« Men’s Basketball 2018-19

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye

School
Bradley University
Position
Guard
Major
Marketing

Classroom

Voted to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Second Team, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye is majoring in marketing and maintains a 3.19 grade-point average. He has also been named to the conference’s honor roll in all three of his seasons, while earning Bradley Athletic Director’s Honor Roll accolades in four semesters.

Character

Lautier-Ogunleye was forced into a leadership role from day one on campus as he was part of a team that featured 11 freshmen and just four combined sophomores, juniors and seniors. The Braves were the youngest team in the conference in his first three years (and one of the youngest in the nation) but still saw their win total improve from five to 13 and 20 with his leadership.

He has also faced a number of obstacles during his college career starting with leaving his home country and playing in a new country. The London native adjusted and was rewarded with Valley All-Freshman honors but then fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot before his sophomore season. After missing the entire summer and only being cleared right before the season started, Lautier-Ogunleye found it difficult to regain his form and was passed in the rotation. However, Lautier-Ogunleye forced his way back in the lineup toward the home stretch and helped the Braves to a key late-season winning streak his sophomore year.

By the time he was a junior, Lautier-Ogunleye reinvented himself and transformed into the team’s defensive leader who always drew the assignment of the opposing team’s top perimeter threat and began contributing in different ways to the team’s success.

Community

Lautier-Ogunleye has been very active within the Peoria community during his tenure at Bradley. Most recently, the senior has paired with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and volunteered at events including its Sports Extravaganza at Camp Hope, Muddy Madness obstacle course and Backyard Talent Show. He has also worked with kids at local schools and provided mentorship, while volunteering at other activities and organizations such as the United Way Mad Dash, Whitney’s Walk, Peoria Marathon, Peoria YMCA, Pleasant Valley Middle School and Ridgeview Elementary School.

Competition

Lautier-Ogunleye has led one of the nation’s biggest turnarounds since arriving on campus, helping the Braves improve their win total by 15 games in the last two years. Lautier-Ogunleye was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team in 2016 after leading all Valley rookies in scoring. In 2017-18, he was a key piece of a team that posted its first 20-win campaign in nine years and advanced to the league’s semifinal for the first time in eight seasons. Lautier-Ogunleye was named to the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive Team after anchoring the nation’s 15th-ranked scoring defense. Overall, he has totaled 749 points, 371 rebounds, 230 assists and 61 steals during his first three seasons on campus.

*All stats as of nomination time.