My Bradley basketball journey
Growing up in the Chicago area, I grew up watching DePaul basketball in the 1990s. Once I started getting close to being able to attend college, beyond the whole educational aspect, was going somewhere that had a good basketball program. I had known of Bradley a bit, but it was a revelation walking into Carver Arena for the first time.
I still remember that first game. Friday, November 22, 2002 against the Pepperdine Waves, who not only were coming off a NCAA tournament bid the previous season but also had a really cool logo (in my opinion, at least):
Credit: SportsLogos.Net
Everything felt like college basketball was supposed to be:
- The band
- The cheerleaders
- Huge crowd
- Loud and active student section
Bradley even made these amazing tickets for the students back before the “digital everything”. I wish I had that particular stub, but I do have a ton from that season, like this one:
$20! For the whole season! What a deal, especially for a college student who really doesn’t have much money.
I probably would have been hooked right there, but then of course that first game was amazing as well. The game went to OT and Bradley’s best player, Danny Granger (the future NBA player) had 29 points and 20 rebounds. Bradley somehow won by 14 by a score of 95-81. There’s even a box score out there for it: https://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/boxscore/2002-11-22/Pepperdine-at-Bradley/34305
I don’t have pictures of that particular day, but I do have some photos that go all the way back to 2008, when things still were rocking at Carver Arena:
Things have changed a bit from those first games I experienced 20+ years ago. People don’t pack Carver like they did when I went to school, but it’s still one of the best environments to watch a game in the Valley and Bradley’s fans are the most well-traveled of anyone in the league.