Bradley senior Donte Thomas glad he stayed and ‘stuck it out’

Hide captionPEORIA — Three years ago, when new Bradley head coach Brian Wardle first met Donte Thomas, much uncertainty filled the air.

Several players from the Geno Ford regime were leaving the basketball program. Eventually nine of the 12 players with eligibility remaining departed that spring and summer.

Thomas was a 6-foot-7 freshman with a promising future and a decision on his hands.

“I knew I didn’t want to leave,” Thomas said. “But I had outside sources telling me to do this and that.”

Said Wardle: “My first interactions with him were that we would bump heads a bit early on. But I told him if he wanted to be a part of it, it could be pretty special.”

Thomas stayed. Those early years were…