Coach Wardle and staff

[Tomahawk]

What a year so far it has been. With the loss of Mast, Montgomery, and Ville who would have thought we would be in the position we are in. Kudos to the coach and staff. Even if we come up short on Saturday, enjoy the ride the rest of the year and in St. Louis. All that being said how about cutting the trees down on Saturday. "Go Braves'

[BUBraves2006]

Great post!

I think one element Coach has grown this particular season is keeping his cool better. Maybe some of the refs are also being more patient, but I don't recall him getting one T all year. We all get hot over bad calls, him included, but he's seemed to find a way to toe the line better and get his point across without giving the other team free points.

He's also grown in his humility, too. Specifically, when he feels messed up some element of coaching in a particular game, he doesn't hesitate to call himself out in the post game.

People can find little gripes (more desired success in the portal, an occasional fast hook when a player makes a mistake), but he and his staff are really tremendous overall. Probably their best overall skill is in-game adjustments and out of bounds plays. These two things alone probably flip games 5-10 points in our favor.

I also love that our best players are men of character and people we can be proud of having at BU (Darrell Brown, J Henry, DLO, Hickman, Leons, just to name a few).

Lastly I love that we have an identity. We play for each other and we commit to defense. Selfish play will land you on the bench and if you don't like that, well the door is over there. And maybe most of all, Wardle teams NEVER quit. Even if they have a horrible half, they never pack it in for the next one. Obviously the record setting SIU comeback resonates recently, but this has been a tenet even when we were lousy in his first few years.

I just hope that he continues to love BU as much as the rest of us do and that won't make him want to chase some bigger school. The element that gives me the most hope is that his kids are at or nearing high school age (youngest is 11 I think) and he seems to be such a good family man that he probably wouldn't want to up end the family until all the kids are off to college. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but it's surely my hope.

[Stryker]

Great post!

I think one element Coach has grown this particular season is keeping his cool better. Maybe some of the refs are also being more patient, but I don't recall him getting one T all year. We all get hot over bad calls, him included, but he's seemed to find a way to toe the line better and get his point across without giving the other team free points.

He's also grown in his humility, too. Specifically, when he feels messed up some element of coaching in a particular game, he doesn't hesitate to call himself out in the post game.

People can find little gripes (more desired success in the portal, an occasional fast hook when a player makes a mistake), but he and his staff are really tremendous overall. Probably their best overall skill is in-game adjustments and out of bounds plays. These two things alone probably flip games 5-10 points in our favor.

I also love that our best players are men of character and people we can be proud of having at BU (Darrell Brown, J Henry, DLO, Hickman, Leons, just to name a few).

Lastly I love that we have an identity. We play for each other and we commit to defense. Selfish play will land you on the bench and if you don't like that, well the door is over there. And maybe most of all, Wardle teams NEVER quit. Even if they have a horrible half, they never pack it in for the next one. Obviously the record setting SIU comeback resonates recently, but this has been a tenet even when we were lousy in his first few years.

I just hope that he continues to love BU as much as the rest of us do and that won't make him want to chase some bigger school. The element that gives me the most hope is that his kids are at or nearing high school age (youngest is 11 I think) and he seems to be such a good family man that he probably wouldn't want to up end the family until all the kids are off to college. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but it's surely my hope.

I have to say, as much as I loved Coach Les, I think Wardle has surpassed him. I know the conference was much more difficult during the Les years, with Wichita and Creighton still in the conference, and I still believe the overall talent level in the MVC and at Bradley was higher in the Les years than it is now, but Wardle has achieved a lot. And Wardle's record and accomplishments would be even that much better if he hadn't been in a total ground up rebuild when he got to the hilltop. If the program hadn't been in dire straights when Wardle got here his record would be much better and I think he would have even more post season success. It is a blessing having Wardle and his staff at BU.

[Bballjunkie]

I sat behind the bench last night and was thoroughly impressed with coach wardle and staff. He is hard on them but his interactions with his team are fantastic. He has them so prepared and is literally calling out other teams plays as they happen. He is constantly instructing his team during game. No coach is perfect but it is very clear to me that he is doing a tremendous job at bu. Really like the culture he has created. I like his character and the character of his team which is a reflection of him. Great job coach. Keep up the great work.

[tomahawk chop]

What a year so far it has been. With the loss of Mast, Montgomery, and Ville who would have thought we would be in the position we are in. Kudos to the coach and staff. Even if we come up short on Saturday, enjoy the ride the rest of the year and in St. Louis. All that being said how about cutting the trees down on Saturday. "Go Braves'

You forgot J.Henry who was a force for us inside.

[Bradley3342]

Kudos to Coach Wardle and his entire staff. Who would’ve thought we would be in a position at this point in the season with a chance to tie for first place on Saturday after losing all the talent from last year’s team. The players we have now seem to never let up and play with so much passion They have done a great job of developing the players we have and hopefully Peoria will get behind this team and start filling Carver again. Go Braves!

[Tomahawk]

You are so right. How could I have not mentioned Jashon Henry. Even makes this years team and accomplishments all the more impressive.

[LittleBrave]

You are so right. How could I have not mentioned Jashon Henry. Even makes this years team and accomplishments all the more impressive.

