Bradley basketball star's future includes a shoe line, the pro game and a return to Peoria

PEORIA — Malevy Leons speaks five languages. But the 6-foot-9 forward has become fluent in basketball as a senior starter with the Bradley Braves.

Leons has exploded into the collective of elite Missouri Valley Conference players, a legit top candidate for MVC defensive player of the year, most improved player and a spot on the all-Valley conference team as he continues to build on the best season of his life while BU builds toward its best finish since 1995-96.

He has a message sure to excite the Bradley team and its fanbase in any language.

"I'm staying," Leons said. "I will be here at Bradley next season using my fifth year. It's important for me to finish and get that extra season. I want to play professional basketball. I think my development as a player at Bradley is helping me toward that dream. I'm learning to play basketball."

Leons has 40 blocked shots in 25 games — most in the Missouri Valley Conference. His 39 steals are fifth-most. On the offensive side, he shoots 3-pointers at a rate of 40.4% — sixth-best in the Valley. His 48.8% shooting from the field overall is fifth-best. And his 6.32 rebounds per game ranks 10th.

The Braves have an emerging star.

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"His versatility is unique, he can guard 1-5, and I just love how he's improving with his discipline off the ball," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "Sometimes the guys who fill the stat sheet aren't great defenders. We vote on stats. Defensive player of the year is going to be the guy who has the most steals and blocks, that's usually it.

"But those guys might give up 20 points a game. You have to watch the film, break it down and see who is really a good defender and who is not. Malevy is a good defender and he has the stats and he doesn't give up a lot of points. That's what has impressed me."

The Flying Dutchmen

Bradley likes to refer to its Netherlands duo of Leons and center Rienk Mast as its "Flying Dutchmen" and the pair do have a history together before their time with the Braves. They grew up 129 miles apart, Mast in Groningen, Leons in Ijmuiden.

"I played against Rienk when we were 14-15 years old," Leons said. "We knew about each other as kids. He was a better player than me. But my club beat his for the national title, so I have that over him and I'm keeping it.

"Braggin' rights."

Leons played two years of junior college ball at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. He was NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and the NABC Two-Year College Player of the Year in 2021. He also earned first-team NJCAA All-America honors.

After the 2020-21 season, he wanted to move up to an NCAA Division-I program.

"I was talking to Rienk about Bradley," Leons said. "I was getting offers from Wichita, Missouri, Murray State, UIC and others.

"I had played the 5 in Netherlands, and I wanted to play the 4 here. I knew with Rienk here, that would be possible. I think we are a really effective combination, we fit well on the court and give teams a lot of challenges."

Leons stepped right in to start 29 games as a junior in his first BU season in 2021-22. He was just the second player in school history to lead the team in blocks and 3-point percentage, joining Will Egolf in 2012-13.

On the morning of Bradley's Jan. 7 win at home over Valparaiso, Leons — determined to break out of a 3-point shooting slump — stayed in the gym after a morning walk-through practice and refused to leave until he made 50 3-pointers. He ended up making 55. Then he hit five 3s a few hours later in the game.

"Some young men fight it, don't want to own their weaknesses," Wardle said. "Malevy goes right after it, says 'I gotta get better here and here, or with this, or this, right away. Those are the guys who improve every year.

"My favorite part, by far, of coaching, is player development in the offseason. I love seeing guys get in the gym and work on things they are not good at and getting better. Offseason or in-season, Malevy has self-awareness, he knows what he has to get better at, and he works hard at it."

Bicycles, basketball and judo

Leons grew up in Ijmuiden, a Netherlands deepwater port town of 23,000 parked on the North Sea, about 20 miles from Amsterdam.

"I could bike everywhere, and I did, I liked it," Leons said. "My elementary school was across the block and I walked there every day.

"I played soccer as a kid. My dad was a good soccer player, so I wanted to be a great one. I was a soccer player until I found out those guys had to play in the cold."

He tried swimming and soccer and … Judo. Didn't like Judo much.

At age 15, he was 6-foot and had no idea what was about to happen. Over the next two years, Leons savaged the growth index and stood 6-9.

Basketball it was.

