PEORIA, Ill. — When the ball gets thrown up for the start of college basketball season, Bradley basketball will be ready, said Head Coach Brian Wardle.
Wardle was very pleased with the team’s performance during their summer workouts, saying during a Tuesday news conference that the team already had built a great chemistry.
“They seem very connected and very close already,” said Wardle. “All those things were very good to see from myself and my staff.”
While he was pleased with the team, which is coming off its second Missouri Valley Conference Championship in as many years, Wardle acknowledged that they aren’t exactly sure when they will play or of the circumstances that will be surrounding them.
“This will affect us in some way. I don’t know how it will. I think everything is still very unpredictable,” said Wardle. “I think we’re just taking it week-by-week, because things change week-by-week.
With such uncertainty surrounding college sports, Wardle said that he always tells his team to only focus on what they can do.
“Control what you can control. That’s really all you can do,” said Wardle. “There’s uncontrollables out there. Don’t let it put you in panic.”
Just after the Tuesday news conference, the Pac-12 joined the Big Ten in officially postponing fall sports for the rest of the calendar year to add to the uncertainty surrounding college sports.
When asked about possibly playing the season behind closed doors, Wardle praised his teams ability to play hard no matter what the situation may be.
“We obviously want to play in front of our fans. Bradley fans are great,” said Wardle. “But honestly we play hard in the summer. We play hard behind closed doors. We play hard with masks on. We’re going to go at it no matter who’s there and who’s watching.”
Despite holding the crown of back-to-back conference champions, many people still doubt the talent of Bradley basketball. Wardle and Senior Forward Elijah Childs had a simple message: let them keep doubting.
“Let people keep thinking we’re lucky. We’ve got a lot of those,” said Wardle. “That’s perfectly fine with us. We might be the luckiest team ever this year. Just stay tuned and watch. That’s all I’ll say about this group. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Childs added to his coach’s sentiment, saying he welcomes the doubters.
“I love the lack of respect. That’s what gets me going in the morning,” said Childs. “I’m used to it, but everybody better be ready when we lace ’em up on the court this year.”
Bradley finished tied for 3rd in regular season conference play last season with a record of 11-7 and 23-11 overall en route to their second straight conference title.
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