Bradley Braves

1. They Have Eddy Curry's Old Sidekick. Patrick O'Bryant is Tyson Chandler if Tyson Chandler would have gone to a mid-major college instead of straight to The Association after high school. He's the Missouri Valley's Defensive Player of the Year, and the 7-foot, 260-pound sophomore is long, athletic and improving on his offensive game seemingly every day. After being forced to sit out the Braves first eight games of the season (Hey! Who the heck are you to judge!?! Like you ve never taken extra money from an employer!), O Bryant went on to snag eight boards a game and score 13.2 ppg.

2. How Will It Play In Peoria? Braves' coach Jim Les is turning Bradley into Peoria U. For years, Peoria's finest High School players have made a bee-line east down I-74 to play for the University of Illinois, and the city's second-tier prep stars went wherever they could fit in. When Les was hired four years ago, he promised that would change and made recruiting Peoria s prep players a priority. This year's Braves squad sports five players from the Peoria area. While the Illini continue to get some of the best prep players that Peoria has to offer, Les is beginning to finally reap the rewards of maintaining the city s local talent. In fact, rumors around campus are indicating that former Wisconsin Badger and native-Peorian DeAaron Williams may be a Brave next year.

3. Inexplicable Nickname Central. Senior super-sub Lawrence Wright is known around town as "Boogie." I don t know why, and, honestly, I don't want to know why. All I really need to know is that there s a guy on the team named "Boogie." Just saying "Boogie" puts a bounce in my step and makes my day a little happier. "Boogie." Try it yourself. Go ahead say it out loud: "Boogie." Now, don t you feel better? — Alex Fritz