MMBOW #6: Marcellus Sommerville, Bradley

I know why you really visit this site. Once March comes around, you'll be filling out your brackets with confidence - you'll know each of the teen-seeds inside and out. While the CBS pregame camera is trained on some guy from conference X who's shooting jumpers in his sweats, and Billy Packer is fumbling around trying to find something to say, you will be able to confidently proclaim, "Yeah, I've known about that guy ever since he was Mid-Majority Baller Of The Week." Won't your buddies be impressed? Both you and I know about the under-the-table pool cash, complimentary beers, and admiration from exotic women that are at stake here.

Hate to disappoint you, but this MMBOW installment probably won't help you for March 2005. This is all about preparing you for when ESPN and the other hoops blogs finally catch up with the great big Bradley love festival. Bradley has rarely been anything resembling a basketball power - their best player of recent years, Adebayo Akinkunle, plays for the Panasonic Super Kangaroos of the Japanese Basketball League. The Official Dad Of The Mid-Majority™, who is not quite as old as the hills but still remembers the Fifties like they were yesterday, says, "Last time Bradley was any good, they were shaving points." But they're pretty good now.

Marcellus Sommerville is an athletic 6-7, 230-lb. junior forward, and he is our sixth MMBOW. On Saturday against Pepperdine, 'Cellus went off for 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting, and pulled down 11 rebounds in a dominating 76-58 win. The Braves lost their entire three-man backcourt and 31 points per game to graduation, but Sommerville is averaging 19.3 points and 7.6 boards whilst leading them to a 6-1 record - all this despite overwhelmingly negative off-season punditry about the team's chances. After a home gimmee tomorrow against Samford, they'll go into next Tuesday's tilt against suddenly-struggling Creighton with a chance to shock the Valley. If the Jays spend too much defensive effort on Marcellus, Bradley also has 6-4 juco transfer Lawrence Wright with his 46-inch vertical leap, and 7-0 Minnesotan frosh banger Patrick O'Bryant.

In 2003-04, Sommerville was only held in single digits twice, and averaged 15.6 points a game. He also led the entire league in rebounding with 227 for the season. For his considerable efforts, he was named MVC Newcomer of the Year and made first team all-Valley. He had spent the 2001-02 season as a redshirt at Iowa, moved to Southwestern Illinois (junior) College for his first year of eligibility, then returned to his hometown of Peoria last season. [corr. - Ed.]

He was cut from his fifth-grade team, but Peoria is also the place where he grew up to dominate in high school, with 19.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game during his senior season at Peoria Central. He ended up on a lot of top-20-in-the-land lists, and before committing to Iowa he was vigorously chased by Kentucky's Tubby Smith. Sommerville was also the subject of a cheesy movie parody on a recruiting site, the ultimate compliment for any baller. Marcellus is a married man, his favorite book is the Bible, and his favorite phrase of Coach Jim Les' is "The beans are burning, let's eat!" The nets are burning as well, thanks to the sixth Mid-Majority Baller Of The Week.

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