Bradley Braves Offseason Review: New Faces, High Ceilings
Jaquan Johnson is gone, but Bradley is rebuilding fast. Here's a full breakdown of every addition, departure, and expectation for the 2026-2027 Braves roster.
Yes, it’s true…our offseason reviews are BACK! Plenty of teams have either completely finalized their rosters or are nearing completion with just one or two potential late additions to come in time. Starting today, we’ll be covering one team each week up until the regular season, so buckle up.
The first team of the season we’re covering is the Bradley Braves. The Braves have been a consistent force in the Missouri Valley Conference since the 2017-2018 season where they finished 20-13 overall. Since, they’ve had seven 20+ win seasons, including a record of 114-58 overall and 68-30 in the MVC over the last five seasons. Despite this success, they haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
Last season looked promising, with blossoming star Jaquan Johnson returning to Peoria, but they ultimately fell to Northern Iowa in Arch Madness. They appeared in the NIT, but were bounced in the first round to Dayton by a score of 80-66.
With nearly an entirely new roster coming in, there are going to be a lot of new faces for the Braves this season. Let’s take a look at who’s new on the roster.
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Roster Turnover
Alex Huibregste (Ineligible)
12.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists
A.J. Smith (Ineligible)
8.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals
Ahmet Jonovic (Ineligible)
8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 blocks
Corey Thomas (Ineligible)
5.4 points, 3.6 rebounds
Jaquan Johnson (Junior) → Iowa State
16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals
Handy Toussaint III (Senior) → TBD
0.8 rebounds (5 games / 2 minutes)
Demarion Burch (Senior) → Illinois State
8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, one assist
Kai Yu (Junior) → Valparaiso
2.7 points, 1.9 rebounds
Montana Wheeler (Sophomore) → Kansas State
8.5 points, 1.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists
Matthew Zobrist (Sophomore) → Belmont
1.5 points, 0.4 rebounds (13 games / 5 minutes)
The Bradley Braves made waves last year, returning some yet players including Jaquan Johnson & Demarion Burch. Johnson was on breakout alert and he did just that, jumping from 6.6 points per game to 16.9 points per game while being an absolute force on the court. At just 5’11, you would think he’d be disadvantaged, but he is built like a rock and uses that to his advantage. Now, he cashed out and will be headed to Iowa State.
Burch has been catching heat on the internet as he committed to in-state rival Illinois State after spending the past three seasons at Bradley. He has consistently improved each season, developing into a key player in the rotation. Last year, he stepped up into a wider role as he started in 16 of his 26 games while shooting 40.4% overall and averaging a career high 8.8 points.
Promising freshman Montana Wheeler was looking like a guard that should be on star watch in the Missouri Valley, but Kansas State picked him up this offseason. All-in-all, the Braves lost three players to other Missouri Valley Conference programs while they lost nearly their entire roster, but tis the life of a mid-major.
Returning Players
Timoty van der Knaap (Junior)
6.5 points, 4.8 rebounds
Dietrich Richardson (Sophomore)
2.3 points, 0.8 rebounds
Jackson Seastrunk (Freshman)
DNP ~ Redshirt
Gustavo Guimaraes (Freshman)
DNP ~ Redshirt
Gus Rugaard (Junior)
Walk-on
Timoty van der Knaap (6’8)
As I hinted in the prior section, the Bradley Braves are not returning a lot of talent from their prior season. However, Timoty van der Knaap was a solid return for Coach Wardle. The Italian forward jumped from a bench piece his freshman season to appearing in 34 games, starting 11, and averaging 22.8 minutes per game. He shot 42.9% overall from the floor, but just 23.1% from beyond the arc on nearly two attempts per game. From inside the arc, he shot 53.7% against Division I talent.
On the glass, he’s already shown what he can do. He finished with an 8.7% offensive rebounding percentage which was 375th overall and a 16.5% defensive rebounding percentage. Both jumped when he got into conference player to 9% & 17.7% respectively.
If he can work on his outside game, the talent is there on the boards and he can turn himself into an absolute force in the Missouri Valley.
Dietrich Richardson (6’7)
Coming out of high school, Richardson was well regarded. He held offers from Wyoming, DePaul, Xavier, Saint Louis, Virginia Tech, Illinois, and many more high-profile programs as he was listed as a both a 3-star and 4-star recruit on varying platforms.
He played sporadically as a freshman, appearing in 18 games and averaging 7.2 minutes per game. His best game of the year came against Illinois State where he finished with nine points and three rebounds in 20 minutes. He isn’t afraid to shoot as he finished with ten shots in that game, six shots in 12 minutes against Belmont & Murray State, and four shots against Northern Illinois in just five minutes.
There is no doubt that Richardson has some strong raw potential and he’ll have ample opportunities this coming season to tap into that and become a valuable player for the Braves.