J-Hen my favorite Brave since the 2005-'06 season, and then DB Jr. I met DB at the UIC game as the team was boarding the PC bus and he was so friendly to me and my son, and took the time to take a photo with us. It was my son's 1st college game (he just turned 10) and he thoroughly enjoyed every minute!

[LittleBrave]

I sat behind the bench last night and was thoroughly impressed with coach wardle and staff. He is hard on them but his interactions with his team are fantastic. He has them so prepared and is literally calling out other teams plays as they happen. He is constantly instructing his team during game. No coach is perfect but it is very clear to me that he is doing a tremendous job at bu. Really like the culture he has created. I like his character and the character of his team which is a reflection of him. Great job coach. Keep up the great work.

This is just plain AWESOME! And absolutely Coach W is a man of integrity and character and it carries over to the BU staff and student-athletes. Some incredible young men that Wardle has helped develop since he took over and it's always been about winning (and losing/growing) TOGETHER!

[algotrader]

I have to say, as much as I loved Coach Les, I think Wardle has surpassed him. I know the conference was much more difficult during the Les years, with Wichita and Creighton still in the conference, and I still believe the overall talent level in the MVC and at Bradley was higher in the Les years than it is now, but Wardle has achieved a lot. And Wardle's record and accomplishments would be even that much better if he hadn't been in a total ground up rebuild when he got to the hilltop. If the program hadn't been in dire straights when Wardle got here his record would be much better and I think he would have even more post season success. It is a blessing having Wardle and his staff at BU.

Lets not forget that Wardle has to contend not only with NIL money but the transfer portal as well. The college men's basketball game is drastically different than what Les was working with. Sometimes I wonder what Wardle would be capable of if the transfer portal was nixed.

I trust in Wardle. We finally did a great job finding a good coach and I definitely agree he has surpassed Coach Les. Wardle deserves a good, deep tournament run.

[BUfan14]

I find it interesting the narrative that our success is someone unexpected this year. We were picked third and had four pretty good returning players (including a DPOY winner) and a recruiting class most thought pretty highly of coming in. I’m actually going to go the opposite way and say we were expected to be good this year (and last - I believe we were picked 2nd) and we have lived up to that. That’s the next step I was hoping for after the tournament titles, was sustained expectations and meeting of those. Even as much as I love those Darrell Brown teams, they never quite had the regular season success we are seeing now. You could even argue they were somewhat disappointing in the regular season his last couple years, not bad, just never title contenders. Mast and Ville (played four years) were not unusual nor unexpected losses in normal non-Covid times, as both graduated. Zek was really the only unusual loss.

This year is even better than last year to me because our NET is going up to the point where at large is not off the table, even if unlikely. That’s where I want to be year in and year out and I think with a highly paid coach and NIL money (Valley wise) we should be there.

I’ve had my issues with the construction of this roster depth wise (particularly not landing that one more guard that would have really made us great), but I’ve always said I love the general type of person Wardle recruits. It makes it easy to root for them. I have a hard time rooting for low character guys or programs that don’t care about academics, so I’m glad he gets the guys he does. Actually, his misses tend to be when he seemingly goes against his type and tries to get me first players that don’t work out here.

Also, definitely agree his in game adjustments have grown. I always, even in frustrated moments, know I have to keep watching because his teams don’t quit. These last two years in particular he’s become so much better at in game adjustments. And good call on the technicals, he does seem cooler this year in that way now that you say it.

The biggest growth I’ve seen is also his season wide adjustments. He was very stubborn about particular players and schemes before, but now seemingly adjusts to the team and admits fault more. This year, for example, Ellis wasn’t working out, he didn’t force it. Starting three posts with Meta wasn’t working, that changed very quickly. Even now playing Thomas over Meta when it has become apparent Thomas is much more athletic on the defensive end. When the offense is flowing this weave style seems to be different than most years and works well for this team.

Overall, he’s not perfect, but I think it’s hard to argue Wardle’s tenure hasn’t been a success thus far with hope for continued growth, especially considering where this program started.

It’s interesting to wonder how Brian’s tenure would have gone had the portal era started when he did. Would he have built the team faster or struggled more to do so? When I look at coaches like Yaklich at UIC it has to be hard to just start out in D1 coaching with the portal and a team that hasn’t been successful recently. What Schertz has done in D1 is amazing.

[BUfan17]

Overall, he’s not perfect, but I think it’s hard to argue Wardle’s tenure hasn’t been a success thus far with hope for continued growth, especially considering where this program started.

It’s interesting to wonder how Brian’s tenure would have gone had the portal era started when he did. Would he have built the team faster or struggled more to do so? When I look at coaches like Yaklich at UIC it has to be hard to just start out in D1 coaching with the portal and a team that hasn’t been successful recently. What Schertz has done in D1 is amazing.

Exactly my thoughts, Wardle isn't perfect. There are times I get frustrated at some things he does, but overall he has done a great job at Bradley. Really, if he was closer to perfect he probably wouldn't be here right now. I think some bigger schools would have given him offers he couldn't refuse.

I think Wardle would have struggled if he started out in the portal era. He seems to do best by bringing in players and developing them over their careers. That is just his coaching style.