There’s an inherent pressure that comes with growing up in a sports household—a desire to follow in your parents’ footsteps.
Your name and identity are synonymous with the accomplishments of others; a legacy created before you had a chance to build your own.
That’s the dynamic Bradley point guard Mya Wardle has faced all her life.
Her father was a standout at Marquette for four years, finishing his career ranked fourth on the all-time scoring list.
For the last 11, his name has become synonymous with Bradley basketball. Seven 20-win seasons. Four Missouri Valley Conference championship games – two NCAA tournament appearances. Second most wins in program history.
Certain expectations come with a name forever attached to greatness.
But Mya has long surpassed the times when she felt pressure to live up to her name.
“I definitely felt some pressure growing up, just in the sense that I didn’t want to let anyone down,” Mya said. “But I feel like I accepted that I’m my own person, I have my own legacy, and my family has been so great about letting me go on my own path.”
“I don’t really feel that pressure anymore.”
For Mya, basketball has been a constant throughout her life. She’s been connected to the game from an early age and has learned what it takes to compete at the collegiate level.
While her father continues to establish himself among Bradley’s great head coaches, Mya is working to cement herself on the court.
Before becoming a Brave, however, Mya’s journey took a route away from the Hilltop.
Finding her own way
Mya’s path to becoming a key player at Bradley was not as simple as it may have seemed.
While her father had built an incredible legacy with the Braves and she was being recruited out of high school by then-women’s basketball head coach Kate Popovec-Goss, Mya decided she wanted to explore what lay beyond Peoria in her freshman season.
“Growing up in this area, my last name was very well known, and I am super proud of my father for doing that,” Mya said. “But I kind of was tired of being known as Coach Wardle’s daughter and just wanted to make a name for myself somewhere else.”
Mya chose to commit to Eastern Kentucky, hoping to forge her legacy over 400 miles away.
As a freshman, she played in each of the Colonels’ 32 games, though her impact on the court was limited. She averaged 14.5 minutes per game while playing behind three fifth-year seniors at guard.
“It taught me a lot about owning my role,” Mya said. “It taught me the importance and value of when I’m not playing, how to be a good teammate and grow up not just as a basketball player, but as a person.”
While Mya enjoyed her time at Eastern Kentucky and gained valuable experience, she knew after her first year that remaining a Colonel wasn’t the best path for her.
“EKU was an unbelievable experience; I will never say I regret it, because I don’t,” Mya said. “I just felt like it wasn’t the right fit for me. I didn’t know if I was going to develop there as a basketball player, so I talked to my family, and we just decided the best choice was for me to leave.”
Once Mya entered the portal, Bradley’s coaching staff rekindled the interest they had during her high school days.
“We had laid the groundwork and spent a lot of time getting to know her throughout her high school years,” Popovec-Goss said ahead of Mya’s sophomore season. “When we had an opportunity for her to come in, it worked out in perfect time.”
The decision to come home was a no-brainer this time around.
“Being away for a year puts into perspective how special this place is,” Mya said. “I took it for granted growing up, but then I got the opportunity to come back, and I knew it was the place for me.”
A voice of her own
Mya excelled in her first season back in Peoria, starting in all 33 of Bradley’s games and ranking first on the team in assists while averaging 7.2 points per game and helping lead Bradley to the women’s NIT, their first postseason appearance since 2021.
But then another challenge faced her.
Popovec-Goss, the coach who had recruited her since high school, left for the head coaching job at Boston College. While Wardle was excited to see her coach move up to a bigger opportunity, she faced the same decision for the second year in a row: stay where she called home or find a new opportunity elsewhere.
“I didn’t want to jump the gun right away,” Mya said. “I wanted to see who they brought in first before I made any sort of decision, because I love Bradley.”
Fortunately, she and new head coach Chaia Meier connected right away, and Mya decided to remain in Peoria.