Freshmen & Walk-Ons
Both Jackson Seastrunk and Gustavo Guimaraes redshirt last season as freshmen. Seastrunk is a 6’5 guard out of Xavier Academy that held just one offer from Bradley. Guimaraes hails from Brazil, and the 6’11 center choose Bradley over Jacksonville, UMass, U-Albany, and Drexel. In both cases, I envision these players will be taking a developmental season with depth roles on the bench in the 2026-2027 season.
Gus Rugaard is entering his three season as a walk-on for Bradley. Last year, he appeared in seven games and did not score on either of his two shot attempts.
Roster Additions
Trevon Payton (Senior) - Arkansas-Pine Bluff
10 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1 steal
Kyle Grill (Senior) - Fort Hays State (D-II)
13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Ben Thornbrue (Junior) - College of Southern Idaho (JUCO)
12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.4 blocks
Josh Ibukunoluwa (Junior) - High Point
2.8 points, 2 rebounds
Noah Williams (Sophomore) - Barton CC (JUCO)
15.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1 steal
Xander Alarie (Sophomore) - Northeastern
10.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 blocks
Dimitrije Pavlovic (Freshman)
Georgi Gerganov (Freshman)
Race Kowalczyk (Freshman)
Guards
Trevon Payton (6’5)
Payton previously played at Limestone University, which has since shutdown thus making his deeper statistics difficult to find. Per his profile at Bradley, he appeared in 28 games his Sophomore season where he averaged 13.2 points, six rebounds, and two assists per game while shooting 47.5% overall and 39.2% from three-point. Following the disruption at Limestone, he transferred to Arkansas-Pine Bluff where he took no time adjusting to the Division I level. He averaged 10 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and one steal per game while shooting 51.9% from the floor and an incredible 47.1% from beyond the arc.
When playing in a conference like the SWAC, you might look at his statistics and expect more out of someone making the jump all the way to the Missouri Valley Conference, but let’s look at his games against tough talent in the non-conference. He finished with 22 points against Vanderbilt, 13 points with five rebounds and three assists against SMU, 11 points with three rebounds and two assists against Oklahoma, and 13 points with five rebounds and five assists against the Arch Madness Runner-up UIC.
When looking at his box scores, his story becomes clear. He focuses on efficiency over volume in all aspects of his game. His 65.1% effective field goal percentage was 26th in the country while his 66% true shooting percentage was 29th overall. Both jumped to 70.5% & 70.7% in conference play in which both were the best in the SWAC. He will stuff the stat sheet and provide the Braves with an important role in the rotation.
Kyle Grill (6’6)
Kyle Grill is going to help fill the offensive void that has been left for the Braves. At Fort Hays State last year, he averaged 13.3 points while shooting 44.7% overall and 33.8% from beyond the arc. As the year went on, he got better-and-better offensively. Over his last five games of the season, he averaged 15 points per game. After his strong season, he was an Honorable Mention on the All-MIAA team in both of the prior two seasons.
At 6’6, he fits into the 3-and-D wing role well. He finished with double-digit rebounds twice and he isn’t going to be a passing threat. However, he can be a menace on-ball as well as he finished with three steals against Southwest Minnesota State. He’s the type of player that when he’s hot, he can change the game for his team.
Dimitrije Pavlovic (6’5)
Pavlovic is an incoming freshman from Serbia. He attended the International Sports Academy at Hoosac School in New York last year, but prior to that he played for KK FMP SOCCERBET BEOGRAD in the SRB-3 League in Serbia. He averaged 10.2 points, 5.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game during the 2024-2025 season. He’s shown the potential of becoming a floor general with strong playmaking abilities at a young age. The Braves lack a true point guard this season, so I will not be shocked if you see Pavlovic earning minutes early in the season.
Race Kowalczyk (6’6)
Kowalczyk had offers from Wyoming, Green Bay, UC Irvine, and Toledo coming out of St. John’s Jesuit in Toledo, Ohio. He finished his high school career in the top 10 scorers all right while averaging nearly 20 points per game and shot roughly 42% from beyond the arc. Bradley has shown a tendency to redshirt freshman, so given the other additions on the roster I could see Kowalczyk going either way, one taking a redshirt year and the other playing a depth role to develop and provide some offense off the bench.
Georgi Gerganov (6’5)
Gerganov is currently 22 years old, but will be 23 by the time his freshman season begins. He absolutely dominated in the NBL last season for BC Botev 2012, averaging 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. He shot 47.7% overall and 35.2% from beyond the arc. He’s played professionally since 2019, bouncing between Tundja Yambol, Balkan, and then BC Botev last year were he put up his best season to date.
He is physical, a playmaker, and a sharpshooter. There is no doubt that he’ll be playing from day-one for the Braves and should be on fans of other Missouri Valley Conference teams’ radar.
Forwards
Noah Williams (6’8)
Barton College continues to produce Division I talent as they are a true pipeline from JUCO to the highest level of college basketball. Williams originally committed to CSUN where he redshirt his freshman season before transferring to Barton College. He went on to average 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 43.8% overall and 32.8% from beyond the arc.
