Bradley’s Hannah to return for fifth-year season
PEORIA — The Bradley Braves have ended up with a really big piece for their roster re-tooling.
A 6-foot-9 piece, in fact. Bradley center Darius Hannah opted to forgo the NCAA transfer portal and returned to the Braves for his fifth-year senior season, he announced Wednesday on X.com. It's a big step in helping the Braves toward contending for the Missouri Valley Conference title next season.
“Darius' growth every year he's been at Bradley has been an upward climb,” Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. “I'm excited to see where he'll grow again.
“It'll be terrific for us to have him. It will be Duke's (Deen) and Darius' team next year.”
The Braves have lost two starters — Malevy Leons (out of eligibility) and Connor Hickman (transfer portal), but retained starters Hannah and point guard Duke Deen, both of whom opted to stay. Rotation players Christian Davis and Demarion Burch also have announced they will return for 2024-25.
Those are big moves in a 2024 transfer portal season that has been brutal to the Missouri Valley Conference, which has seen 10 of its 16 all-conference team players leave for the portal, including two-time Valley Player of the Year Tucker DeVries.
“We've lost a lot with Malevy and Hickman being gone,” Wardle said. “It just depends on if you can recruit the portal well. We're doing our research, and I feel good right now about who we are pursuing. But it's ever-changing every day.
“The portal is a war.”
The 6-foot-9 Hannah held down the 5 spot for the Braves and was among the nation's best shooters with a field goal percentage of 61.2%. He blocked 42 shots and had 47 steals while playing exclusively as a starter in all 35 games for the first time. He averaged 11.5 points per game and 6.3 rebounds
Hannah will head into his fifth Bradley season with 723 career points on the Hilltop, plus 103 blocks and 79 steals. The left-handed shooter with the short hook shot and highlight-reel dunk game is at the heart of the team's leadership. He has appeared in 115 career games for BU, including two NIT appearances, and gives the Braves experience on the floor.
The big man from Milwaukee set single-game career highs last season with 22 points against Southern Illinois, 10 rebounds against Missouri State. He had a career-high seven blocks as a
junior against Southeast Missouri State in 2022-23, second-most in a single game in Bradley history. As a freshman, he turned in the No. 3 Play of the Day on ESPN Sportscenter after his poster dunk over an Oakland player in the 2020-21 Xavier Invitational.
He asked to start at point guard in a Feb. 28 senior night game against Southern Illinois, and hit the only 3-pointer of his career.
Bravely Speaking
The Missouri Valley Conference has lost a lot of quality players to the NCAA transfer portal, but it’s also been a tough month for Valley head coaches. Southern Illinois fired Bryan Mullins at Arch Madness. Missouri State did the same with Dana Ford. UIC fired Luke Yaklich. Drake lost Darian DeVries to West Virginia. Indiana State is braced to lose Josh Schertz, quite possibly to St. Louis University. Mullins has resurfaced as an assistant at DePaul. Cuonzo Martin, once the head coach at Missouri State, has been brought back there to rebuild the program . ... All this could contribute to a power shift in the Valley next season.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.