PEORIA — The Bradley Braves were struck by the NCAA transfer portal on Saturday when a young guard decided to go on the market.
Freshman Montana Wheeler intends to enter the portal when it officially opens on April 7, the day after the NCAA Tournament championship game.
"We wish him the best in his future endeavors," Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. "My staff and I are excited about putting together a great team during this offseason."
The 5-foot-9 Wheeler came off the bench in all 34 games for the 21-13 Braves this season and averaged 22.4 minutes per game.
He shot 42.6% from the field and 33.7% from 3-point distance while providing defensive pressure at the other end with his speed and quickness. Wheeler's career-best outing was a 22-point game in a New Year's Day loss at Belmont, where he hit 7 of 9 3-pointers for a Bradley freshman single-game record.
He was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench Team at season's end after posting 8.5 points per game with starter's minutes, and 96 assists.
He is from a basketball family. Montana's father, Teddy Wheeler, is currently the head coach at Xavier Academy (Houston). His brother, Savhir Wheeler, was a top-80 prospect by ESPN and played Division-I basketball at Georgia, Kentucky, and Washington from 2019 to 2023.
Wheeler signed with a sports agency recently, signaling he intended to determine his market value.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball freshman leaving team for the NCAA transfer portal