Prairie's Dellamuth picks Bradley

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Madison Dellamuth visited the Bradley University campus twice.She came away both times with the same feeling.Valued. Appreciated.The point guard from Cedar Rapids Prairie, Dellamuth has orally committed to play basketball for the Braves, becoming the third Metro senior girl to commit to a Division-I program."I really felt valued and cared about," Dellamuth said. "It's not just about win, win, win. They want to make be a better person in the process."Dellamuth chose Bradley -- located in Peoria, Ill. -- over Missouri Valley Conference rival Illinois State."They'll be getting a good player and a good person," said Prairie Coach Steve Doser. "Madison's best basketball is still in front of her."Dellamuth has been a critical cog to the Hawks since she was a freshman. Last year, she averaged 11.6 points and 4.6 assists per game as Prairie captured the Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division title. The Hawks were 15-7.The Iowa Newspaper Association honored her as a third-team all-stater in Class 5A.Bradley was 14-16 last season, and has three Iowans on their roster this year.Cedar Rapids Washington's Dani Franklin (Valparaiso) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Morgan Martin (Eastern Illinois) also have chosen mid-major Division-I programs recently.Prairie's top two scorers from last season (Courteney McCrary and Alisa Weiland) have graduated, and Dellamuth understands she will be called upon to take a bigger role this winter."From the scoring end, yeah, I'm probably going to have to do more," she said. "I worked on that a lot this past summer."