counting Chet Walker & Mitchell Anderson as power forwards altho they played SF in the NBA)
....(and this is my judgement having seen all these players and it's not just based on points scored - and I'm not 100% sure on the stats, just going on what I have)



13-Xanthus Houston 836 career points, 18 double-doubles (just 3 seasons)
12-Zach Andrews 560 career points, 10 double-doubles (just 2 seasons)
12-Will Egolf 823 career points
11-Marcus Pollard 424 career points (just 2 seasons)
10-Dwayne Funches 840 career points
9- Eddie Cage 860 career points
8- Mike Williams 843 career points, 10 double-doubles (just 2 seasons)
7- Donte Thomas - congrats Donte - one of our best ever! 990 career points - we need one more game!!!
6- Donald Powell 1,055 career points, 12 double-doubles
5- Adebayo Akinkunle 1,033 career points
4- Luke Jackson 1252 career points, 29 double-doubles
3- Donald Reese 1113 career points, 24 double-doubles (3 seasons)
2- Mitchell Anderson 2,341 career points, 36 double-doubles
1- Chet Walker 1,975 career points, 54 double-doubles (3 seasons)

** Donte Thomas' six double-doubles this year give him 15 for his career!
That is THE MOST by any Bradley player since 1991 (Xanthus Houston had 18)



...and I know I have Chet from the 1960's but couldn't leave him off.
If I limited strictly to just the past 25 years then Donte moves up to #2 - a close 2nd to Bayo!

 

[tornado]

just wanted to mention a couple other Bradley forwards from the 1960's that were pretty good - guys that most current fans never heard of...
Maybe Chico or capecod can add...........
The first two I never saw, the latter three I saw many times when I was in school at Bradley and were really fun to watch. each created highlight reel plays several times a game but nobody had video back then and there was no ESPN.

-Tim Robinson - a 6-5 stud from Chicago Crane who is still a Chicago legend - but he did not graduate - so the NBA shunned him - altho he played 6 yeas with the Globetrotters. People who saw him play said that if he had remained eligible, he'd have been as good as Chet Walker. LINK

-Alphra Saunders - 6-7 forward from Chicago Dunbar who averaged 14 ppg & 6 rpg in his junior year but also did not graduate and left school - then went undrafted. He unsuccessfully sued the NBA when they would not draft him.
He still scored almost 1000 points at Bradley despite not even finishing his senior year here.

-Cal Criddle - an amazing ability to jump even tho he was only 6-3 but could guard players 9 inches taller and could touch the top of the backboard. Cal "lost" his whole junior season due to an incident on campus but still scored almost 800 points & 500 rebounds. He played in the era when DUNKING WAS AGAINST THE RULES, but he would get up so high anyway that he'd throw the ball down so forcefully even without touching the rim, so that it was technically not a dunk & yet was exciting to watch.

-Willie Betts - 6-5, likewise, could jump out of the gym. He was drafted in 1968 in the ABA draft.
Here was our former discussion on Willie. Had Willie stayed all four years at Bradley he'd have been in the 800-1000 point range.
Capecod saw him play and wrote this - LINK

-Lamonia "Skeets" Barksdale - this one will be very obscure to almost all fans. He played with Alvin O'Neal and Brian Lavin's dad Rich Lavin at Peoria Spalding and is in the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame - LINK
Barksdale was a high scoring forward on BU's freshman team but never made it to varsity due to grades. He was fun to watch, tho, but very few ever saw him. his history after Bradley is not a good story, however.
https://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825132596&postcount=9

 

[wily coyote]

just wanted to mention a couple other Bradley forwards from the 1960's that were pretty good - guys that most current fans never heard of...
Maybe Chico or capecod can add...........
The first two I never saw, the latter two I saw many times when i was in school at Bradley and were really fun to watch. each created highlight reel plays several times a game but nobody had video back then and there was no ESPN.

-Tim Robinson - a 6-5 stud from Chicago Crane who is still a Chicago legend - but he did not graduate - so the NBA shunned him - altho he played 6 yeas with the Globetrotters. People who saw him play said that if he had remained eligible, he'd have been as good as Chet Walker. LINK

-Alphra Saunders - 6-7 forward from Chicago Dunbar who averaged 14 ppg & 6 rpg in his junior year but also did not graduate and left school - then went undrafted. He unsuccessfully sued the NBA when they would not draft him.
He still scored almost 1000 points at Bradley despite not even finishing his senior year here.

-Cal Criddle - an amazing ability to jump even tho he was only 6-3 but could guard players 9 inches taller and could touch the top of the backboard. Cal "lost" his whole junior season due to an incident on campus but still scored almost 800 points & 500 rebounds. He played in the era when DUNKING WAS AGAINST THE RULES, but he would get up so high anyway that he'd throw the ball down so forcefully even without touching the rim, so that it was technically not a dunk & yet was exciting to watch.

