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Bradley women’s basketball offers another high school player from Peoria

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6 months ago

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Bradley women’s basketball offers another high school player from Peoria

PEORIA — The Bradley Braves women’s basketball team has made another move in pursuit of top local talent.

Londyn Sommerville, who just finished her freshman year at Richwoods, announced she’s received an offer from BU. The 6-foot-2 power forward is a highly-touted prospect from a basketball family that includes her father, former Braves star Marcellus Sommerville, and her brother, Rutgers forward Lathan Sommerville.

“To get an offer from Bradley, my dad went there,” Londyn Sommerville said. “It was very exciting for me. And he was excited, too. (Bradley women’s head coach Kate Popovec-Goss) said they liked the way I play, could really use me the way they play in their game.”

More: Notre Dame girls basketball freshman and state finals hero earns offer from Bradley

Sommerville played for a Richwoods team that went 19-12 last season and finished fourth in the Big 12 at 7-3. The Knights exited the playoffs with a 69-55 loss to Galesburg.

Sommerville’s first NCAA Division-I offer came from Wichita State in late April. An offer from Gardner-Webb followed on May 10, and now Bradley has joined the recruiting race.

“The process, I enjoy it a lot,” Sommerville said. “The schools recruiting me encourage me to work harder and become better myself. I want to be one of the best and continue to get better and improve, expand my game.

“It’s also really rewarding to see your work is paying off. It boosts my confidence.”

Sommerville plays in the summer for Midwest Elite. Her family tree includes mother, Brooke Petty Sommerville, who was a 6-foot-2 NCAA Division-I basketball player (Illinois State) and played at ICC.

Londyn Sommerville’s grandfather, Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame inductee Gene Petty, was a star in baseball, football and basketball. He had scholarship offers from major programs for football, signed for $30,000 out of high school with the Cubs and later was signed for $8,000 by Buffalo Bills coach Lou Saban as a kicker.

And of course, Londyn Sommerville’s father, Marcellus, was a Bradley Braves star who led the team’s 2006 run to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and went on to play eight seasons of pro basketball in Europe, where he was part of a Cholet team that won the French National Championship in 2009-10.

“It’s been great training Londyn,” Marcellus Sommerville said. “She is a sponge. I remember when we first got started training during COVID-19. She has so much potential. Her athleticism and basketball IQ have helped her to excel.”

Bradley made a recent offer to Notre Dame state finals hero Emy Wardle, as well as two more Midwest Elite players, guard Danyella Mporokoso (Aurora Waubonsie Valley) and point guard Nikki Kerstein (Lombard Montini).

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On the gridiron

One of the Peoria area’s top football players, Metamora linebacker Cam Nickel, received a D-1 offer from Army last week. Nickel, with his senior season ahead of him, was set to visit the Illini on Tuesday and Illinois State on June 28. He has an offer from North Dakota State and is talking with Drake and Western Michigan as well.

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.

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