The Hillsdale College athletic department is pleased to announce the appointment of Keven Bradley as the head coach of the Chargers men’s basketball program, effective immediately.
Bradley is the 28th head coach in Hillsdale’s lengthy and storied 120-plus year history, and he steps into the position after helping lead the Chargers to one of its best three-year runs ever as Hillsdale’s Associate Head Coach.
“I’m incredibly fortunate and grateful to step into a head coaching position with a program with a great foundation and an established identity and culture of success,” Bradley said. “Having been with this team for several seasons, I understand first-hand the quality of what’s already in place here, and it’s exciting to get the chance to try and build upon the success this team has already had, and to put teams on the floor that represent Hillsdale College in the best way possible.”
In three years as the top assistant at Hillsdale under head coach John Tharp, who stepped away from the position in April to become Hillsdale’s new Director of Athletics, Bradley helped lead the team to an unprecedented three straight NCAA DII Tournament berths, three consecutive seasons of 21 or more wins, two NCAA DII Midwest Regional final appearances, and the program’s first-ever Midwest Regional title and NCAA DII Elite Eight appearance in 2021-22.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to be in a position to hire what I think is one of the best young coaches in the game,” Tharp said. “Everywhere Keven has gone throughout his career as a player and a coach, those teams have won, and won at a level that’s rare in the previous history of those programs.
“Keven’s work ethic is second to none, he has a meticulous eye for detail, and he has an incredible basketball mind that understands the game on a deep level. Most importantly, he’s an incredible teacher with a gift for passing that understanding on to his players, and I think that’s what’s made him successful so far as an assistant, and why he will continue to be successful as a head coach.”
Bradley’s first three seasons at Hillsdale continue a more-than-decade long trend of taking the teams he is involved with to new heights as a program. A 2006 graduate of Division III Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Bradley played for Tharp during the coach’s tenure with the Vikings prior to coming to Hillsdale in 2007-08. At Lawrence, Bradley was a starter and helped the Vikings to two NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 berth in 2005-06. He finished his collegiate career with a combined record of 98-16.
After graduating from Lawrence and working as a graduate assistant with the Vikings for a couple of seasons, Bradley took an assistant coaching position at NCAA DII Upper Iowa in 2009. In four seasons with the Peacocks, he played a significant role in the program’s turnaround, helping the Peacocks to a school record in wins (20) and a NCAA DII tournament berth in his final season in 2012-13.
That led to a position at Wisconsin-Parkside, another NCAA DII school, where Bradley was an assistant coach for seven seasons and Associate Head Men’s Basketball coach for the final six of those campaigns, helping the Rangers to a 131-74 record overall and an 86-44 record in conference play during that time.
During his tenure, the Rangers won four division titles in the GLVC and GLIAC, qualified for four NCAA Division II Tournaments, and set a program record for wins with 26 in 2014-15. Bradley coached two Division II All-Americans at Parkside, including 2015-16 GLVC Player of the Year Andy Mazurczak.
Bradley came to Hillsdale in the summer of 2020 and did what he has done throughout his career, elevating the Chargers to new heights as a program. In his first three years with the Chargers, Hillsdale went 67-18 overall and 49-11 in G-MAC play. During his tenure, Bradley helped to develop two-time G-MAC Player of the Year and 2021-22 consensus first-team All-American Patrick Cartier, and also assisted in the recruitment and development of 2021-22 G-MAC Freshman of the Year Joe Reuter.
“Seventeen years seems like such a long time, but every step of the journey has been a great experience and so important to help me get to this point,” Bradley said. “I’ve been blessed to get a chance to work under great coaches and mentors in a variety of different situations at the (NCAA) Division II and Division III levels that have prepared me for this opportunity.
“When you start your coaching career, you dream that one day, you’re going to be lucky enough to have a high quality program believe in you and give you an opportunity like this, and I truly feel blessed to have that dream come true.”
With an impressive resume under his belt to date, Bradley now steps into his first collegiate head coaching position aiming to continue to produce both high-quality and high-character men’s basketball teams at Hillsdale in the mold of the ones his mentor, John Tharp led to successful outcomes.
“Ever since I was a high school basketball player being recruited by him, Coach Tharp has been a hugely influential part of my life, and someone who has played a major role in making me the coach and man I am today,” Bradley said. “It’s a great honor to get to follow in his footsteps and to continue to build upon the foundation and identity he put in place here, and to get to do so while he is still a part of the program and leading Hillsdale College athletics in a new way.”
https://www.hillsdalechargers.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/releases/20230413fkjr4z