Williams took flight as the year went on and posted some incredible stat lines. He finished the season averaged 19.8 points & 7.8 rebounds. He’s a magnet on the glass as he even finished with 17 rebounds in a game, and double-digit rebounds in seven games. At 6’8 he is a bit undersized to serve as a “true-center”, however, his abilities are going to allow him to move quickly down low and carve his way through defenders which being a menace on rebounds.
Xander Alarie (6’8)
Northeastern had a wild season as they started off 4-5 with some nice wins over Harvard & Duquesne, while dropping close games to Boston U, Vermont, Rhode Island, and even keeping up with Wake Forest and Syracuse. They proceeded to finish the regular season just 6-23 overall, but they lost a huge piece to their early success in Xander Alarie.
In just eleven games before going down with an injury that ended his season, he had three double-doubles including some incredible stat lines like 23 points and 11 rebounds against Harvard, 13 points and 13 rebounds against Colgate, and 19 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists against Syracuse. In their win against Duquesne, he had just five points, but finished with six rebounds, three assists, and five blocks.
Looking at his metrics, he finished with a 101.8 offensive rating, 23.4% defensive rebounding percentage, and a ridiculous 5% block percentage. This leaves the question, what could he have done if he had stayed healthy. Regardless, he is going to play a large role for the Braves this season as long as he has fully recovered from his shoulder injury.
Ben Thornbrue (6’8)
Thornbrue is another JUCO transfer coming into Bradley after a successful year at the College of Southern Idaho. He averaged 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% overall. He isn’t a three-point threat, but he did knock down 19 last season on 66 attempts. In the National Championship game, he finished with 21 points against Howard College.
Similar to Williams, he can be a magnet on the glass which has clearly been an emphasis that Coach Wardle wanted to address this offseason. Thornbrue finished the season averaging eight rebounds per game over his last five, while posting three games on the season with double-digit rebounds.
His ability to block shots is what really stands out. He had 4+ blocks twice and 3+ blocks five times. You can imagine that if you pair him in the lineup with Williams that you are going to have two defensive magnets while Thornbrue can cover more of the “true-center” role even at just 6’8.
Josh Ibukunoluwa (6’10)
Ibukunoluwa spent his last two seasons at High Point where he appeared in 41 games total, averaging three points and 2.4 rebounds per game while shooting 59.5% overall. His best game of the season came against a non-division I program, but he did finish with a solid line against Winthrop with four points, five assists, one assist, and two blocks.
With the minimal playing time, his metrics are skewed, but show promising upside. He finished with a 144.5 offensive rating, 61.9% true shooting percentage, 13.4% offensive rebounding percentage, 13.8% defensive rebounding percentage, and a 3.1% block percentage.
He is a bit of a raw talent, but he will provide the Braves with some much needed height so he shouldn’t be left without a lot of opportunities to see the court.
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Expectations
Brian Wardle and his staff had a tall task to replace some of their top players that departed from last season, but they’ve pieced together a very intriguing roster.
There is a ton of developmental talent. All of the freshman and redshirt freshman from last season have high upside, while admittedly I don’t know if you can call Georgia Gerganov a “true freshman” at 23 years old. What I like though is the fact that they pieced together some players with experience from different levels that are going to be able to compliment the overall lack of experience.
For example, as I highlighted with Trevon Payton, he isn’t going to light it up on scoring, but he has a tremendous basketball IQ and will stuff the box score with assists and rebounds while still giving you 8-10 points a game. Xander Alarie had what was looking like a stellar freshman season cut short at Northweastern. Then Kyle Grill, Noah Williams, & Ben Thornbrue both have valuable experience and put up strong metrics at their respective non-division one.
I’m not going to attempt to predict a starting lineup on June 1st, but I imagine that one could see Timoty van der Knaap, Xander Alarie, Kyle Grill, Georgi Gerganov in the lineup. My largest concern is their point guard play and lack of height. Josh Ibukunoluwa is the only player 6’10 or taller on the roster and he’s appeared in just 41 division one games within minimal minutes in his career thus far. They don’t have a true “standard” point guard either, a role that Jaquan Johnson formed into with Montana Wheeler as a secondary option.
While they do lack height, rebounding was a clear focus point for Wardle’s staff this offseason. Noah Williams has the potential to make a huge impact in year one for the Braves, while Thornbrue, Alarie, and Grill can follow it up up and down the lineup at the guard and forward positions. I’m a huge believer in Xander Alarie, and in my opinion, he will be the glue piece to the potential of this roster.
Overall, I think there are some questions with this roster, however, Brian Wardle has proved time-and-time again that he can form strong rosters that can compete and win within the Missouri Valley Conference. With the raw talent and ceilings on some of these players, you can most likely expect that this team will be competing in the MVC, but I’m not sold that they’ll be at the top of the conference quite yet. If everything clicks, which it’s still far too early to truly “call our shot” on the expectations of this roster, then you can imagine a top-five finish.