Black, not by popular demand

Last summer, Bradley coach Jim Les suggested his men’s basketball team wear black uniforms for a game. No Bradley team ever had done it.

Associate athletics director Virnette House-Browning, then the department’s interim AD, took it from there.

“It was a chance to do something different and unique,” House-Browning said Tuesday night prior to the Braves’ game against Illinois State.

Joanne Glasser, the BU president, had to approve use of the uniforms on a one-time basis, House-Browning said. Then House-Browning talked with Doug Elgin, the Missouri Valley Conference commissioner, about the protocol.

“He told me Wichita State had done it before with Creighton,’’ House-Browning said. “So we just had to get Illinois State to agree to wear their whites so we would have contrasting colors.”

The Redbirds, 1-5 wearing their road reds this season in the Valley, readily agreed.

The “Blackout” promotion, in which black BU shirts were distributed to fans, was launched publicly. But the Braves’ new unis were kept a secret.

The black jerseys included a white stripe on the shoulders, a red stripe down the side extending to the shorts and white lettering trimmed in red. House-Browning said it hadn’t been decided if the uniforms will be auctioned.

“We thought it would be more fun to keep it quiet,” House-Browning said. “Black is kind of an ‘in’ thing, and the kids like it. But we need to protect our brand, and we’re doing it just on a select basis. Red and white are our school colors.”

A roadblock in recent years was former 13-year athletics director Ken Kavanagh’s objection to black uniforms for all BU teams. But Kavanagh left BU last spring for the AD post at Florida Gulf Coast, and the subject became open for discussion.

“Hopefully, it’s a fun promotion for our fans,” House-Browning said.

Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or dreynolds@pjstar.com.