-Willie Betts - 6-5, likewise, could jump out of the gym. He was drafted in 1968 in the ABA draft.
Here was our former discussion on Willie. Had Willie stayed all four years at Bradley he'd have been in the 800-1000 point range.
Capecod saw him play and wrote this - LINK

-Lamonia "Skeets" Barksdale - this one will be very obscure to almost all fans. He played with Alvin O'Neal and Brian Lavin's dad Rich Lavin at Peoria Spalding and is in the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame - LINK
Barksdale was a high scoring forward on BU's freshman team but never made it to varsity due to grades. He was fun to watch, tho, but very few ever saw him. his history after Bradley is not a good story, however.
https://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825132596&postcount=9

Just a couple of other names : Mack the knife Herdon , Harold McMath, Barney Cable and Steve Kuberski. Steve may have been a Center but I believe he played some PF.

 

[Da Coach]

As long as you are bringing up the 1960's, how about Steve Kuberski? He was an All MVC power forward for the 1968-69 Braves, and went on to a pretty good 9-year NBA career that included 2 NBA Championships with the 1974 & 1976 Boston Celtics.


edit: sorry, while I was working on my post, I see Wily mentioned Steve Kuberski. He left Bradley after his junior season, and would have been a POY candidate if he had stayed one more year.
Also, as I recall, Steve did not play center much at Bradley. He was more of a face-to-the-basket power forward.
Cal Criddle, at 6'3" played the center position most of the time. Does anyone remember Cal Criddle guarding Lew Alcindor in the game Bradley played at UCLA in the 1967-68 season?

 

[Chico]

Just a couple of other names : Mack the knife Herdon , Harold McMath, Barney Cable and Steve Kuberski. Steve may have been a Center but I believe he played some PF.

I remember the Indiana St game in the Fieldhouse when McMath and Carl M double teamed Larry Bird. Most of the game he just stood in the corner and watched Nicks lead the Sycamores. Could have been the only game he didn??™t finish in double figures.

 

[ihatetea]

I??™m amazed no one has mentioned Marcellus Somerville. I??™m not nearly as old as the other posters in this thread since the guys they mention all played many years before I was born. But Somerville is the best pure power forward Bradley has had since I??™ve been really following Bradley. Some of these other guys that I??™ve watched you could argue are centers (egolf) or small forwards (I know he wasn??™t mentioned but Taylor brown) but Somerville is no doubt a pf to me.

Incidentally, if we could clone him he might be the perfect recruit for Bradley next year. A big strong forward who rebounds and can defend while also shooting a good percentage from deep.

 

[Da Coach]

I remember the Indiana St game in the Fieldhouse when McMath and Carl M double teamed Larry Bird. Most of the game he just stood in the corner and watched Nicks lead the Sycamores. Could have been the only game he didn’t finish in double figures.

It was his only college game in his 3 year career that he did not score in double figures. In adition, it was his lowest scoring output in his entire career, including high school, college, and the NBA. Unfortunately, Bradley still lost because Carl Nicks went crazy and has the best game of his career- 31 points. Point guard Steve Reed had a great game with 19 points, and Phillip Gilbert's uncle Alex Gilbert also had a good game.
According to this Wikipedia page, Dick Versace called his defensive strategy the "Bird Cage".
it is mentioned in the 2nd paragraph here-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_NCAA_Division_I_Basketball_Championship_Game#Indiana_State

It is also mentioned in the middle of this article, but here they refer to it as the "Bird's Nest"
http://www.tribstar.com/news/lifest...cle_74de75e7-99d2-56a3-9c50-7c69400e2400.html

And here is a great summary of that game-
https://books.google.com/books?id=n...nepage&q=larry bird dick versace nest&f=false

 

[Chico]

Almost forgot one of my favorite Braves. Shellie McMillan.

 

[tornado]

I remember the Indiana St game in the Fieldhouse when McMath and Carl M double teamed Larry Bird. Most of the game he just stood in the corner and watched Nicks lead the Sycamores. Could have been the only game he didn??™t finish in double figures.

it was the only game that season he did not get double-figures...but we almost beat them - and when we did go one on one with Bird, Phegley defending him- we actually played them pretty close
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/stats...ision I_1978_305_Indiana State University.pdf

 

[Dub]

Akinkunle played center, no?

 

[Da Coach]

Akinkunle played center, no?

Yeah, Bayo played pretty much the low post center position.

 

[wily coyote]

I agree Shellie Mcmillan and Summerville most definitely belong on that list. Can't believe we forgot MS. He hasn't been gone that long.

 

[Chico]

I agree Shellie Mcmillan and Summerville most definitely belong on that list. Can't believe we forgot MS. He hasn't been gone that long.

In 2005 I was in the library in Pinetop, Arizona and looking at the magazine rack. Picked up a Sports Illustrated and was shocked to see Summerville on the cover.

 

[tornado]

Cellus played more of a small forward position - that's why I did not include him
LINK - LINK - and I noted that I left off a lot of the guys from Chet's time & further back (Estergard, McDade, McMillon..etc..)

