Danny Dahlquist Memorial Endowed Scholarship

The son of longtime Bradley University staff members Craig and Tricia Dahlquist, Danny grew up around Bradley Soccer with a dream of one day playing for the Braves.  After making the team as a redshirt freshman in 2006, that dream ended tragically when Danny died in a house fire Aug. 12, 2007.

Ron Ferguson Scholarship

Responsible for helping return Bradley University basketball to national prominence as well as guiding the entire Bradley athletic program into a competitive world of NCAA Division I sports competition, Ferguson served as athletic director on the Hilltop for 18 years (1978-1996).

During the his tenure at Bradley, men’s basketball won four Missouri Valley Conference titles, made seven post-season appearances (including an NIT championship in 1982) while finishing two campaigns (1986, 1988) ranked in the nation’s top 20.  Outside of basketball, Ferguson assembled a coaching staff that would win three conference titles and earn four coach-of-the-year honors in the 90’s.  A charter member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Ferguson served as that organization’s president from 1974-77.

A.J. Robertson Scholarship

Called “America’s #1 All-Around Coach,” Alfred Robertson coached football (1920-1947), basketball (1920-1948) and baseball (1921-1948) at Bradley University as well as serving as the school’s athletic director (1920-48).  Robertson took the men’s basketball program into the national spotlight by winning 28 of 31 games during the 1947-48 season.  Overall, Robertson won 312 games in 26 years as Bradley’s head

basketball coach.  In football, Robertson put the program in a position to earn a New Year’s Day bowl bid in 1939, and in baseball, Robertson’s favorite sport, the 1948 team recorded a 30-5 mark for the highest winning percentage in the history of the program for any team playing 14 or more games.

Robertson won 244 games as baseball coach and 144 games as football coach, including five undefeated seasons.

Betty Shea Endowed Scholarship

The mother of longtime Bradley Athletics booster Tim Shea, Betty Shea was a life-long fan of the Braves.  After decades as a men’s basketball season-ticket holder, Betty became a fan of Bradley soccer when her son provided substantial funding to build the Shea Stadium soccer complex in 2003.

Joe Stowell Scholarship

One of the few, and one of the first, to coach both men’s and women’s basketball at the NCAA Division I level, Joe Stowell has dedicated nearly his entire life to Bradley University.  A Peoria native, Stowell graduated from Bradley in 1950.

A four-year letterman in basketball, Stowell coached two years at the high school level before returning to his alma mater as freshman basketball coach.  In 1965, Stowell was named head coach and went on to win 197 games in 13 years (1965-1978), including a 20-win campaign in his first year.

Stowell helped the Bradley women’s basketball team in its transition from NCAA Division II status to the Division I level.  In two seasons, Stowell won 33 games, including 19 victories in his debut season as head coach.  He also recruited and coached Judy Burns, the Braves #4 all-time leading scorer and Bradley’s only female first-team All-American.  Stowell still stays involves with Braves basketball as the analyst of WMBD men’s basketball broadcasts, giving him a role in more than 1,500 Bradley games since his playing days.

W. J. “Billy” Stone Scholarship

While playing football at Bradley, Stone was regarded as one of the top halfbacks in the Midwest. During his pro playing career, he was named Rookie of the Year for the Baltimore Colts of the All-American Football League and played under the legendary George Halas for the Chicago Bears.

Stone never forgot his collegiate home:  he later became the head football coach at Bradley (1955-1970) and won 66 games in 16 seasons despite being outsized and outspent, particularly during the final years of the Bradley football program.  Stone’s best year as coach was in 1956 when the Braves went 7-2-1.

A scratch golfer, Stone also coached golf at Bradley (1978-81, 1983) and served as academic head of Bradley’s Department of Physical Education.  He also served as Bradley’s assistant athletic director under Chuck Orsborn.

Leo Schrall Scholarship

The Bradley baseball coach for 24 seasons (1949-72) and the only Braves baseball coach to take a team to the College World Series, Schrall won 346 games as Bradley baseball coach and retired with a .647 winning percentage.  Only recently-retired baseball coach Dewey Kalmer  has won more baseball games in a Bradley uniform and no Braves Baseball mentor with more than a year on staff has a better winning percentage than Schrall.  With only three losing seasons in his career, Schrall’s teams averaged 14 wins per season during an era when teams were playing an average of 22 games a year.