"My mom, Monique, was a basketball player," Leons said. "My dad was a soccer guy. My brother, Benicio (age 20) plays basketball and my sister, Jazcln (age 16) plays badminton.

"My parents wanted us to try everything," Leons said. "I was 8 when I started playing basketball. Basketball became the first sport I was good at. I think it's the greatest team sport in the world."

Organized sports does not run through the high school system in the Netherlands. There are local, regional and national clubs, all independent, that kids choose to sign with and play the sport of their choice.

"Apollo Amsterdam was my club in Netherlands," Leons said. "Eventually, I want to play pro basketball somewhere in the European League."

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Leons has experience on the world stage, having played for the Netherlands at both the 2018 and 2019 FIBA U20 European Championships. He averaged 10.4 points and 6.3 rebounds during the eight-game 2019 tournament.

In August 2022, Leons and Mast were invited to join Netherlands national team to help it prepare for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He just gets better in his second BU season, averaging 12.2 points per game, 6.2 rebounds and 30 minutes a night.

'Mala-Fly'

Leons tried to watch NBA games as a kid, but the time zone difference was a challenge.

"They started at midnight for me," he said. "I fell asleep a lot during the 2006 season, watching NBA games with LeBron James. He was my favorite, and I'd stay up and watch those games, then go to sleep for an hour and get up and then go to school."

He was sharp enough to pick up a working knowledge of English, French, German and Spanish along with his native Dutch.

"No one really speaks Dutch much around the world," Leons said. "I felt I needed to be able to communicate with people. So I speak Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish, although I've kind of forgotten some of the Spanish.

"The Dutch culture, we're pretty laid back. I find it exciting how intense Americans' desire to work is, how everyone dreams about something."

He's acclimated nicely, dream and all.

"I want to play pro basketball," Leons said. "But I'm also majoring in apparel production and merchandising. I could maybe work for an American clothing company. I'm going to start my own line of basketball shoes."

And what would he call them?

"Mala-Fly," said Leons, grinning broadly.

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.

Murray State at Bradley

• When: 1 p.m. Saturday

• Where: Carver Arena, Peoria

• Watch: ESPN3.

• Listen: WMBD-AM 1470, FM 100.3

• Records: Murray State, 13-12 (8-7), 7th in MVC. Bradley, 18-8 (11-4), 1st in MVC.

• All-time series: Bradley, 7-8.

• In 2022-23: Bradley L 67-58 away.

• NET ranking: Murray State, No. 206. Bradley, No. 71.

• KenPom ranking: Murray State, No. 218. Bradley, No. 83.

• MVC preseason poll: Murray State, No. 8. Bradley, No. 2.

• Coaches: Murray State, Steve Prohm (5th season). Bradley, Brian Wardle (8th season).

• Players to watch: Murray State: G Rob Perry leads team with 14.8 ppg and 34.4% from 3; G Ja'Cobi Wood leads the team in assists (115) and steals (38) with 10.9 ppg; 6-8, 225 F Jamari Smith 11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg; F DJ Burns 6.9 rpg. Bradley Braves: C Rienk Mast 14.1 ppg and 8.1 rpg (2nd in MVC), 52.8% FG (2nd in MVC), an MVC first-team preseason pick; F Malevy Leons 12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg (10th in MVC) and MVC-best 42 blocks, plus 39 steals (5th in MVC), and 39.6% from 3; F Ja'Shon Henry 9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg; G Duke Deen 10.9 ppg, team-best 75a, 39.0% from 3.

• Bravely Speaking: Bradley, Drake and Southern Illinois are in a three-way tie for the Valley lead at 11-4, and are a combined 35-3 at home. … Belmont and Indiana State are next at 10-5. … The Braves have won five straight overall and four in a row on the road. The road streak is ninth-longest in the NCAA right now (Houston). … Bradley is one road win short of tying its record for the eighth-longest true road game win streaks in program history. … BU's six true road game wins this season are second-most since the team won seven in 2000. … Bradley fifth-year forward Ja'Shon Henry has 963 career points as he pushes to become the 51st player in Bradley history to reach 1,000 career points. … The Braves are hosting Murray State for the first time since 1981. Bradley has lost four in a row at home to Murray State. … Bradley hosts Missouri State on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball: Malevy Leons of Netherlands has bright future