“I stayed very patient in the whole process and just waited to see how it played out,” Mya said. “When I met Coach Chaia and got on the phone with her and met some of her staff, I knew this was the right move for my career.”
Meier felt that connection with her new point guard in the first few months on the job.
“We’re very open with each other,” Meier said. “She wants to know the truth, and she wants to hear hard things. She wants to be coached, and I respect that. We’ve gotten along really well, and I think it makes a big difference when your point guard is that person.”
In their first months together, Meier has taken note of Mya’s qualities on and off the court, including strong leadership skills.
“I’ve coached for over 20 years, and I’ve only been here six months, and I can safely say that I have never had a leader like her,” Meier said. “She cares about being great, and she cares about doing things with excellence. She sets the tone for our culture and our standards because of how she carries herself and how she uses her voice.”
Mya believes her leadership comes from her parents and all the players her dad has coached over the years.
“I’ve watched guys turn into the most amazing leaders, and I’ve seen different leadership styles through them,” Mya said. “I’ve always thought of them as my big brothers, and seeing their growth as players and human beings has helped me learn so much about being a leader.”
Her father has also witnessed her growth as a leader.
“She has winning intangibles and the kind of DNA you really want in a point guard,” Brian Wardle said. “It’s hard to find that, and so I’m just proud of her for having what she brings as a leader and as a teammate. She really tries to elevate others, and that’s unique nowadays, because it’s hard to find that pure point guard in 2026.”
With the transition to a new coach, especially with the momentum built from last season’s NIT appearance, Mya and her fellow returning teammates must step up and become key pillars of Bradley women’s basketball’s new era.
“Last year, I was a leader, but in a different way,” Mya said. “I think this year, it’s going to be more of that vocal leader, talking to people, holding people accountable. I think that’s a little different from last year.”
Another difference Mya wants to make is being more of a scoring point guard.
Last season, she operated more as a distributor, but after losing the top two scorers on the team, she knows she’ll have to step up if the team wants to replicate last year’s success.
Meier agreed that they want to see her elevate that area of her game.
“We’re pushing for her to be more of a scorer,” Meier said. “Last year, she could score, but her main job was to be a playmaker and defend. For us, we believe she is capable of scoring more, and we’re going to see if we can utilize her shot-making ability because she’s a great shooter from mid-range and from three.”
The legacy continues
While Mya is carving her own path with the Braves, she won’t be the last in her family to do so.
Her younger sister Emy, a senior at Peoria Notre Dame, is committed to Bradley. The two sisters played together in 2023-24, when Mya was a senior and Emy was a freshman, and they won a state title for the Irish.
The goal for next year is to replicate that same success, just at a higher level.
“I never knew if Emy and I would ever play together again, so I’m very grateful, and I think that is the coolest thing ever,” Mya said. “I’m also happy for her that she thought this was the right fit for her and that she wanted to play with me again. I’m definitely not going to take next year for granted at all, and I think it’s going to be really special.”
While he may not have been able to coach his daughters, Brian Wardle has watched the two work for years to reach the level of play they are at.
“It’s special,” the coach said. “I’m just happy that they didn’t take it for granted. They worked their tails off to get where they are. They sacrificed a lot to get good enough and get where they are, and they love playing with each other. It’ll be fun to watch them, though, and hopefully they can come in and help this team contend for a championship.”
When her playing career eventually comes to a close, Mya wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a basketball coach, something she has started to do for her sister over the past few seasons.
“I got the chance to coach Emy for the past three years, and so that gave me a lot of experience,” Mya said. “I was 16 years old when I started helping out and getting experience, and then I’ve gotten to be the head coach for the last two and a half years. Being able to grow up and coach her has been awesome; I definitely think that’s my passion, and I felt very fulfilled doing it.”
For years, Mya has watched her father build his legacy on the Hilltop, learning not just from him but from everyone who has come through the program.
Now, she is carving her own legacy in the same place.
While the Wardle name may have made its mark on Bradley, Mya is determined to make sure her story is her own.
