He was part of the Flyin' Illini team that qualified for the 1989 NCAA men's basketball tournament Final Four.

Along with Bardo, the other starting members of that team included Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Lowell Hamilton, Kenny Battle, and key reserve Marcus Liberty.

He also appeared for the Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons, amassing 32 more regular season games, and leaving the National Basketball Association with per-game averages of 2 points, 2 rebounds and one assist.

Bardo also played in France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Venezuela overseas as well as the CBA (Quad City, Wichita Falls, Chicago).

[1] In 2021, Bardo began filling in as an analyst on Bally Sports Wisconsin's Milwaukee Bucks broadcasts for regular color commentator Marques Johnson.