Bradley basketball pulled in a Missouri Valley awards haul. Here's what BU won
PEORIA — The Bradley Braves opened the Missouri Valley Conference awards season with a couple of honors on Tuesday, then turned it into a trophy haul on Wednesday.
Brian Wardle won the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award in a vote of media, coaches and SIDs, while senior forward Malevy Leons was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year.
"I always tell the team, 'No individual accomplishments happen without the team around you.' I have the best staff, just love 'em and our players. I've sat in that banquet and seen a lot of great coaches get it. I'm very grateful, humbled. I've always said there are two types of coaches, those who are humbled and those who are about to be."
Rienk Mast was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference first team, while Leons earned second-team honors and also earned a spot on the Valley's All-Defensive Team. Guard Duke Deen was named to the MVC All-Newcomer team.
Wardle is the first Bradley coach win league honors since Jim Molinari in 1996. He is the seventh Bradley coach to win the honor. Wardle led the Braves to a 23-8 overall record and a 16-4 mark in the Valley, the latter tied for the most conference wins in program history.
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His Braves put together the nation's third-longest active home win streak at 17 games, and head into Arch Madness on a 10-game overall win streak and with the No. 1 seed.
"What's in my head right now?," Wardle said. "I'm watching film right now. Getting ready for who we might play. Whoever we face. I'll reflect on this award in April some time."
Wardle earned first-place votes in 37 of 56 ballots, and finished nearly 100 points ahead of Indiana State's Josh Schertz (8 first-place votes) and Belmont's Casey Alexander (8).
Leons piled up 50 steals and 49 blocks to become just the fourth player in MVC history to record a 40-40 effort in those categories. He narrowly missed becoming the first player in Valley history to reach 50-50.
The Braves saw senior Ja'Shon Henry named to the All-Bench Team on Tuesday and designated captain. As expected, he was named MVC Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday night.
The Valley All-Bench Team included Henry, Sardaar Calhoun (Drake), Ja'Kobi Gillespie (Belmont), Chance Moore (Missouri State) and Landon Wolf (Northern Iowa).
Leons and wing Zek Montgomery were named to the MVC Most Improved Team on Tuesday, joined by Tytan Anderson (Northern Iowa), Darnell Brodie (Drake) and Ben Krikke (Valparaiso). Anderson was named captain.
The Valley teams assembled at an awards banquet on Wednesday evening at which the league announced the winner of the Coach of the Year, Larry Bird Trophy for Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and the first, second and third All-Missouri Valley Conference teams.
The Braves have had four previous MVC Defensive Player of the Year winners, the most recent in 2013 when Dyricus Simms-Edwards won it.
Nate Kennell shared the Sixth Man of the Year honor with UNI's Spencer Haldeman in 2019. No Braves player had won it outright.
"I don't get Coach of the Year, Rienk first team All-Conference, Malevy Defensive Player of the Year, Zek Most Improved team, Ja'Shon Sixth Man, all the guys, all the honors, none of that happens if we don't all work together," Wardle said. "These reflect on the team, on all of us. We'll think about these things some time in April. Tonight and in the days to come we've got work to do."
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2022-23 Missouri Valley all-conference teams
FIRST TEAM
Tucker DeVries, Drake So. G/F 6-7 Waukee, Iowa (Waukee High)
Marcus Domask, S. Illinois Sr. F 6-6 Waupun, Wis. (Waupun High)
Ben Krikke, Valparaiso Sr. F 6-9 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (Jasper Place)
Rienk Mast, Bradley Jr. F 6-9 Groningen, Netherlands (Donar Groningen)
Roman Penn, Drake Gr. G 6-0 Calumet City, Ill. (Bishop Noll)/Siena
Ben Sheppard, Belmont Sr. G 6-6 Atlanta, Ga. (Greater Atlanta Christian)
SECOND TEAM
Bowen Born, UNI So. G 5-11 Norwalk, Iowa (Norwalk High)
Jace Carter, UIC So. G 6-5 Titusville, Fla. (Astronaut High)
Donovan Clay, Missouri St. Sr. G/F 6-8 Alton, Ill. (Alton High)/Valparaiso
Malevy Leons, Bradley Sr. F 6-9 IJmuiden, Netherlands (Mineral Area College)
Courvoisier McCauley, IndSt. Gr. G 6-5 Indianapolis, Ind. (Manual High)/DePaul
THIRD TEAM
Cameron Henry, IndSt. Sr. G 6-6 Chesterfield, Va. (Lloyd C. Bird)/Lincoln Memorial
Lance Jones, S. Illinois Sr. G 6-1 Evanston, Ill. (Evanston Township)
Rob Perry, Murray State Jr. G 6-4 Orlando, Fla. (Oak Ridge High)/Stetson
Kenny Strawbridge, UE Sr. G 6-6 Rockford, Ill. (Rockford Lutheran)/Alabama St.
