Having reestablished Bradley men’s basketball as a championship-level program, Brian Wardle is entering his 11th year as head coach of the Braves. In his first 10 seasons on the BU sideline, Wardle has built Bradley into a perennial Missouri Valley Conference contender, which includes winning back-to-back MVC tournament championships in 2019 and 2020. In the 2022-23 season Wardle led the Braves to their first MVC regular season title since 1996 (27 years) with Wardle being named the 2022-23 MVC Coach of the Year.
Under Brian Wardle, Bradley has recorded...
- Three MVC Championships (two tournament titles, one regular season)
- 52 All-Conference selections (1st Team, 2nd Team, 3rd Team, Defensive Team, Freshman Team, Improved Team, etc)
- 112-44 home record since 2015 (72%) and a 54-10 (80%) home record in the last four seasons.
- Advanced to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals or better in each of the last tree seasons with two trips to championship game)
- Qualified for the N.I.T postseason tournament three times, progressing further than the season prior each time with a berth into the quarterfinals in 2025
Named the school’s 14th head coach in March 2015, Wardle was first tasked with turning around a Bradley program that had not posted a winning conference record in the previous six seasons with the Braves finishing last in the Valley the year before his arrival. Featuring the nation’s youngest team in his first season on campus and the youngest in the conference each of his first three years, Wardle quickly improved BU’s fortunes – increasing by eight wins in 2016-17 and seven victories in 2017-18, while earning the school’s first 20-win campaign in nine years to cap the early success.
After three seasons reconstructing the Bradley roster, it all paid off in Wardle’s fourth and fifth years at the helm. Bradley opened the 2018-19 season by defeating Penn State in the Cancun Challenge Championship as the Braves claimed their first regular-season tournament trophy since 1983. The early-season crown wouldn’t be the last trophy the Braves lifted that campaign as Wardle helped BU win its first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title in 31 years, overcoming an 18-point second-half deficit for the largest comeback in title game history as Bradley reach the top of the podium for the first time since 1988.
Not content with a one-year run, Wardle and the Braves repeated as Missouri Valley Conference Champions in 2020 with an 80-66 victory against Valparaiso. When it was all said and done, Wardle’s first two recruiting classes at BU graduated as champions as Bradley won back-to-back conference titles for the first time in school history. It also marked the first time since 1954 and 1955 that the Braves qualified for the NCAA Tournament in consecutive campaigns, while the team’s 23 wins were its most since 1993-94.
Bradley has continued to thrive under Wardle’s leadership since the championship runs. The Braves added their second regular-season tournament crown under his watch (and just the sixth in school history) with the 2021 Sun Bowl Invitational title. Individual success has also become common under Wardle’s leadership and was most recently highlighted with the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year and the program’s first All-Valley First Team selection in 11 seasons.
Overall, Bradley has featured 10 all-conference performers during the last five seasons – leading the league with three selections during the 2019-20 campaign. Bradley has also led all schools during Wardle’s tenure with seven All-Freshman Team honorees and with four forwards named to the league’s Most Improved Team. The Braves have added the 2019 MVC Sixth Man of the Year and one All-Defensive Team recipient in Wardle’s seven seasons on campus.
The success showcased by Wardle at Bradley is nothing new for the head coach. Prior to taking over the Braves program in 2015, Wardle compiled a 95-65 overall record at Green Bay, a five-year run that culminated with consecutive 24-win seasons and three-straight postseason appearances. The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, Wardle led the Phoenix to a 24-7 mark in 2013-14, including a 14-2 league record to claim the regular-season conference title and an automatic bid to the NIT.
Highlighted by a 68-55 win at then No. 15 Miami, Wardle's final Green Bay squad followed with a 24-9 record in 2014-15 and earned an at-large selection to the NIT after finishing as runner-up in the Horizon League regular season and postseason tournament.
The youngest head coach in Division I when he took over with the Phoenix, Wardle’s Green Bay teams averaged 19 wins per season while facing stiff competition. After taking on NCAA Tournament teams Marquette, Wisconsin and Virginia during the 2011-12 season, Green Bay knocked off Big East champion Marquette during the 2012-13 campaign and eventual ACC champion Virginia during the 2013-14 season to go along with the 2014 victory at Miami.
Wardle’s recruiting efforts at Green Bay resulted in several players of note. Alec Brown was the 50th overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns after the 7-foot-1 center was named the 2014 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year and finished fifth in school history with 1,678 career points. A 6-foot guard from Chicago Marshall High School, Keifer Sykes was the two-time Horizon League Player of the Year and can be found all over the Green Bay record books, finishing second on the school’s all-time scoring list with 2,096 career points and third with 526 assists. He is the only player in Horizon League history to accumulate 2,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds (467) and would eventually play for the Indiana Pacers during his professional career.
While building for success on the floor, Wardle has also made academic success and community involvement pillars of the Bradley program. Bradley student-athletes have received MVC Scholar-Athletes accolades 21 times during his seven years on campus. Additionally, the Braves have led the league in academic honorees in each of the last four seasons with their 15 total selections four more than any other team in the conference. The Braves have also been very active within the Peoria community and consistently lead the athletic department in volunteer service, totaling more than 5,000 hours of community service under Wardle’s leadership.
Following the 2013-14 season, Wardle added Skip Prosser Man of the Year honors to his collection, recognizing the head coach for not only success on the basketball court but also for displaying moral integrity off it as well.
A native of Willowbrook, Illinois, Wardle was a two-time all-state selection at Hinsdale Central High School, where he ranks as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He went on to play collegiately at Marquette, helping the Golden Eagles to a pair of NIT appearances in 1998 and 2000. As a senior in 2001, Wardle served as team captain and finished as the second-leading scorer in Conference USA by pumping in 18.8 points per game.
After graduating from Marquette in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies, Wardle played professionally for two seasons in the NBA Development League and Continental Basketball Association, before beginning his coaching career as Director of Operations at Marquette from 2003-05. He was an assistant coach at Green Bay from 2005-10, before being named Phoenix head coach April 15, 2010.
Wardle is married to the former Lecia Schuetz, a soccer student-athlete during her collegiate career at Marquette. The couple has three children – daughters Mya and Emery, and son, Davin.