Jim Les is preparing for his fifth season as Bradley's head coach, but his name has been synonymous with Braves hoops for the better part of two decades and his connection to the program goes back even farther.

Les first began patrolling the baselines at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse, Bradley's former home arena, as a ball boy from 1972 to 1975 when his older brother, Tom, handled the point guard duties for the Braves. Jim Les returned to The Hilltop eight years later as a player and etched his place in Bradley Basketball lore as one of the best, if not the best, point guards in the program's proud history.

Following a nine-year professional playing career, which included seven seasons in the National Basketball Association, Les enjoyed a successful venture into the financial world before returning to his basketball roots. After three years of whetting his coaching whistle as an assistant for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, Les returned to Bradley once more and was named the 12th men's basketball coach in Braves history on April 7, 2002.

Inheriting a team that produced a 9-20 record during the 2001-02 season, Les has laid a solid foundation for a program that has re-emerged as a force in the Missouri Valley Conference. Les owns a 62-60 record in his first four seasons as Bradley's head man, having directed the Braves to an improved record in three of those four seasons and capped by the team's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996.

By recording 12-18 and 15-16 records, respectively, in his first two seasons, Les joined Bradley legend A.J. Robertson as the only two coaches in program history to lead the Braves to an improved record in each of his first two seasons. In 2004-05, a young Braves team that featured 13 first- and second-year players got off to a 7-1 start with impressive non-conference wins versus DePaul and Pepperdine, but were unable to carry the momentum into the conference race.

Last season the Braves were able to find their stride down the stretch and played their way into the postseason picture by winning 13 of their last 17 games, including a seven-game win streak that took the team all the way to the MVC Tournament championship game. Bradley went on to win a pair NCAA Tournament games, defeating fourth-seeded Kansas (77-73) and fifth-seed Pittsburgh (72-66) to make its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1955.

Les' impact on the program extends well beyond game days, though. During his first four years, all 11 seniors that have played for Les have earned their Bradley degrees, including current fifth-year senior Danny Adams, who earned his degree in management and administration in May and is pursuing a master's degree while playing out his final year of eligibility this year. In addition to leading the Braves deep into the NCAA Tournament during their final season, each member of Bradley's 2006 senior class earned his degree in May. And the team's 14 players combined for the program's best semester grade point average during the 2005 Spring semester since the school began tracking team GPAs in 1984.

Les' vision for the future has a foundation in the memory of his playing days for the Braves from 1983 to 1986. In those three years, the former point guard led Bradley to a 60-27 (.690) record in his 87 games, consecutive trips to the postseason and one of the greatest seasons in the history of both Bradley and Valley men's basketball.

The 1985-86 squad won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a perfect 16-0 league record and it remains the last Valley team to post an undefeated conference record. Although the Braves lost the MVC Tournament championship game at Tulsa, Bradley earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the Braves lost to eventual national champion Louisville in the second round. Bradley's 83-65 victory versus UTEP in the first round of the 1986 West Regional, however, wass the program's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1955.

During Bradley's memorable 1985-86 season, Les averaged 14.2 points and led The Valley with 7.9 assists per game. In addition to being named MVC Player of the Year in 1986, the 5-foot-11 point guard won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Hall of Fame Award as the nation's best player less than 6-feet tall.

He was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame Feb. 7, 1998. Les also has been inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. Additionally, Braves fans voted Les one of the 15 greatest players in program history during the celebration of Bradley's first 100 basketball seasons.

Following his senior season, Les was a third-round (70th overall) selection by the Atlanta Hawks during the 1986 NBA Draft. He went on to play seven seasons for Utah, the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento and Atlanta. He led the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage (.461) during the 1990-91 season and he was the runner-up to Chicago's Craig Hodges in the AT&T Long Distance Shootout during the 1992 NBA All-Star Weekend.

Originally from the Chicago suburb of Niles, Ill., Les is married to the former Jodi Martineau. The couple has three children: son Tyler (14) and daughters Amber (12) and Hannah (6).