History of the Braves
The Bradley Braves are the intercollegiate athletics teams of Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The Braves athletic program is a Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) member and competes at the NCAA Division I level. The Bradley mascot is Kaboom! the Gargoyle, and the school colors are red and white.
College Sports Established
1897
Location
Peoria, Illinois
College Name
Bradley University
Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1948 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
Conference History
1948 - 1952, 1955 - Present / Missouri Valley Conference
1952 - 1955 / Independent
Nickname
Braves - Bradley University has gone through a couple mascot changes through its lengthy history as a school. Its athletic teams first started going by the Braves around the 1930's when famed athletic director and coach A.J. Robertson supported a name that separated them from schools who used 'Indians' instead. From then on the schools has kept the name Braves despite the mascot changes.
The school originally started out with a Native American mascot who donned the full costume and typical props. Going by 'Chief Bradley', the mascot stood side-by-side with a hawk mascot in the following years and went by "Tommy Hawk."
After students, faculty, and alumni started to plead with the university, and the NCAA started to crack down on Native American imagery, Bradley dropped all Native American-related merchandise and images from the school, including mascots and offensive logos in 1992. They then introduced a bobcat mascot. The mascot was not around for long as a connection to the university, and a lack of support led to its official demise in 2000 when the school dropped the bobcat.
From 2000 to 2014, Bradley had no mascot. That is until on February 22, 2014, Bradley officially introduced its new mascot: a Gargoyle named KaBoom!. The mascot represents the mythical creatures that sit atop Bradley Hall and now the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center as well. It was given the name KaBoom! after the iconic call that insinuates from Dave Snell, Bradley basketball's play-by-play announcer, after a dunk.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.