PEORIA Bradley men’s basketball officially added two more players for its future lineup on Thursday, officially signing Race Kowalczyk and Ben Thornbrue.
Kowalczyk is a 6-foot-6 wing heading to his senior season at St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo, Ohio. Thornbrue is a 6-foot-8, 220-pound redshirt sophomore with the College of Southern Idaho junior college program.
The rim-protecting big man had a whirlwind recruitment with Bradley. He received an offer on Oct. 17, committed on Oct. 29 and now has signed.
Bradley had the inside track with Race Kowalczyk.
His father, Toledo men’s basketball head coach Tod Kowalczyk, was head coach at Green Bay from 2002-10 and had Bradley head coach Brian Wardle on his staff there as an assistant.
Race Kowalczyk stayed close to the Wardles as the families visited over the years after Wardle took over the Green Bay program when Tod Kowalczyk moved on to Toledo after 2009-10.
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“I got really close, growing up, with (Wardle children) Mya, Emy and Davin, hanging out with them in Green Bay,” Race Kowalczyk said. “I remember being around Coach Wardle a lot, and my father is a D-1 coach and understands building a winning culture and that’s part of what I was looking for.
“There is a winning culture at Bradley, and just the fact that Coach Wardle, the staff and university made it feel like home for me really helped. During my whole recruiting process I maintained the best relationship with them, they made it clear they really wanted me there.”
Kowalczyk can guard multiple positions, and as a wing in his junior season he averaged 18.5 points for the St. John’s Jesuit Titans (Toledo, Ohio). The Titans finished 15-8 and were eliminated in the second round of Ohio’s state playoffs.
The Toledo Blade says his prospect ranking is No. 8 among all players in Ohio and No. 4 among power forwards.
Kowalczyk had offers from Bradley, Green Bay, Toledo, UC Irvine and Wyoming. His cousin is former Duke star Kon Knueppel, taken fourth overall by Charlotte in the 2025 NBA Draft.
“I just want to come in humble and hungry, learn and do whatever I can to help the team win,” Kowalczyk said. “The ultimate goal for all of us is to get the team into the NCAA Tournament.”
Ben Thornbrue went from offer to signing in a span of 27 days with Bradley. The big man was invited to the jucorecruiting.com All-American JUCO Showcase Invitational last July as one of the top 40 junior college prospects in the nation.
The Hillsboro, Oregon, native is a redshirt sophomore with College of Southern Idaho junior college program.
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He is in his first season with that team, and played last season for Lane Community College (Eugene, Oregon), where he averaged 21.6 points per game and 7.3 rebounds. He shot 48% from the field and 26.5% from 3-point range.
Thornbrue was named NWAC Southern Region Player of the Year, Southern Region Freshman of the Year and Southern Region Defensive Player of the Year last season.
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: NCAA signing day: Bradley gets wing, power forward for 2026-27 team