At Carver Arena in 1997, Hinsdale Central basketball star Brian Wardle shot 8/12 from three point range en route to dropping 34 points as the Red Devils fell to Harvey Thornton.

Following his time in the red and white, Wardle continued his playing career at Marquette University. He graduated from the school as the program’s 3rd all-time leading scorer. Still the Red Devils scoring record holder to this day, Wardle went on to serve as an assistant coach at Marquette and Green Bay before taking the head coaching position for the latter.

After leading the Phoenix to a 95-64 record in his five year stint in Green Bay, Wardle left the program this spring to take the head coaching job at Bradley University. This brings him back to an all too familiar setting, Carver Arena.

Wardle will have the opportunity to coach on the same floor he played on twice as a Hinsdale Central Red Devil at the IHSA State Tournament.

“You’re going to have to make sacrifices. You might have to sacrifice social time or this and that,” Wardle said to the Chicago Tribune of his time at Hinsdale Central. “You have to get outside your comfort zone and I think when I was in high school I realized that at a pretty young age and I think that has a lot to do with my parents and the way I was raised. It’s obviously helped me to get to the places I’ve been. You have to sacrifice some things to build and be successful as a coach.”

Wardle did a great job recruiting the Chicagoland area as the head coach at Green Bay, including star point guard Keifer Sykes (a Marshall High School alumnus).

“I think Bradley is in my wheelhouse. I have a lot of connections and I have a pretty good network in the Midwest when it comes to recruiting,” Wardle told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s in a league I’m familiar with, but it’s also a program that has great support in the community.”