• Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.

Max Ekono leaves Bradley; 1 scholarship available

️ Fanatic

️ Fanatic

New member
Not sure when this is supposed to happen (or how this works, with the transfer portal - I believe): a birdie shared Maximo Ekono is transferring to a Juco school this year.... And Bradley will be adding a post player from Serbia to fill that spot (I thought I heard a 7-footer: 6'8"-6'10" big man)... This is supposed to happen over the next couple weeks: Do schools have to wait until the end of a semester to add a transfer student to the school-team? Stay tuned...
 
️ Fanatic said:
Not sure when this is supposed to happen (or how this works, with the transfer portal - I believe): a birdie shared Maximo Ekono is transferring to a Juco school this year.... And Bradley will be adding a post player from Serbia to fill that spot (I thought I heard a 7-footer: 6'8"-6'10" big man)... This is supposed to happen over the next couple weeks: Do schools have to wait until the end of a semester to add a transfer student to the school-team? Stay tuned...
Click to expand...

I think the transfer has to fit with the college's academic calendar. Recruits have to be enrolled as full-time students to receive financial aid and be NCAA eligible.
So if it happens, it would likely have to happen during semester break or shortly into the 2nd semester. For the record, Bradley's 1st semester ends today (Dec. 16), and the 2nd semester starts January 18, 2023.

There were plans by Bradley to free up a scholarship a month ago and try to sign the 7-foot Chinese player Bruce Zhang, who was at The Skill Factory prep school, to enroll at Bradley at semester break. He even gave Bradley a verbal commitment when he visited here Nov. 2 for the Wisconsin-Parkside game, only to visit St. Louis and sign there. So those plans fell through. But there were rumors of where that extra scholarship would come from that align with your rumor, Fanatic. And I've heard there were other recruits they were looking at who might be eligible as a 2nd semester transfer.

Here are a few Serbian big men who are on the roster of the Serbian National U18 team that could be college eligible, and there are probably others-
Note that I do not know if Bradley is recruiting any of these...
*Nikola Djapa- 6'9" or 6'11" center (depending on which of the sources below)- currently a senior, playing at a Miami high school
https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/237525/nikola-djapa
https://verbalcommits.com/players/nikola-djapa
https://www.maxpreps.com/fl/miami/columbus-explorers/athletes/nikola-djapa/?careerid=mmn7ab3qv63k4

Aleksa Milenković- 6'8" center
https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/237505/aleksa-milenkovic

Marko Sarenac- 6'10" forward
https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/251653/marko-sarenac

Lazar Djokovic- 6'9" forward
https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/239956/lazar-djokovic
 
Wouldn't the new player have to be in college already and in (or entering) the transfer portal? I guess unless they would be eligible to graduate early, as often happen is football.
 
All these guys are end of the bench types. Djapa has d1 offers but appears to be the 6th best player on his high school team in Miami. Of course Ekono was a redshirt so it's inconsequential.
 
Among the guys I listed, Djapa would seem to be the most likely candidate to be looking to enter college at the break. (that's why he got the *)
He plays for Christopher Columbus HS in the Miami area (a private Catholic HS). ESPN ranks them as the 15th best high school team in the country-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...est-2022-23-high-school-boys-basketball-teams

Other rankings have them even higher-
https://www.maxpreps.com/basketball/rankings/1/
https://www.usbasket.com/High-Schools/top-100.aspx?list=teams

And I think he and the other Serbian big men are all good D1 prospects. IMO, they would be among the most skilled big men in the MVC if any landed here. Serbian basketball talent is always among the top young talent outside the US.
The U18 Serbian team that those I listed play for, just finished 3rd in the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship. And scroll down to see that all 3 of the guys still in Serbia (Milenković, Sarenac, and Djokovic) were among the leading scorers for Serbia in the tournament.
https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u18/2022/team/Serbia

The team that Djapa plays for, features a couple highly recruited players, Cameron Boozer and Cayden Boozer, twin brothers who are the sons of former Duke star and NBA player Carlos Boozer.
https://news.scorebooklive.com/nati...bine-for-47-points-in-win-over-overtime-elite
https://www.si.com/college/duke/recruiting/sons-duke-basketball-champ-premier-camp
6"9" PF Cameron is a 5-star recruit, rated by some as the #1 overall recruit in the 2025 class, and 6'4" guard Cayden is a 4-star recruit. Both will end up going to a high major college in a couple years.
https://verbalcommits.com/players/cameron-boozer-fl
https://verbalcommits.com/players/cayden-boozer

Djapa joined the team this season, and although he has only 2 offers, he's only played 6 high school games so far and is considered a quality recruit on the rise. There are reports that he is being followed by a number of other schools, including majors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZhgpXmL_Tw

Again, this is all speculation. We may be deleting this "Serbian big man" part of the thread soon. :)
 
Da Coach said:
Among the guys I listed, Djapa would seem to be the most likely candidate to be looking to enter college at the break. (that's why he got the *)
He plays for Christopher Columbus HS in the Miami area (a private Catholic HS). ESPN ranks them as the 15th best high school team in the country-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...est-2022-23-high-school-boys-basketball-teams

Other rankings have them even higher-
https://www.maxpreps.com/basketball/rankings/1/
https://www.usbasket.com/High-Schools/top-100.aspx?list=teams

And I think he and the other Serbian big men are all good D1 prospects. IMO, they would be among the most skilled big men in the MVC if any landed here. Serbian basketball talent is always among the top young talent outside the US.
The U18 Serbian team that those I listed play for, just finished 3rd in the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship. And scroll down to see that all 3 of the guys still in Serbia (Milenković, Sarenac, and Djokovic) were among the leading scorers for Serbia in the tournament.
https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u18/2022/team/Serbia

