2025–26 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

2025–26 Bradley Braves men's basketball
2025–26 Bradley Braves men's basketball
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	7–4 (0–0 MVC)
Head coach	Brian Wardle (10th season);
Assistant coaches	Mike Black; Brian Jones; Bobby Suarez; Allan Hanson;
Home arena	Carver Arena

2025–26 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Belmont	2	–	0	1.000	11	–	1	.917
Northern Iowa	1	–	0	1.000	9	–	2	.818
Murray State	1	–	0	1.000	9	–	3	.750
Illinois State	1	–	0	1.000	9	–	3	.750
Bradley	1	–	0	1.000	8	–	4	.667
Valparaiso	0	–	0	–	6	–	5	.545
Indiana State	0	–	1	.000	7	–	5	.583
Drake	0	–	1	.000	6	–	6	.500
Southern Illinois	0	–	1	.000	6	–	6	.500
Evansville	0	–	1	.000	4	–	8	.333
UIC	0	–	2	.000	4	–	7	.364

† 2026 MVC tournament winner As of December 18, 2025

The 2025–26 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represents Bradley University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by tenth-year head coach Brian Wardle, play their home games at the Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Previous season

The Braves finished the 2024–25 season 28–9, 15–5 in MVC play to finish in second place.^[1] In the MVC tournament, they defeated Murray State & Valparaiso, before falling to Drake in the championship game.^[2] They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 3 seed.^[3] They defeated North Alabama & George Washington, before losing to eventual champions Chattanooga.^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Demarion Burch	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Milwaukee-Hamilton HS	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G/F	1	Dietrich Richardson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Peoria Manual HS	Peoria, Illinois
G	3	Alex Huibregtse	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	GS	Wright State	Grafton, Wisconsin
F	4	Corey Thomas	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Cowley CC	Buford, Georgia
G	5	Matthew Zobrist	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Metamora Township HS	Metamora, Illinois
G	7	Montana Wheeler	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Xavier Academy	Houston, Texas
G	9	Jackson Seastrunk	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Xavier Academy	Fannett, Texas
G/F	10	Timoty van der Knaap	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Orange1 Bassano	Bassano del Grappa, Italy
C	12	Kai Yu	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	RS So	Liberty	Zhuhai, China
F	13	Handy Toussaint III	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Weatherford	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
C	14	Ahmet Jonovic	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Sr	OKK Beograd	Prijepolje, Serbia
C	17	Gustavo Guimarães	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Riviera Prep	São Paulo, Brazil
F	21	AJ Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	James Madison	Edwardsville, Illinois
G	22	Jaquan Johnson	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Pius XI HS	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G	23	Gus Rugaard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Morton HS	Morton, Illinois

Head coach

Brian Wardle (Marquette)

Assistant coach(es)

Mike Black (Albany)
Brian Jones (Northern Iowa)
Bobby Suarez (Florida Gulf Coast)
Allan Hanson (Milwaukee)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 8, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 11, 2025* 6:00 p.m.	at Green Bay	W 83–78		Kress Events Center Green Bay, WI
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 10:00 a.m., YouTube	vs. St. Bonaventure Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon	L 63–69	0–1	Rock Hill Sports & Event Center (749) Rock Hill, SC
November 8, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Central Michigan	W 85–54	1–1	Carver Arena (5,814) Peoria, IL
November 12, 2025* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+	UT Martin	L 67–78	1–2	Carver Arena (5,096) Peoria, IL
November 15, 2025* 9:00 p.m., ESPN+	at San Francisco	L 64–75	1–3	War Memorial Gymnaisum (2,182) San Francisco, CA
November 19, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	UMass Lowell	W 87–77	2–3	Carver Arena (4,932) Peoria, IL
November 24, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPNU	vs. Princeton ESPN Events Invitational Adventure Bracket quarterfinals	W 88–64	3–3	State Farm Field House (1,076) Kissimmee, FL
November 25, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN2	vs. UC San Diego ESPN Events Invitational Adventure Bracket semifinals	L 77–87	3–4	State Farm Field House Kissimmee, FL
November 26, 2025* 1:30 p.m., ESPNU	vs. Liberty ESPN Events Invitational Adventure Bracket 3rd place game	W 74–64	4–4	State Farm Field House (547) Kissimmee, FL
December 2, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Washington State	W 64–60	5–4	Carver Arena (4,919) Peoria, IL
December 6, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Northern Illinois	W 84–55	6–4	Carver Arena (5,750) Peoria, IL
December 14, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	North Central	W 86–53	7–4	Renaissance Coliseum (2,585) Peoria, IL
MVC regular season
December 18, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Indiana State			Hulman Center Terre Haute, IN
December 21, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Southern Illinois			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
December 29, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Evansville			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 1, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Belmont			Curb Event Center Nashville, TN
January 4, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at Murray State			CFSB Center Murray, KY
January 7, 2026 8:00 p.m., ESPN+	Drake			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 10, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	Northern Iowa			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 13, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Evansville			Ford Center Evansville, IN
January 17, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at Illinois State			CEFCU Arena Normal, IL
January 21, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	Indiana State			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 24, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	UIC			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 31, 2026 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	at Drake			Knapp Center Des Moines, IA
February 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Valparaiso			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 6, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at Northern Iowa			McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA
February 9, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Belmont			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 15, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at Southern Illinois			Banterra Center Carbondale, IL
February 18, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at Valparaiso			Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN
February 21, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	Illinois State			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 24, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at UIC			Credit Union 1 Arena Chicago, IL
March 1, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	Murray State			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
MVC tournament
March 5–8, 2026 ESPN+/CBSSN	vs.			Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
^ "Bradley's Arch Madness run ends in Championship". Bradley Braves Athletics. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
^ "Chattanooga Mocs win 2025 NIT | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
^ Eminian, Dave. "'Regret this one': Bradley Braves NIT run ends with quarterfinals loss to Chattanooga". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Bradley University. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
^ "Bradley Braves 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

[2] "Bradley's Arch Madness run ends in Championship". Bradley Braves Athletics. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

[3] "Chattanooga Mocs win 2025 NIT | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

[4] Eminian, Dave. "'Regret this one': Bradley Braves NIT run ends with quarterfinals loss to Chattanooga". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

[5] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Bradley University. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

[6] "Bradley Braves 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 8, 2025.

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[6]

Bradley Braves men's basketball
Venues	Peoria YMCA (1902–1909) Hewitt Gymnasium (1909–1925) Peoria Armory (1925–1941) Woodruff High School Gymnasium (1941–1943) Peoria Armory (1945–1949) Robertson Memorial Field House (1949–1982) Carver Arena (1982–present)
Rivalries	Illinois State
Culture & lore	Longest game in Division I history Point-shaving scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics