1987–88 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

1987–88 Bradley Braves men's basketball
1987–88 Bradley Braves men's basketball
MVC tournament champions; MVC Regular Season Champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 11
Record	26–5 (12–2 MVC)
Head coach	Stan Albeck (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Morris McHone; Marty Gillespie;
Home arena	Carver Arena
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 11 Bradley †	12	–	2	.857	26	–	5	.839
Wichita State	11	–	3	.786	20	–	10	.667
Illinois State	9	–	5	.643	18	–	13	.581
Southern Illinois	6	–	8	.429	12	–	16	.429
Creighton	6	–	8	.429	16	–	16	.500
Drake	5	–	9	.357	14	–	14	.500
Tulsa	4	–	10	.286	8	–	20	.286
Indiana State	3	–	11	.214	7	–	21	.250

† 1988 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1987–88 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and played their home games at Carver Arena. They won the MVC regular season championship as well as the conference tournament.^[2] Bradley finished the season 26–5, and qualified for the NCAA tournament. They were led by second-year head coach, and MVC Coach of the Year, Stan Albeck, and Consensus First-team All-American Hersey Hawkins, who led the nation in scoring by averaging 36.3 points per game.^[3] Hawkins collected multiple national player of the year awards, and remains the career scoring leader in Missouri Valley Conference history.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	12	Anthony Manuel	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Crane	Chicago, IL
G	14	Scott Beccue	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	157 lb (71 kg)	Jr	Pekin	Pekin, IL
F	21	Jerry Thomas	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Collins	Chicago, IL
G/F	23	Paul Wilson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Lorain Catholic	Lorain, OH
F/C	24	Donald Powell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Nowata	Nowata, OK
G/F	25	Jay Schell	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Stevens Point	Stevens Point, WI
F	32	Greg Jones	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	Sr	Robeson	Chicago, IL
G	33	Hersey Hawkins	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Westinghouse	Chicago, IL
F	34	Steve Bayless	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	Fr	Chillicothe	Chillicothe, OH
G/F	40	Trevor Trimpe	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Havana	Havana, IL
G	41	Mike Cash	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Lowell	Lowell, IN
G	44	Len Bertolini	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	Sr	St. Patrick's	Chicago, IL
F	52	Bruce Mordini	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Highland Park	Highland Park, IL
C	53	Luke Jackson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Calvary Academy	Springfield, IL

Head coach

Stan Albeck

Assistant coach(es)

Morris McHone
Marty Gillespie

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[4]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Dec 4, 1987*		New Orleans	W 111–94	1–0	42 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (9,587) Peoria, IL
Dec 9, 1987*		Colorado	W 94–78	2–0	44 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (9,091) Peoria, IL
Dec 13, 1987*		vs. Northern Illinois	W 84–78	3–0	39 – Hawkins	–	–	Rockford MetroCentre (2,451) Rockford, IL
Dec 17, 1987*		at No. 19 Memphis State	L 108–113 ^{OT^[5]}	3–1	38 – Hawkins	–	–	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, TN
Dec 19, 1987*		UC Irvine	W 139–119^[6]	4–1	51 – Hawkins	–	21 – Manuel	Carver Arena (8,911) Peoria, IL
Dec 22, 1987*		Evansville	W 93–80^[7]	5–1	32 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (9,879) Peoria, IL
Dec 30, 1987*		at Dayton	W 97–80	6–1	36 – Hawkins	–	–	University of Dayton Arena (12,674) Dayton, OH
Jan 2, 1988*		at Loyola (IL)	W 99–82	7–1	37 – Manuel	–	–	Alumni Gym (4,779) Chicago, IL
Jan 4, 1988 8:05 pm, WEEK		Illinois State I-74 Rivalry	L 74–85	7–2 (0–1)	–	–	–	Carver Arena (10,670) Peoria, IL
Jan 6, 1988*		at UNC Charlotte	W 98–82	8–2	49 – Hawkins	–	–	Charlotte Coliseum (10,012) Charlotte, NC
Jan 9, 1988		Wichita State	W 88–70	9–2 (1–1)	31 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (10,470) Peoria, IL
Jan 16, 1988		at Indiana State	W 79–68^[8]^[9]	10–2 (2–1)	–	–	–	Hulman Center (7,077) Terre Haute, IN
Jan 21, 1988		Southern Illinois	W 99–93	11–2 (3–1)	42 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (10,480) Peoria, IL
Jan 28, 1988*		West Virginia	W 96–65	12–2	34 – Hawkins	–	18 – Manuel	Carver Arena (10,045) Peoria, IL
Jan 30, 1988		at Tulsa	W 65–62	13–2 (4–1)	–	–	–	Tulsa Convention Center (7,981) Tulsa, OK
Feb 2, 1988	No. 18	at Wichita State	L 92–116	13–3 (4–2)	37 – Hawkins	–	–	Levitt Arena (10,525) Wichita, KS
Feb 6, 1988	No. 18	at Drake	W 85–67	14–3 (5–2)	32 – Hawkins	–	–	Veterans Memorial Auditorium (10,689) Des Moines, IA
Feb 8, 1988*	No. 18	Saint Louis	W 83–67	15–3	–	–	–	Carver Arena (9,710) Peoria, IL
Feb 10, 1988*	No. 15	at DePaul	L 80–86	15–4	–	–	–	Rosemont Horizon (15,610) Rosemont, IL
Feb 13, 1988	No. 15	Creighton	W 98–68	16–4 (6–2)	–	–	–	Carver Arena (10,490) Peoria, IL
Feb 15, 1988	No. 15	Drake	W 85–83	17–4 (7–2)	38 – Hawkins	–	16 – Manuel	Carver Arena (10,438) Peoria, IL
Feb 18, 1988	No. 17	at Creighton	W 83–67	18–4 (8–2)	35 – Hawkins	–	–	Omaha Civic Auditorium (5,728) Omaha, NE
Feb 20, 1988 2:30 pm, WHOI	No. 17	at Illinois State I-74 Rivalry	W 78–71 ^OT	19–4 (9–2)	34 – Hawkins	–	–	Horton Field House (7,745) Normal, IL
Feb 22, 1988*	No. 17	at Detroit Mercy	W 122–107	20–4	63 – Hawkins	–	–	Calihan Hall (4,021) Detroit, MI
Feb 25, 1988	No. 14	Tulsa	W 67–62	21–4 (10–2)	43 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (10,470) Peoria, IL
Feb 27, 1988	No. 14	Indiana State	W 95–74	22–4 (11–2)	36 – Hawkins	–	18 – Manuel	Carver Arena (10,490) Peoria, IL
Mar 1, 1988	No. 14	at Southern Illinois	W 113–102	23–4 (12–2)	39 – Hawkins	–	–	SIU Arena (8,716) Carbondale, IL
MVC tournament
Mar 5, 1988*	No. 14	Indiana State MVC Tournament Quarterfinal	W 93–74	24–4	41 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (9,737) Peoria, IL
Mar 6, 1988*	No. 14	Creighton MVC Tournament Semifinal	W 101–77	25–4	38 – Hawkins	–	–	Carver Arena (9,225) Peoria, IL
Mar 7, 1988*	No. 14	Illinois State MVC tournament championship	W 89–59	26–4	–	–	–	Carver Arena (10,570) Peoria, IL
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1988*	(9 SE) No. 11	vs. (8 SE) Auburn NCAA tournament first round	L 86–90^[10]	26–5	44 – Hawkins	–	–	Omni Coliseum Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP											18	15	17	14	14	12	11
Coaches	Not released										16	20	18	14	17	12	12

Awards and honors

Team players in the 1988 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	6	Hersey Hawkins	Los Angeles Clippers

^[12]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1987-88 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
^ "Hawkins fires Bradley to MVC tourney title". The Salina Journal. AP. March 9, 1988. p. 18. Retrieved May 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Drum, Keith (March 21, 1988). "Bradley University guard Hersey Hawkins, who became only the..." UPI. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
^ "1987–88 Bradley Braves Roster and Stats". Sports Reference.
^ "WOUNDED MEMPHIS ST. TOPPLES BRADLEY ON PRAYER, 3-POINTERS". The Chicago Tribune. December 18, 1987. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ "Hawkins Throws Book at Irvine With 51 Points in 139-119 Bradley Win". Los Angeles Times. December 20, 1987. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ "Hersey Hawkins Was a Diamond in Pivot". Los Angeles Times. December 26, 1987. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ Wolff, Alexander (January 25, 1988). "SCORING IN HIGHEST STYLE". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ "ON AND OFF COURT, BRADLEY`S HAWKINS IS ON TARGET". Chicago Tribune. January 17, 1988. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ "AUBURN TIPS BRADLEY DESPITE HAWKINS` 44". Chicago Tribune. March 18, 1988. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ "Bradley University guard Hersey Hawkins, who became only the..." UPI Archives. March 21, 1988. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
^ "1988 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 26, 2019.

[1] sports-reference.com 1987-88 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] "Hawkins fires Bradley to MVC tourney title". The Salina Journal. AP. March 9, 1988. p. 18. Retrieved May 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] Drum, Keith (March 21, 1988). "Bradley University guard Hersey Hawkins, who became only the..." UPI. Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[4] "1987–88 Bradley Braves Roster and Stats". Sports Reference.

[5] "WOUNDED MEMPHIS ST. TOPPLES BRADLEY ON PRAYER, 3-POINTERS". The Chicago Tribune. December 18, 1987. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[6] "Hawkins Throws Book at Irvine With 51 Points in 139-119 Bradley Win". Los Angeles Times. December 20, 1987. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[7] "Hersey Hawkins Was a Diamond in Pivot". Los Angeles Times. December 26, 1987. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[8] Wolff, Alexander (January 25, 1988). "SCORING IN HIGHEST STYLE". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[9] "ON AND OFF COURT, BRADLEY`S HAWKINS IS ON TARGET". Chicago Tribune. January 17, 1988. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[10] "AUBURN TIPS BRADLEY DESPITE HAWKINS` 44". Chicago Tribune. March 18, 1988. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[11] "Bradley University guard Hersey Hawkins, who became only the..." UPI Archives. March 21, 1988. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

[12] "1988 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 26, 2019.

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v t e 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
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics