'A natural winner': Bradley basketball officially adds junior college big man

The Bradley Braves have added some size.

Des Moines (Iowa) Area big man Goanar Biliew announced his commitment to the Bradley men's basketball program on Friday night via Twitter. On Saturday, the school announced Biliew had signed as the final scholarship player for the 2022-23 season.

The 6-foot-8, 230-pounder comes to Peoria with three years of eligibility. He averaged 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 36 games last season for nationally ranked DMACC, which finished third in the 2022 NJCAA Division II national tournament.

"He is a natural winner as he had success every step of his career," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said in a release. "Goanar is a strong 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward that plays very hard and physical.

"I love that he has improved every year, which means he is coachable and has a great work ethic. His best years are ahead of him and we couldn’t be more excited to have him at Bradley.”

On Friday, Biliew tweeted out a photo illustration of himself in a Bradley uniform, which was later retweeted by Wardle.

"Truly Blessed!!!! LET'S. DO. IT." Biliew wrote.

Who is Goanar Biliew?

Biliew — who had additional offers from Oakland and Western Illinois — also saw interest from Omaha, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Illinois-Chicago, according to the Des Moines Register.

Matthew Bain of the Register last year called Biliew a "super athlete with quickly developing footwork and technical skills. There's big-time upside for the 6-8 (Biliew)."

Biliew is the older brother of Class of 2023 five-star prospect Omaha Biliew, who is being pursued by Iowa State, Kentucky, Kansas, LSU, Oregon, Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma State, according to the Register.

Who has Bradley added this offseason?

Goanar Biliew is the fourth addition to the Bradley roster in the last month. He is expected to be the final scholarship player brought in for the 2022-23 season.

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Point guard James "Pop" Weathers III signed with Bradley in mid-April. The 6-foot, 185-pound Baton Rouge, La., native played the last two seasons at State College of Florida.

About a week later, Bradley brought in wing Christian Davis from the NCAA transfer portal. The 6-foot-7, 185-pound guard/wing was a redshirt freshman at NCAA Division II Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. last season. He has three years of eligibility left.

Soon after that, BU grabbed sharp-shooting point guard Cody Deen from the NCAA transfer portal. The Freshman of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference is a 5-foot-9 point guard from Shreveport, La., who played for Troy last season.

The Braves lost two scholarship players to transfer and two to graduation. First-team all-Missouri Valley Conference point guard Terry Roberts landed at Georgia, while wing Jayson Kent ended up at Indiana State. BU big man Ari Boya and guard Mikey Howell graduated.

Wes Huett is Journal Star sports editor. Email him at whuett@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @WesHuett.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley recruit: Des Moines Area's Goanar Biliew joins men's basketball