As you enter the website of the Wisconsin Badgers you won’t miss the “Thanks, Coach” as men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan cuts the net in honor of his successful years of being the coach at the school; and you will see the highlights of his time there…two Final Four appearances, seven Big Ten titles, 14 NCAA Tournaments, and getting the most wins in school history at 364.
But with those numbers, Ryan surprisingly announced his immediate retirement on Tuesday after a 64-49 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Ryan had announced that he was leaving after this year, and there is speculation he left now to allow long time assistant Greg Gard to get a chance to prove his worth to be named the full time coach. Ryan left with no warning, but wanted to make sure Gard got a chance as the head coach and he didn’t get to speak to certain individuals about the news.
Gard has been by Ryan’s side for 20 seasons and Ryan believes the behind the scene’s people have been a big help to the success of the team.
Gard has big shoes to fill going into the Big Ten season. Ryan was 172-68 in league play with a .717 percentage; the top winning percentage among league coaches with more than six years experience. In Ryan’s first season with Wisconsin he earned a share of the Big Ten title for the first time for the Badgers since 1946. The 67-year-old says breaking the news to the players was hard and very emotional for him.
Ryan has received multiple Big Ten Coach of the Year honors awards and has been a National Coach of the Year award winner as well.
There is no doubt Bo Ryan did great things at Wisconsin; now we’ll see if long time assistant Greg Gard can continue his success and legacy.