‘It's Eastern Kentucky’: How Mya Wardle chose a place to play college basketball

PEORIA — Notre Dame High School senior Mya Wardle will finish her prep journey on the court this winter and spring.

But the terrific point guard knows where her path leads next.

"Eastern Kentucky," Wardle said Monday night. "I'm going to Eastern Kentucky University."

Wardle, the daughter of Bradley men's basketball coach Brian Wardle and Lecia Wardle, a former NCAA Div.-I soccer player, announced her commitment to the Colonels.

"I was looking for the right fit in terms of team and culture and coaches," Wardle said. "I've been very fortunate to see how important that is first-hand, to have a dad who has such stature and respect in the game and parents who have been so supportive to me.

"I felt Eastern Kentucky was a family and I had the potential to win big there. It's also important to me to find my own path and create my own name where people don't know me."

More: A Division I prospect. A well-known father. Mya Wardle is writing her own story in Peoria

Wardle had her list down to St. Bonaventure, Eastern Kentucky and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, the three places she visited unofficially. Her visit to the Colonels landed in the middle of that trio.

"I came back with my mom and I told her there was something about that place I really liked," Wardle said. "EKU is a bigger school, about 20,000. I'm so pumped."

The 5-foot-7 high-tempo point guard for the Irish goes into her final high school season about 20 points short of 1,000 for her career. She has over 500 career assists.

"Now it's just about hooping, having fun and winning big with my coaches and teammates," she said. "We're going to leave it all out there this year, finish with no regrets."

‘Don't follow a path. Make one’

Brian Wardle was thrilled with the outcome, not just where his daughter chose to play, but how she went through the process.

"I was proud of her, she handled it very maturely," he said. "Seeing what I go through in the recruiting process, she did her best to be honest, not lead anyone on.

"I thought she matured as a leader. She did it the right way, I was so proud of that."

And it was a new experience for the coach of the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champions.

"You try to give your kid space and let them make their own decision," Wardle said. "Lecia and I are just happy that she's happy. She knows how grateful you should be to get a Division-I scholarship, how hard that is to earn.

"I have a sign in my office: 'Don't follow a path. Make one.' She wanted to make her own path. I'm proud of the leader she is, how she elevates others. And Mya has a lot more she wants to accomplish."

How Bradley inspired her

Mya Wardle has been around college basketball since she was little, following her father to practices and team events while he was coach at Green Bay and now Bradley.

So no surprise how she celebrated her decision Monday.

"She celebrated by hanging out with the Bradley players at a team barbecue tonight," Brian Wardle said. "So many of our former players inspired her to work, and taught her to elevate her game and her goals. She has that great work ethic.

"Mya has been around the game a long time at the college level. The intensity, the work ethic, the talk. She's seen it."

The Notre Dame point guard has her list of favorite Braves players from those years.

Her favorite players to watch on the court? "Darrell Brown and Ja'Shon Henry," she said.

And her favorite players away from the game? "Duke Deen and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye," she said.

Bravely Speaking

Another top area girls basketball player has found a college home. Elmwood senior guard Mae Herman, now fully recovered from a knee injury, has announced she'll play at Lincoln Land College after her prep career ends.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Mya Wardle commits to Eastern Kentucky to play college basketball