Brian Wardle
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamBradley
ConferenceMVC
Record138–126 (.523)
Biographical details
Born (1979-10-09) October 9, 1979
Clarendon Hills, Illinois, U.S.
Playing career
1997–2001Marquette
2001–2002Fayetteville Patriots
2002–2003Rockford Lightning
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2005Marquette (DOBO)
2005–2010Green Bay (assistant)
2010–2015Green Bay
2015–presentBradley
Head coaching record
Overall233–191 (.550)
TournamentsNCAA: 0–1
NIT: 0–3
CIT: 0–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Horizon League regular season (2014)
2x MVC tournament (2019, 2020)
MVC regular season (2023)
Awards
MVC Coach of the Year (2023)
Horizon League Coach of the Year (2014)
Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award (2014)
First-team All-Conference USA (2001)

Brian Wardle (born October 9, 1979) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball coach at Bradley University.

Early life and education

Born in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, Wardle graduated from Hinsdale Central High School in nearby Hinsdale in 1997. At Hinsdale Central, Wardle earned two all-state basketball honors and broke scoring and rebounding records in school history.[1] After high school, Wardle played for Marquette University at guard from 1997 to 2001, under head coach Mike Deane from 1997 to 1999 and Tom Crean from 1999 to 2001. In four seasons, Wardle played 117 games with 93 starts. As a senior in 2000–01, Wardle was Marquette's leading scorer with 18.8 points per game; he would end his college career as the no. 3 all-time leading scorer at Marquette.[2]

Professional basketball career

After college, Wardle played in the NBA Developmental League and the Continental Basketball Association. Selected by the Fayetteville Patriots in the third round, 17th overall, in the 2001 NBDL draft, Wardle played 45 games with 19 starts for the Patriots in 2001–02, averaging 2.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 11.9 minutes per game.[3][4]

Then in the 2002–03 season, Wardle played for the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association. In 41 games with 17 starts, Wardle averaged 11.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.[5]

Coaching career

Returning to Marquette, Wardle was director of basketball operations under Tom Crean from 2003 to 2005 and an assistant coach at UW-Green Bay from 2005 to 2010. After the 2009-2010 season, Wardle was named head coach at UW-Green Bay.[6] Upon his hiring, Wardle became the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I basketball.[6] In 2014, Wardle was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year. In 2015, he left to take the coaching job at Bradley, which posted a 9-24 record the season before his arrival and a 5-27 record after the year in which he arrived. He had a 95-65 record at Green Bay but failed to make the NCAA Tournament.[7]

On March 10, 2019, Wardle led the Braves to the NCAA Tournament by winning The Missouri Valley’s “Arch Madness” Tournament. The Braves defeated Northern Iowa 57-54. This is the first conference tournament championship for Bradley since 1988, and the first trip to the NCAA Tournament for Bradley since 2006. Bradley played two seeded Michigan State on March 21, 2019. Wardle was asked to keep wearing a red pair of shoes his wife had bought him. Wardle, claiming he wasn't superstitious, "everyone else is," wore his red shoes. Bradley was 8-0 when Wardle wore these shoes. Bradley led Michigan State at half 35-34, dominating the boards in the first half. Bradley lost the game 76-65.

Prior to Bradley's NCAA Tournament game against Michigan State, Wardle was involved in a controversy that gained national attention. A Bradley Athletics official revoked media access to a local beat reporter due to not "promoting the Bradley brand." Wardle later apologized and the reporter's access to the team was restored.[8]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Green Bay Phoenix (Horizon League) (2010–2015)
2010–11 Green Bay 14–188–107th
2011–12 Green Bay 15–1510–8T–6th
2012–13 Green Bay 18–1610–6T–3rdCIT First Round
2013–14 Green Bay 24–714–21stNIT First Round
2014–15 Green Bay 24–912–42ndNIT First Round
Green Bay: 95–65 (.594)54–30 (.643)
Bradley Braves (Missouri Valley Conference) (2015–present)
2015–16 Bradley 5–273–159th
2016–17 Bradley 13–207–11T–6th
2017–18 Bradley 20–139–95th
2018–19 Bradley 20–159–9T–5thNCAA Division I Round of 64
2019–20 Bradley 23–1111–7T–3rdNCAA cancelled
2020–21 Bradley 12–166–128th
2021–22 Bradley 17–1411–75th
2022–23 Bradley 25–1016–41stNIT First Round
2023–24 Bradley 12–54–2
Bradley: 147–131 (.529)76–76 (.500)
Total:239–191 (.556)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ "Brian Wardle". Bradley University. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Brian Wardle". Marquette University. Archived from the original on March 15, 2002. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Brian Wardle". Basketball Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  4. ↑ "2001-2002 NBDL Draft 10/31/2001". NBA Hoops Online. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Brian Wardle". Stats Crew. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Wardle Named Green Bay Head Basketball Coach". UWGB Athletics. April 15, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  7. ↑ Valentin, Rob (April 13, 2015). "Brian Wardle hopes to carry success to Bradley from UW-Green Bay". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  8. ↑ "A reporter wouldn't hype Bradley University's "brand," so it pulled his basketball credential". The Washington Post.
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