Bradley Braves
by Colten Kahler
The Bradley Braves were active this offseason in the transfer portal, adding three players who should all make an immediate impact.
The Braves lost junior guard Terry Nolan, who averaged 11.2 points last season, as well as Sean East II and Kevin McAdoo. What the Braves lost, though, they replenished.
Headlining the Braves’ transfers is JUCO Player of the Year Malevy Leons, who comes in from Mineral Area College. Last season, Leons averaged 18.7 points and 9.5 rebounds. Look for him to make an immediate impact on this team.
The Braves also added junior college standout Terry Roberts, a very athletic and an elite defender from Florida Southwestern State. Last year, Roberts set a program record for the most steals in a career.
Lastly, the Braves added Mikey Howell from UC-San Diego. The senior guard is an all-around player who averaged 6.9 points per game and 6 assists per game. Head coach Brian Wardle said that Howell is a traditional “pass-first point guard.”
Looking at Missouri State, they did not lose as many players as Bradley. The Braves added a lot of depth to their guard room, which could give them the edge over the Bears. Missouri State did have an interesting addition in Donovan Clay from Valparaiso. However, with the additions that Bradley made, they had a better offseason in the transfer portal.
Missouri State Bears
by Nick Zoll
With the offseason behind us, I believe that Missouri State improved the most via the transfer portal for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
Two players transferred to the program and these newcomers can help this Bears team contend right away, especially with all five starters returning from last year’s third-place finish in the MVC.
First, the Bears welcomed Donovan Clay, a former Valparaiso star who was named to the MVC’s All-Freshman team in 2019-20. This past season, Clay averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Listed as a guard/forward, the 6-foot-8-inch, 223-pound junior provides versatility for Missouri State this upcoming season.
Missouri State’s other transfer, Jaylen Minnett, played four years at IUPUI, where he averaged 16.4 points per game in 2020-21.
The Bears lost forward Jared Ridder to the transfer portal, after he averaged 7.4 points per game in the 2020-21 season. Perhaps more importantly, he logged 25.3 minutes per game in a sixth-man role. Missouri State will have some bench minutes to fill, but its two incoming transfers will likely help fill the void without a problem.
Bradley’s key additions of Malevy Leons, Terry Roberts and Mikey Howell stand to make a massive impact in a potential bounceback year for the program. However, the Braves also lost three players to the transfer portal (Terry Nolan Jr., Sean East and Kevin McAdoo), leaving them less fortunate than Missouri State, who only lost one bench player.
