More Breaking News in Bradley Men's Basketball Recruiting

 After adding Guard Mikey Howell last week, Brian Wardle continued to fill the void in the backcourt after all the off-season transfers. First the Braves got a commit from JUCO recruit Terry Roberts, who played the last two seasons at Florida SouthWestern State. Roberts, a 6-1 guard, appeared in 23 games this season for the Champions and averaged 15 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 5.7 APG while shooting 43% from the field, 31.5% from 3 and 82.6% from the foul line. Roberts scored in double figures in 20 of his 23 games played which is the kind of consistent guard play this Bradley team lacked last year. He also brings elite playmaking that should set up the rest of those Braves shooters very well. I look for him to get big minutes right away and if he can bring that same level of scoring, rebounding, and passing to Bradley this season, look for him to become the leader of this team. 

The Braves also added a signee in the form of 6-7 Point Guard Maxime Ekono from Nanterre, France. Ekono played the 2020-2021 season at Scotland Campus, which is a prep school in Pennsylvania that has a great reputation as a basketball program and is also where fellow Bradley teammate Ari Boya went to school. Maxime led Scotland to a 21-2 overall record, a #3 national ranking, and a trip to the Phenom Hoops National Tournament. Before Scotland Campus, Ekono played 4 games with the Nanterre U18 National Team and averaged 10 points, 3.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He also played two seasons for Nanterre in the French Jeep Elite U21 league from 2018-2020, averaging 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 19 games played during the 2019-2020 season. Maxime Ekono has clearly played against elite level competition and should have no problem fitting into this Bradley lineup. Head Coach Brian Wardle had this to say about Ekono, "Max is a great fit for this 2021 class and our current roster." "He is a talented playmaking guard with a tremendous feel for the game and great size at 6-foot-7. "A part of his game that I love is that he is physical and draws a lot of fouls." 

These are two great pickups by the Bradley Braves and Head Coach Brian Wardle. You get two guards who are both elite playmakers and with Ekono you get a 6-7 frame that is going to be very difficult to deal with on the defensive and offensive end of the floor. With Guard out of the way in recruiting the focus now shifts to the Forward position where the Braves are still very thin. They have 2 scholarships left to give out and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they used both of them on a Forward. 

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