Oakland, Calif. ? As soon as John Calipari arrived at Memphis six years ago, he earned a reputation for recruiting some of the biggest prep stars in the country.

Amare Stoudemire. Qyntel Woods. Dajuan Wagner.

Stoudemire and Woods never set foot on the court for the Tigers, and Wagner played one season before bolting to the NBA as the No. 6 overall pick by Cleveland in 2002.

Then there’s Rodney Carney, the unheralded forward Calipari has groomed into a star and likely lottery pick in the NBA Draft. Now, as a senior, Carney is determined to end his career at the Final Four in his hometown of Indianapolis.

The top-seeded Tigers will try to move one step closer to that goal when they take on surprising No. 13-seed Bradley in the Oakland Regional semifinals tonight.

“If Amare Stoudemire came, we wouldn’t have gotten Rodney,” Calipari said Wednesday. “Rodney has really developed as a player and a person. He’s matured – his self-confidence, his self-esteem, his skill on the basketball court, his poise. His personality has blossomed. He’s primed to be a lottery pick, and no one knew who he was coming out of high school.”

Bradley players, including Marcellus Sommerville, right, go through drills. The Braves worked out Wednesday in Oakland, Calif., in preparation for tonight's NCAA Tournament game against Memphis.

Speaking of being unknown, Bradley’s players are getting used to answering questions about where they play. And they’re loving the attention.

“Peoria, Illinois,” they answer politely.

While this may seem like a lopsided matchup between the favored Tigers and upstart Braves (22-10), everybody involved refuses to look at it that way.

“They’re a top, elite team,” Memphis forward Shawne Williams said. “They accomplished something great, too.”

Memphis (32-3), an NIT team a year ago, has won 21 of its last 22 games and is riding a six-game winning streak. The Tigers won the Conference USA regular-season and tournament crowns, then beat Oral Roberts and Bucknell for their first appearance in the regional semifinals since 1995.

The 6-foot-7 Carney leads the young Tigers at 17.4 points per game and helped the school to a top seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

But Carney isn’t a flashy scorer like Adam Morrison of Gonzaga, which plays UCLA in tonight’s late game. Memphis last made the Final Four in 1985. The Tigers beat Gonzaga on Dec. 27, and the Zags have won 20 straight since then. Memphis also defeated UCLA this season.

Bradley certainly is enjoying its moment in the sun – the Braves are the most popular thing in Peoria right now. Marcellus Sommerville would know, too. Already a husband and father, the senior forward is a hometown product and couldn’t have envisioned this kind of success when he first stepped on campus.