11 high school players with offers from Bradley men's basketball
PEORIA — The Bradley Braves are on the brink of beginning the 2023-24 season and their Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship title defense.
Slotted to finish third in the MVC preseason poll of coaches, media and administrators, the Braves are focused on their season opener on Nov. 6 against UAB.
But behind the scenes, the work toward building the future Braves roster never ends. At this moment, Bradley has 11 offers extended to high school juniors and seniors around the country, according to online site Verbal Commits and social media platforms of many of the players involved.
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It's a fluid situation, as while offers have been made, BU might no longer be actively recruiting some of these players. Meet them all here:
Jaquan Johnson
Position: Point guard
High school: Pius XI High School (Milwaukee)
Class: 2024
What to know: The 5-foot-11 Johnson is an "ultra-quick and very physical point guard who can attack off the bounce and create for himself and others," according to wissports.net. He averaged 27.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a junior on his way to third-team all-state. He also has offers from Grambling State, Kennesaw State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Travis Perry
High school: Lyon County (Eddyville, Ky.)
Class: 2024
What to know: The 6-foot-3 point guard is the all-time scoring leader in Kentucky and the state's Gatorade Player of the year with offers from nearly two dozen programs, mostly Power Five. The four-star recruit is expected to make his decision early in November.
Braylon Roman
High school: Normal Community
Class: 2024
What to know: The 6-foot-4 point guard is aggressive, fights through traffic well and attacks the rim. He is a first-team all-Big 12 pick with other offers from Illinois State, Radford, Murray State, Illinois-Chicago and Robert Morris.
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Braedan Lue
High school: Robert S. Alexander (Douglasville, Ga.)
Class: 2024
What to know: The 6-foot-7 power forward helped his team to the state championship, with 26 points and 12 rebounds in the title win of Georgia's second-largest class. He has about 15 offers, including from Penn State, USF and Missouri State.
Dennis Scott III
High school: Mount Vernon Presbyterian (Atlanta, Ga.)
Class: 2024
What to know: The 6-foot-8, 235-pound power forward is the son of former NBA and Georgia Tech player Dennis Scott. He made an official visit to Peoria in August. He was named "Player of the Game" eight times last season for a 23-9 high school team. He has averaged 13.4 points per game on 44% shooting from the field, with 8.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 42 career high school games. He also has offers from Indiana, Georgia Tech and Harvard.
Dietrich Richardson
High school: Peoria Manual
Class: 2025
What to know: The 6-foot-6 point guard is one of two Peoria-area recruits with offers from BU. He also has offers from Bryant, Southern Illinois and Vanderbilt. The Big 12 first-team selection is the nephew of former Peoria High and University of Illinois player D.J. Richardson.
Davion Hannah
High school: AZ Compass Prep School (Chandler, Ariz.)
Class: 2025
What to know: The 6-foot-5 shooting guard will start at his third school in three years after leading two Wisconsin teams to the state finals his first two prep seasons, scoring 13.6 ppg as a freshman for Milwaukee Academy of Science and 19.9 ppg at Nicolet. He also has offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Cincinnati, LSU, Marquette, Mississippi State, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Jamarion Batemon
High school: Milwaukee Academy of Science
Class: 2025
What to know: The 6-foot-3 shooting guard is a "dynamic backcourt player who competes with passion and an edge," says wissports.net. He averaged 20.5 points as a sophomore, helping MAS to an 18-7 and the state finals. He made 83 of 187 (44 percent) from 3-point range. He has offers from Iowa State, Illinois, Marquette, Wake Forest, Utah, Wisconsin and others.
Matthew Zobrist
High school: Metamora
Class: 2025
What to know: The 6-foot-5 shooting guard is one of two from the Peoria area with offers from BU. He was part of Metamora's run to the Class 3A state championship. The son of former Bradley player Aaron Zobrist also has offers from Eastern Illinois, Bryant and Illinois State.
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Aleks Alston
High school: Chicago Kenwood
Class: 2025
What to know: The 6-foot-9 small forward is a four-star recruit, ranked No. 1 statewide in his class and has a raft of offers from Power Five schools, including recent ones from Ohio State and Michigan State. He "oozes potential," wrote Nate Latsch, and is a lanky player who can knock down 3s.
Devin Brown
High school: Milwaukee Academy of Science (Milwaukee)
Class: 2025
What to know: The 6-foot-8 power forward averaged 21.6 points and 9.8 rebounds as a sophomore, helping MAS to the state finals. He is an "emerging frontline prospect" with "consistent and impressive production," wrote wissports.net, which calls him a "willing passer who finds open teammates when double teams come his way." He has about a dozen offers, including Mississippi State and Valparaiso.
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: List of offers Bradley basketball has to high school players
