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Brian Wardle's Place in Bradley History

I think Wardle will be top 5 in BU coaching history by the time he leaves. He has just been a very solid, consistent coach. He has had to navigate some very challenging times as well, from having to build this program back from nothing to dealing with the current situation of NIL and modern kids, social media, etc. Wardle is a talented leader and knows what he is doing. While he may not have some of the highest highs of previous coaches, I think his consistency will get him there.
 
May be a little aside from the main point of this thread, but what accomplishments this season would take BW to the next level?
My thoughts:

NCAA Tourney appearance (#1 and NO excuses)
Finish at LEAST Top 3 in the Valley
1 upset win in non-conf. schedule and max 3 losses (10 total non-conf games, excluding Truman St.)
** 3 losses won't do us any favors for an At-Large!...but we usually struggle early in season b4 we gel.

20+ win reg. season
Arch Madness Championship game
 
LittleBrave said:
May be a little aside from the main point of this thread, but what accomplishments this season would take BW to the next level?
My thoughts:

NCAA Tourney appearance (#1 and NO excuses)
Finish at LEAST Top 3 in the Valley
1 upset win in non-conf. schedule and max 3 losses (10 total non-conf games, excluding Truman St.)
** 3 losses won't do us any favors for an At-Large!...but we usually struggle early in season b4 we gel.

20+ win reg. season
Arch Madness Championship game
Click to expand...

I think it will take more than that level of success to attract a school with the money to buy out his contact and pay him at least $1.5M/year. I'm thinking Top 2 MVC Regular Season, MVCT Championship and Sweet 16 to move up a level.
 
agree- gotta at least make a splash in the NCAA Tourney, which explains why Darian DeVries has had three great seasons in a row at Drake,
averaging 26 wins per year but going nowhere in the NCAA Tourney....thus isn't getting a whole lot of top school interest.
Schools are cautious not to make the mistake made with Dan Monson or Keno Davis - and give the guy the reins of a Top 40
program based only on a couple years of kicking a bunch of midmajor butts. If you get to the Sweet 16 or especially to the Elite 8 or FF, then,
like Porter Moser or Shaheen Holloway, the big boys will definitely come calling.
 
yoda said:
agree- gotta at least make a splash in the NCAA Tourney, which explains why Darian DeVries has had three great seasons in a row at Drake,
averaging 26 wins per year but going nowhere in the NCAA Tourney....thus isn't getting a whole lot of top school interest.
Schools are cautious not to make the mistake made with Dan Monson or Keno Davis - and give the guy the reins of a Top 40
program based only on a couple years of kicking a bunch of midmajor butts. If you get to the Sweet 16 or especially to the Elite 8 or FF, then,
like Porter Moser or Shaheen Holloway, the big boys will definitely come calling.
Click to expand...

I agree, that seems to be the bar these days for coaches to get into the upper half of power conferences. NCAA tournament performance matters the most, and that is something Wardle still doesn't have on his resume. If he gets a S16 or a couple NCAA wins over 2-3 seasons, look out.
 
yoda said:
agree- gotta at least make a splash in the NCAA Tourney, which explains why Darian DeVries has had three great seasons in a row at Drake,
averaging 26 wins per year but going nowhere in the NCAA Tourney....thus isn't getting a whole lot of top school interest.
Schools are cautious not to make the mistake made with Dan Monson or Keno Davis - and give the guy the reins of a Top 40
program based only on a couple years of kicking a bunch of midmajor butts. If you get to the Sweet 16 or especially to the Elite 8 or FF, then,
like Porter Moser or Shaheen Holloway, the big boys will definitely come calling.
Click to expand...

It's too bad - Drake outplayed the Championship runner-up Miami in the 1st round. Had them on the ropes - up 8 with about 5 min. left and choked!
Credit Miami they hustled down the stretch and wanted it more than Drake. Super Soph Devries also played horribly the whole game or Drake would likely have cruised to a 1st-round win and would likely had been a Sweet 16 team last year.
 
Yep. The "thing" that Wardle is missing is that NCAA push. What I would like to see is Wardle be able to consistently get us to the Sweet 16 a few years running. Our program is right on the edge of greatness. I really feel like we could have a Loyola like run. We did not capitalize on our Sweet 16 run in 2006 and we've been playing catch up ever since.

I honestly believe Wardle could become a famous coach. He could build a reputation at Bradley and establish us (again) as one of those great mid majors.
 
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