 

[capecod]

fyi

fyi

just wanted to mention a couple other Bradley forwards from the 1960's that were pretty good - guys that most current fans never heard of...
Maybe Chico or capecod can add...........
The first two I never saw, the latter three I saw many times when I was in school at Bradley and were really fun to watch. each created highlight reel plays several times a game but nobody had video back then and there was no ESPN.

-Tim Robinson - a 6-5 stud from Chicago Crane who is still a Chicago legend - but he did not graduate - so the NBA shunned him - altho he played 6 yeas with the Globetrotters. People who saw him play said that if he had remained eligible, he'd have been as good as Chet Walker. LINK

-Alphra Saunders - 6-7 forward from Chicago Dunbar who averaged 14 ppg & 6 rpg in his junior year but also did not graduate and left school - then went undrafted. He unsuccessfully sued the NBA when they would not draft him.
He still scored almost 1000 points at Bradley despite not even finishing his senior year here.

-Cal Criddle - an amazing ability to jump even tho he was only 6-3 but could guard players 9 inches taller and could touch the top of the backboard. Cal "lost" his whole junior season due to an incident on campus but still scored almost 800 points & 500 rebounds. He played in the era when DUNKING WAS AGAINST THE RULES, but he would get up so high anyway that he'd throw the ball down so forcefully even without touching the rim, so that it was technically not a dunk & yet was exciting to watch.

-Willie Betts - 6-5, likewise, could jump out of the gym. He was drafted in 1968 in the ABA draft.
Here was our former discussion on Willie. Had Willie stayed all four years at Bradley he'd have been in the 800-1000 point range.
Capecod saw him play and wrote this - LINK

-Lamonia "Skeets" Barksdale - this one will be very obscure to almost all fans. He played with Alvin O'Neal and Brian Lavin's dad Rich Lavin at Peoria Spalding and is in the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame - LINK
Barksdale was a high scoring forward on BU's freshman team but never made it to varsity due to grades. He was fun to watch, tho, but very few ever saw him. his history after Bradley is not a good story, however.
https://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825132596&postcount=9

fyi

Alphra Saunders was only 6'2 -not 6'7....first time I saw Saunders listed as '6'7' was in a 'tell all' book about the point shaving scandals awhile back.....

Lamonia Barksdale was also only 6'2

The lack of size of BU's forwards being another 'bane' for Braves in the 50s/60s.....another 'bane' was smallish centers(with the exception of Joe Strawder)-both Cable and Chet Walker had to play a lot of center at Bradley.....but as I mentioned in one of the old posts that Tornado linked-the biggest 'bane' was grade issues....and I guarantee the then arch-rival Cincinnati NEVER had a player flunk off one of their squads....Bradley always played by the rules-Bradley was a real college & either you made your grades or you didn't play......

Another correction:
I noticed that in my earlier posts (Linked above) that I mentioned that Willie Betts and LC Bowen were Bradley's only Parade AAs....I actually corrected myself in a later post when I discovered that Parade had listed Tim Robinson (1st team Parade AA) as "James"....which was in fact his real first name.......I totally missed Robinson who was in fact Bradley's first Parade AA.

 

[pfcmsh]

My Favorite

My Favorite

My favorite was Mitchell Anderson. I think he could play guard too, but we had great guards under Versace. I know a few games where he didn't start because of a sore back and BU was losing the games. As soon as he came off the bench, everybody in the place including both teams, knew that things were going to change. I hope we get another Mitchell. I know we have had many other great forwards, but in my humble, uninformed view, he was everything you could ask for in a basketball player.

 

[tornado]

..... Carl Nicks went crazy and has the best game of his career- ...

just a note for the old guys who remember...

Indiana State has announced they will retire Carl Nicks' #22
https://t.co/SFPP6XGIxy
The ceremony will be at their Alumni Weekend on Feb. 16, 2019

The Sycamores also will have a ceremony in January that honors the 40th anniversary of their 1979 team (Carl Nicks & Larry Bird)
that won the Valley and advanced all the way to the National Championship game

 

[Buesch N Chips]

It was his only college game in his 3 year career that he did not score in double figures. In adition, it was his lowest scoring output in his entire career, including high school, college, and the NBA. Unfortunately, Bradley still lost because Carl Nicks went crazy and has the best game of his career- 31 points. Point guard Steve Reed had a great game with 19 points, and Phillip Gilbert's uncle Alex Gilbert also had a good game.
According to this Wikipedia page, Dick Versace called his defensive strategy the "Bird Cage".
it is mentioned in the 2nd paragraph here-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_NCAA_Division_I_Basketball_Championship_Game#Indiana_State

It is also mentioned in the middle of this article, but here they refer to it as the "Bird's Nest"
http://www.tribstar.com/news/lifest...cle_74de75e7-99d2-56a3-9c50-7c69400e2400.html

And here is a great summary of that game-
https://books.google.com/books?id=n...nepage&q=larry bird dick versace nest&f=false

I have this game on DVD.