Garrett Sturtz, Drake Gr. G 6-3 Newton, Iowa (Newton)
Larry Bird Trophy (MVC Player of the Year)
● Tucker DeVries, Drake So. G/F 6-7 Waukee, Iowa (Waukee High)
MVC All-Newcomer Team
Duke Deen, Bradley Jr. G 5-8 Shreveport, La. (Troy)
Drew Friberg, Belmont Gr. F 6-7 State College, Pa. (State College)/Princeton
Courvoisier McCauley, IndSt. Gr. G 6-5 Indianapolis, Ind. (Manual High)/DePaul
Rob Perry, Murray State Jr. G 6-4 Orlando, Fla. (Oak Ridge High)/Stetson
Cade Tyson, Belmont Fr. F 6-7 Monroe, N.C. (Carmel Christian High)
Newcomer of the Year
● Courvoisier McCauley, IndSt. Gr. G 6-5 Indianapolis, Ind. (Manual High)/DePaul
MVC All-Freshman Team
Robbie Avila, Indiana St. C 6-10 Oak Forest, Ill. (Oak Forest High)
Michael Duax, UNI G/F 6-6 Dubuque, Iowa (Dubuque Hempstead)
Conor Enright, Drake G 6-0 Mundelein, Ill. (Mundelein High)
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Belmont G 6-0 Greeneville, Tenn. (Greeneville High)
Cade Tyson, Belmont F 6-7 Monroe, N.C. (Carmel Christian High)
Freshman of the Year
● Cade Tyson, Belmont F 6-7 Monroe, N.C. (Carmel Christian High)
MVC All-Defensive Team
Donovan Clay, Missouri St. Sr. G/F 6-8 Alton, Ill. (Alton High)/Valparaiso
Xavier Johnson, S. Illinois Sr. G 6-1 Germantown, Md. (Episcopal)/George Mason
Lance Jones, S. Illinois Sr. G 6-1 Evanston, Ill. (Evanston Township)
Julian Larry, Indiana State So. G 6-3 Frisco, Texas (iSchool Entrepreneurial Academy)
Malevy Leons, Bradley Sr. F 6-9 IJmuiden, Netherlands (Mineral Area College)
Ben Sheppard, Belmont Sr. G 6-6 Atlanta, Ga. (Greater Atlanta Christian)
MVC Defensive Player of the Year
● Malevy Leons, Bradley Sr. F 6-9 IJmuiden, Netherlands (Mineral Area College)
MVC All-Bench Team (selected by beat writers & panel)
*Ja'Shon Henry, Bradley Gr. F 6-6 Saskatoon (Athol Murray College of Notre Dame)
Sardaar Calhoun, Drake Sr. G/F 6-6 Tappahannock, Va. (Blue Ridge)/Texas Tech/
Florida State/Missouri-West Plains
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Belmont Fr. G 6-0 Greeneville, Tenn. (Greeneville High)
Chance Moore, Missouri St. So. G 6-6 Brookhaven, Ga. (McEachern High)/Arkansas
Landon Wolf, UNI Fr. G 6-5 Cedar Falls, Iowa (Cedar Falls High)
MVC Sixth Man of the Year
● *Ja'Shon Henry, Bradley Gr. F 6-6 Saskatoon (Athol Murray College of Notre Dame)
Most-Improved Team (selected by beat writers & panel)
*Tytan Anderson, UNI So. G/F 6-6 Eldridge, Iowa (North Scott High)
Darnell Brodie, Drake Sr. F 6-10 Newark, N.J. (Newark East Side)/Seton Hall
Ben Krikke, Valparaiso Sr. F 6-9 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (Jasper Place)
Malevy Leons, Bradley Sr. F 6-9 IJmuiden, Netherlands (Mineral Area College)
Zek Montgomery, Bradley So. G 6-6 Louisville, Ky. (St. Louis Christian Academy)
*denotes team "captain" as designated by the league's beat writers and media panel
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 Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball has a MVC's top coach and defensive player
