Summer basketball camping season opens Monday at Bradley.
Jim Les holding his annual camp this week and next. Big changes this year, and yes, they are happy campers on the hilltop.

This is not your father's Bradley basketball camp...or even your older brother's. Robertson Field House is no more...and that means...ta–da–da...air conditioning!

"The campers and the coaches are enjoying the air-conditioning which the Field House, I don’t remember having that," Les said. "Actually, it blew air but it was mostly hot air. You know, some of the parents who were dropping off campers hadn’t been in this building. It’s just a great presentation of Bradley and where our university and our facilities are going here on campus."

Moving into the Markin Center also means a more centrally located camp and no more bus rides all over town.

"This is great now, because we used to have to tap into Central and Peoria Christian, and now we have the facilities where we can keep everybody on campus and keep them in one place," Les said. "The logistics are a little easier, you know, keeping track of everybody."

The accomodations have changed, but the faces remain the same.
Coach Les keeping plenty of his current and former players on the payroll, such as it is.

"It tells you the impact the Bradley experience and the Central Illinois experience has had on these young men. They’re traveling around, doing a myriad of different things and playing basketball, but when they have free time, they like to come back here. Then I try to use them, not free labor, but I put ‘em to work," Les laughed.