PEORIA — The Bradley Braves added a point guard Monday to shore up their roster.
The program signed Spain native Max Gaspa Ibanez from the Baxi Manresa team in Spain’s professional Liga Endesa.
He fills a roster spot vacated when Bradley’s projected starting point guard, Georgi Gerganov, suffered a season-ending knee injury during summer workouts.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Barcelona-born Gaspa Ibanez, 20, played the last two seasons with Baxi, averaging 2.8 points per game on 9.4 minutes.
He shot 42.1% from the field and 27.3% from 3-point range in 25 games.
“We are excited to welcome Max Gaspa to the Bradley basketball family,” Braves head coach Brian Wardle said. “With the injury to Georgi Gerganov we needed to add depth to our roster with an experienced guard, and with Max we found our guy.
“Max has played high-level international basketball since his youth. His feel for the game stood out on film, and makes him a great fit for the way we play. Max can impact the game in many ways with his ability to score at three levels, make plays for his teammates and guard with energy and intelligence.”
Gaspa Ibanez is believed to be the first player from Spain in the Bradley men’s team program history.
Gaspa Ibanez is in the midst of playing for Spain’s under-20 national team in the 2026 FIBA EuroBasket tourney at Ljubljana, Slovakia.
He is averaging 8.7 points per game on 18.6 minutes through three outings against Belgium, Croatia and Greece. He is shooting 55.6% from the field and 25% from 3-point range. He has added 1.7 assists per game, 1.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
Gaspa Ibanez played seven games for Spain in the 2025 FIBA event, averaging 4.2 points.
(This story has been updated with additional information)
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star senior writer and 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 deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Braves sign a guard from Spain to fill out 2026-27 roster
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
