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Bradley coaching staff changes

Da Coach

Da Coach

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Staff member
I have heard from multiple sources now that updates to the coaching staff have been made and will be announced soon.
There will be a couple promotions... Current DBO Mike Black will be named an assistant coach, replacing Brian Jones, and current Video Coordinator Pat Althoff will receive a promotion, too.
And Bradley is planning to bring back Darrell Brown, Jr., as the new Men's Basketball Video Coordinator of Player Development.

Darrell Brown, Jr. played at Bradley under Coach Wardle from 2016-2020, and lead Bradley to two MVC Tournament Championships (2019 & 2020), and to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. In his final game for Bradley (3/8/20), he lead the Braves with 21 points to help Bradley to their second straight MVC Tournament Championship. Unfortunately, the NCAA shut everything down right after that game, and the 2020 Braves were denied a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and DB was denied a chance to boost his career total further. He played professionally in Europe for BC Vera Tblisi of the Georgia Superleague. And he is now back in the US.
In his 4-year playing career, Brown accumulated 1,860 total points, which ranks 5th on the Bradley career scoring list behind Hersey Hawkins (1984-86- 3,008 pts), Mitchell Anderson (1978-82- 2,341 pts), Roger Phegley (1974-78- 2,064 pts), Chet Walker (1959-62- 1,975 pts)
https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...ll-brown/12016

Congrats DB!
 
This doesn't seem like the best decision in my opinion but who am I.It seems you would want an assistant with proven experience but not surprised Wardle is big on loyalty.I guess a little disappointed after having Brian Jones as an assistant.
 
carter said:
This doesn't seem like the best decision in my opinion but who am I.It seems you would want an assistant with proven experience but not surprised Wardle is big on loyalty.I guess a little disappointed after having Brian Jones as an assistant.
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Surprising to me too, my first thought is they would get someone with experience or current recruiting ties etc. However, I trust Wardle here. Maybe Brian wasn't that integral and if Darrell wanted to get into coaching now it makes sense. No one knows Darrell better when it comes to basketball than Wardle.

Also, these guys have to start at some point. I'd rather have a successful and pretty famous alum from the team get on staff at his alma mater than have him go somewhere else and then never come back to the Hilltop after they are successful.
 
Starting a new thread on this topic because there was a corrupted link in the other coaching staff thread...
 
It will be interesting to see this play out. Nice to have DB back, but I’m not sure having no outside voices is what is best for this team. As I stated before, it sure seems like last year with Brian was our best coaching year in a while. Maybe his impact will stick beyond him being here. Maybe these newer coaches will turn out to be great. I’m just not sure as a fan that this is a great outcome at this point, but we will have to see it play out. Loyalty is good, but being open to outside ideas is also good to encourage growth and avoid stagnation. We shall see.
 
This is really surprising to me, considering the comments DB made on twitter right before he graduated.
 
egib52 said:
This is really surprising to me, considering the comments DB made on twitter right before he graduated.
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I thought the same thing egib52. Wardle seems like the kind of guy that would have a hard time forgetting and forgiving that kind of thing. Frankly, it kind of pissed me off at the time and I still remember it, like you.
 
D.B. was a very hard worker and turned himself into a very good basketball player at Bradley when some fans doubted his ability. He was MVP of the Valley Tour. I trust he will be a good addition to the coaching staff. This has zero reflection on Jones leaving for whatever reason. I would think a reporter would try and reach out to Jones and ask why he departed.
Good luck to D.B. on getting on this staff and helping us win more championships.
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
I thought the same thing egib52. Wardle seems like the kind of guy that would have a hard time forgetting and forgiving that kind of thing. Frankly, it kind of pissed me off at the time and I still remember it, like you.
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It definitely pissed me off, and I would have made him mend some fences publicly before I hired him on. I did look at it looks like he abandoned his twitter account as someone new has his old handle.
 
I'm sure I'm not the only that noticed when Jones was here during game time he was in the huddle coaching the team.I don't I ever saw any of the other assistants doing that as Wardle stood aside.He must have had trust in Jones.Nothing against Brown or any other promotions but I would think you need an Experienced assistant coach you trust and helps in game play as I believe Jones did very well.
 
carter said:
I'm sure I'm not the only that noticed when Jones was here during game time he was in the huddle coaching the team.I don't I ever saw any of the other assistants doing that as Wardle stood aside.He must have had trust in Jones.Nothing against Brown or any other promotions but I would think you need an Experienced assistant coach you trust and helps in game play as I believe Jones did very well.
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I think that person is Coach Bargan.
 
Not sure I agree. Jimmy Foster has been coaching with Brian since 2010-11. Bargan joined Brian when he came to Bradley. I know they played together but Jimmy has been with Brian longer. Both are good and I don’t say one is better than the other because only Brian knows-just wanted to point out how long Jimmy has been coaching with Brian.
 
I’m not too concerned with the lower level assistant coaching moves. I think this will give him a chance at coaching in the future.

As long as Wardle is leading the ship and Bargan and Foster are the main assistant, we will be in good hands (especially if we have some top notch players)
 
egib52 said:
It definitely pissed me off, and I would have made him mend some fences publicly before I hired him on. I did look at it looks like he abandoned his twitter account as someone new has his old handle.
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I must have missed this, what did he say?
 
Classof77 said:
I'd like to know too.
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My recollection is hazy (I'm getting old, lol) but he tweeted some negative comments regarding Bradley University and Coach Wardle about not taking a proactive stance or making a proactive comment/pronouncement during the height of the George Floyd and BLM Movement/protests/riots. His comments to me came across as very negative, bitter, and ungrateful towards the university and coaching staff that had his back and gave him an opportunity and education. It showed tremendous disloyalty in my opinion.
 
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