During his Illinois basketball career, Vitale was interviewing Bardo on ESPN, and Bardo told him, “Dick, I want your job,” according to a 2009 story in the Champaign (Illinois) News-Gazette.

Bardo, a college basketball broadcaster himself since 2000, now lists Vitale and CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg as his biggest mentors.

“Clark Kellogg, he was wonderful to me,” Bardo said on the Illini Inquirer podcast. “Shares insight. Whenever I want to do an interview, he’s always there. He was really great. Dick Vitale was really good to me as well. Gave me great insight.”

Vitale also did the foreword to Bardo’s 2013 autobiography “The Flyin’ Illini: The Untold Story of One of College Basketball’s Elite Teams.” In Vitale’s foreword, he described Bardo on the basketball court as a “very cerebral player.” 

Here is some basic information about Stephen Bardo:

Find out five more things to know about FOX and Big Ten Network broadcaster Stephen Bardo.

Stephen Bardo played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini from 1986-90. Lou Henson was the Illinois head coach throughout his college career.

Bardo played in 129 games and started 90 times over his four-year career. He averaged 7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.0 steals for his Illini career. His biggest output was as a senior in 1989-90 when he averaged 9.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Illinois made the NCAA Tournament in all four seasons that Bardo was on the team. In his four seasons, the Illini went a combined 98-31.

Stephen Bardo played in all 36 games and started 30 times for the Illinois Flyin’ Illini during the 1988-89 season. He averaged 27.8 minutes per game with 8.1 points, 4.1 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Illinois was ranked in The Associated Press Poll’s top 10 for the entire 1988-89 season — reaching No. 1 for the week of Jan. 23, 1989. The Illini finished the season 31-5 overall and 14-4 in the Big Ten. Indiana won the Big Ten title that season at 15-3 in the conference despite the Hoosiers losing twice to the Illini.

Bardo was named the 1988-89 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

No. 1-seeded Illinois’ road through the 1989 NCAA Tournament included wins vs. No. 16 seed McNeese State, No. 9 seed Ball State, No. 4 seed Louisville, and No. 2 seed Syracuse. The season ended with an 83-81 loss to Michigan on April 1, 1989, at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. Michigan defeated Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime to win the 1988-89 national title.

Bardo’s biggest statistical game of the 1989 NCAA Tournament came in the Sweet 16 win against Louisville. Bardo had nine points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, and Illinois beat Louisville 83-69 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 24.

Stephen Bardo has been a college basketball broadcaster for FOX since November 2012 and the Big Ten Network since November 2013, according to his LinkedIn page.

He preceded that as a college basketball broadcaster at ESPN from 2005-13. He was also a college basketball analyst for CBS during the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Tournaments.

Bardo started his broadcasting career as an analyst for Illinois men’s basketball radio broadcasts from 2000-05, which includes the 2004-05 Illinois Fighting Illini team that reached the NCAA Tournament national championship game.

Stephen Bardo’s older brother, Craig Bardo, also played college basketball.

Craig Bardo was a freshman on the 1980-81 Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team that won the NCAA national championship under the leadership of head coach Bob Knight and point guard Isiah Thomas. In the 1980-81 season, Craig Bardo played just four games.

Stephen Bardo’s autobiography “The Flyin’ Illini: The Untold Story of One of College Basketball’s Elite Teams” includes this anecdote, “Sometime before my junior year, Coach Knight had the nerve to say to me, ‘I recruited the wrong Bardo.’ I didn’t know whether to punch or curse him. I was somewhat in shock that he would say that to me. It’s as if ‘The Great’ Bob Knight saying that should make me feel good.”

Craig Bardo transferred to Bradley for the 1981-82 season, but he did not play and redshirted that season. He followed that season with a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy.

Craig Bardo concluded his college basketball career playing for The Citadel from 1984-87. He averaged 13.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists over his three-year career at The Citadel.

The Atlanta Hawks selected Stephen Bardo in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft with the No. 41 overall pick, but the Hawks waived him before the start of the 1990-91 season.

Bardo got his second shot at the NBA when the San Antonio Spurs signed him ahead of the 1991-92 season, and he played his first NBA game for the Spurs that season.

He then played for the Dallas Mavericks during the 1992-93 season. The next two seasons, he played basketball professionally outside the NBA. Bardo returned to the NBA with the Detroit Pistons in 1995-96. 

Bardo played 33 games over his three seasons in the NBA.

Click here for the Stephen Bardo bio on the FOX Sports website.

Erik Hall is the digital sports editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. You can find him on Twitter @HallErik.