The team that Djapa plays for, features a couple highly recruited players, Cameron Boozer and Cayden Boozer, twin brothers who are the sons of former Duke star and NBA player Carlos Boozer.
https://news.scorebooklive.com/nati...bine-for-47-points-in-win-over-overtime-elite
https://www.si.com/college/duke/recruiting/sons-duke-basketball-champ-premier-camp
6"9" PF Cameron is a 5-star recruit, rated by some as the #1 overall recruit in the 2025 class, and 6'4" guard Cayden is a 4-star recruit. Both will end up going to a high major college in a couple years.
https://verbalcommits.com/players/cameron-boozer-fl
https://verbalcommits.com/players/cayden-boozer

Djapa joined the team this season, and although he has only 2 offers, he's only played 6 high school games so far and is considered a quality recruit on the rise. There are reports that he is being followed by a number of other schools, including majors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZhgpXmL_Tw

Again, this is all speculation. We may be deleting this "Serbian big man" part of the thread soon. :)
Click to expand...

Oh I see! you going to open a thread all by itself are you?
 
No, but I will delete all this talk about an unconfirmed recruiting rumor if it doesn't happen. :)
 
Da Coach said:
No, but I will delete all this talk about an unconfirmed recruiting rumor if it doesn't happen. :)
Click to expand...

Have to admit, Coach, unbridled rumor-mongering is fun on fan-sites like this. Lord knows actual recruiting news is rare. I troll Drake, SIU and InSu sites and they get pretty crazy.
 
Nashville Cat said:
Have to admit, Coach, unbridled rumor-mongering is fun on fan-sites like this. Lord knows actual recruiting news is rare. I troll Drake, SIU and InSu sites and they get pretty crazy.
Click to expand...

I just heard from one of my inside sources connected with the team.... there is a "very real possibility" that this rumor will happen.:-D

And we normally have no problem with rumors. A lot of recruiting info is rumor.
We just don't like it when a current player's name is referenced as leaving. But since I have verified this from a couple sources, we'll await the outcome.
 
Da Coach said:
I just heard from one of my inside sources connected with the team.... there is a "very real possibility" that this rumor will happen.:-D
Click to expand...

More from a knowledgeable source.... expect more upgrades to happen. If not at semester break, will happen by spring signing period.
 
Da Coach said:
More from a knowledgeable source.... expect more upgrades to happen. If not at semester break, will happen by spring signing period.
Click to expand...

Upgrades or just changes? Big difference. I'm assuming April 12 as spring signing period. As always Coach, thanks for the knowledge and insight!
 
️ Fanatic said:
Not sure when this is supposed to happen (or how this works, with the transfer portal - I believe): a birdie shared Maximo Ekono is transferring to a Juco school this year.... And Bradley will be adding a post player from Serbia to fill that spot (I thought I heard a 7-footer: 6'8"-6'10" big man)... This is supposed to happen over the next couple weeks: Do schools have to wait until the end of a semester to add a transfer student to the school-team? Stay tuned...
Click to expand...

Recruiting Scoop-
Max Ekono was not with the team last night in Arkansas. Apparently, he did not make the trip, has left school, and is already transferring.
So it is looking like the rumor is starting to play out.

In addition, he no longer appears on the team roster-
2022-23 Roster- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

And if you Google his roster page and go there, you will see this-
https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/max-ekono/12844

bu.png
 
Starting a new thread on this topic, and moving the relevant posts from the Recruiting thread to this new thread.

As posted in the recruiting thread, Max Ekono was not with the team last night in Arkansas.
Apparently, he did not make the trip, has left school, and is already transferring.

In addition, he no longer appears on the team roster-
2022-23 Roster- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Google cached version of Max's bio page-
https://webcache.googleusercontent....ster/max-ekono/12844&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
 
I'm not sure why these posts transferred this way, but to read all 13 replies to Fanatic's initial post, click on the small arrow in the upper right corner of the gray comment box.
 
Da Coach said:
Former Bradley Director of Basketball Operations Mike Nesbitt is now the head coach at Panola College, a junior college in Texas.
https://www.panolaathletics.com/spor.../coaches/index

Looks like his team is quite guard-heavy already (roster lists 12 guards)-
https://www.panolaathletics.com/spor...2022-23/roster

.... so maybe not the best juco for a midyear guard to transfer to?
Click to expand...

Update from a knowledgeable source-
Max Ekono is "on his way to a junior college in Texas" (Clarendon College), where he plans to remain on redshirt status the rest of this season.
He will continue working on his ballhandling skills and shooting, and plans to play there next season.
My source did not mention which junior college he will transfer to.

But, as I hinted in my post in the thread about Mike Nesbitt, I thought Panola College (Carthage, Texas) might be a possible option, since the Bradley coaches have a connection there. We'll have more shortly....
 
Max is a very intelligent player, sees the court well, and is a good passer. But he had trouble adjusting to the much faster pace of D1 basketball compared to the club ball he played in France. He'll continue working on ballhandling, shooting, and defense at the juco, and he should get another chance at a D1 school somewhere.
 
Max will transfer to Clarendon College, a junior college in Clarendon, Texas. They are a member of the Western Junior College Athletic Association, and are 10-2 so far this season.
https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2022-23/div1/teams/clarendoncollege

Team stats-
https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2022-23/div1/teams/clarendoncollege?view=lineup

It looks like they have a lot of guards this season, but most are sophomores and will be gone next season when Max resumes his career. And judging from the assist numbers of their guards, it looks like their point guards are all sophomores. So good luck to Max!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top