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'The most fun I've had': Bradley senior leaves Peoria for a pro basketball career

dave eminian, journal star
·4 min read
Bradley's Ville Tahvanainen celebrates after his fifth consecutive three-pointer late in the second half against Murray State on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 at Carver Arena. The Braves rolled over the Racers 83-48.
Bradley's Ville Tahvanainen celebrates after his fifth consecutive three-pointer late in the second half against Murray State on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 at Carver Arena. The Braves rolled over the Racers 83-48.

PEORIA — Ville Tahvanainen is ready to take the next step in his basketball career.

The Bradley Braves sharp-shooting senior guard decided to forgo his fifth year of NCAA eligibility and left the program on Wednesday.

"You just want to progress in your career," Tahvanainen said. "For me, I've always wanted to be a professional basketball player, it's a big dream of mine. I just think I'm ready for that challenge.

"So I intend to start my pro career. My plan is to turn pro overseas."

Tahvanainen, a native of Helsinki, Finland, was part of an elite Bradley bench, teaming with Ja'Shon Henry for several seasons to form a tandem few teams in the Missouri Valley Conference could match.

He gave the Braves 3-point shooting and lived at the heart of the team's veteran leadership core.

"My next step is to get home (Finland) and get an agent and spend the summer training with the national team," Tahvanainen said. "You got to start off somewhere and build up. I just want to find a spot where you can build up and get better."

Tahvanainen's exit from the Braves followed that of center Rienk Mast, who entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday.

More:'Ready for new challenges': Bradley basketball star goes into the NCAA transfer portal

Tahvanainen made his mark

Bradley's Rienk Mast, left, and Ville Tahvanainen look on as time winds down in the Braves 79-61 victory over ISU on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
Bradley's Rienk Mast, left, and Ville Tahvanainen look on as time winds down in the Braves 79-61 victory over ISU on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 at CEFCU Arena in Normal.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard came to Bradley in the 2019-20 season, where he was part of the Braves' MVC tournament championship team that earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

He earned a place on the MVC All-Bench Team as a freshman that season, and shot 39.1% from the 3-point range, the third-best rate by a freshman in BU history.

As a sophomore, he made 47 triples and became the sixth player in BU history to make at least 40 3-pointers in his first two seasons.

He made 47 3-pointers again as a junior in 2021-22, and this season as a senior he added 42 more. For his career, he was 179 of 493 from the 3-point line, a 36.3% clip.

Those 179 made 3-pointers were just three short of a top-10 all-time spot in Bradley history.

"Ville was a huge part of Bradley basketball and my family," Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. "He is a great man who is going to be successful in anything he does. We wish him the best as he ventures into his professional career.

"We have a lot of great memories together that I will always cherish."

Tahvanainen also shot 85.1% from the free throw line, and that included a streak of 34 consecutive made free throws that ended on Jan. 18 at Indiana State and went into the books as the 14th-longest free throw streak in Missouri Valley Conference history.

When his final Bradley home game was done at Carver Arena, he stood long after the fans had left, at center court, holding a plaque, wearing one of the nets around his neck, gazing down at the BU logo .

More:Run it back? How Bradley basketball plans to improve its roster for next season

'Ville, Ville'

Bradley's teammates Ville Tahvanainen, left, and Connor Hickman celebrate one of Tahvanainen's five consecutive three-pointers against Murray State in the second half Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 at Carver Arena. The Braves rolled over the Racers 83-48.
Bradley's teammates Ville Tahvanainen, left, and Connor Hickman celebrate one of Tahvanainen's five consecutive three-pointers against Murray State in the second half Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 at Carver Arena. The Braves rolled over the Racers 83-48.

Tahvanainen was part of BU 2019-20 MVC tournament champs and NCAA tournament bid-winning team. He finished his senior season with Bradley's first regular-season MVC championship team in 27 years, and played his final game earlier this month in the NIT.

And there was his memorable game on Feb. 11, when Bradley hammered Murray State, 83-48, in Carver Arena.

In that game, Tahvanainen made a career-high six 3-pointers, including five straight over a span of 3:10 that blew open the game.

It put the crowd in a frenzy, and they chanted "Ville, Ville" as he grinned, stuck out his tongue and stuck his fingers in the air in celebration, one for each 3 in the streak sequence.

"This season was the most fun I've had," Tahvanainen said. "I was proud to get that regular-season title for Bradley and for the city of Peoria. I loved my coaches and my teammates and our fans.

"As an athlete you always look back, and I will. There's a lot to be proud of, I'm extremely grateful for my time here at Bradley."

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: 'The most fun I've had': Bradley Braves senior guard opts to turn pro