Under Schrall’s direction, the Braves played in the 1950 and 1956 College World Series.  It was two-and-out for Bradley in 1950, but in 1956 the Braves finished third after losing to eventual champion Minnesota in the semifinals.

Jim Spink Scholarship

Known as a coach’s coach, Jim Spink spent more than 25 years at Bradley University coaching swimming (1959-87) and golf (1960-77, 1982, 1984-85).  He also helped with football.

Spink, a 1950 graduate of Illinois College, spent 11 seasons as line coach for the Bradley football team, but it was in the sport of swimming where Spink enjoyed most of his success.  His swimming squads won more than 80 percent of their dual meets.  Under Spink’s guidance, Bradley captured five Illinois Private College championships and earbed five top three finishes at the Midwest Independent Championships.

And when Spink wasn’t walking the pool deck, he was on the course with the Bradley golf team.  Under Spink, Bradley twice finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. He coached two-time MVC individual champion Dave Wettlaufer, as well as current Senior PGA Tour player David Lundstrom.

Chuck Orsborn Scholarship

By percentage, Chuck Orsborn is the winningest coach in Bradley Basketball history.  Orsborn racked up a 194-56 (.776) overall mark in nine seasons from 1956 to 1965, including an 86-32 (.729) mark in Valley games.  Most notably, Orsborn led Bradley to seven NIT appearances in those nine seasons, including championships in 1957, 1960 and 1964, as well as a runner-up finish in 1959.  He also served as Director of athletics from 1965-78.

A 1939 Bradley graduate, Orsborn was a member of Bradley’s Famous Five, which played in the first two National Invitation Tournaments.  He has recently been elected to the MVC and NIT Halls of Fame and was voted the Bradley Basketball Coach of the Century during the program’s 100-year celebration.

Jake Schoof Scholarship

A veteran of the Bradley University athletic department, Jake Schoof toiled nearly 30 years at his trade ... coaching.  He was the first coach at Bradley to be responsible for both a men’s and women’s sport.  Schoof coached men’s track (1956-84), men’s cross country (1956-57, 1961-84) and women’s cross country and track (1983-84). 

During his tenure at Bradley, Schoof’s teams won more than 100 dual meets while the men’s track team established every indoor and outdoor record, with the exception of Olympian Pat Redd’s long jump mark and national 440-yard hurdle qualifier, Jim Philbee’s time.

A graduate of Illinois State University, Schoof joined the Bradley staff in 1955 after a seven-year stint as the baseball and track coach at East Peoria High School.  His 29-year tenure at Bradley was longer than any other coach in Bradley history until retired baseball coach Dewey Kalmer equaled the mark in 2008.  Schoof also served as an assistant football coach under

Billy Stone and scouted for basketball coaches Chuck Orsborn and Joe Stowell.

Bradley Athletics Endowed & Annual Scholarships

Cubs Booster Annual Scholarship • Ray Becker Annual Scholarship • Gilbert Bell Annual Scholarship • Brewer Athletic Endowed Scholarship • Bunny Collins Endowed Scholarship • Megan Fong-Bradley Braves Endowed Scholarship • Neal Gregg/A.J. Robertson Endowed Scholarship • Ronald Hall Endowed Scholarship • Ruth Harms Endowed Scholarship • Huette Endowed Scholarship •  Bob McBride Endowed Scholarship • J.I. Meinen Endowed Scholarship • Clarence and Excie Miller Endowed Scholaship • Morse Endowed Scholarship • O’Connell/Clubs at River City Endowed Scholarship • Peoria Charter Coach Annual Scholarship • Charley Steiner Endowed Scholarship • Traders Realty Annual Scholarship • Lefty Tyler Endowed Scholarship •  Vonachen Endowed Scholarship • Melba Blank Wright Endowed Scholarship • Helen Young Endowed Scholarship

To donate to an endowed scholarship, please contact:

Rick Gaa - Athletic Development

Phone: (309) 677-3946

E-mail: rgaa@bradley.edu