Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan retiring; Greg Gard named interim coach

The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball coach made the announcement following his team’s 64-49 win over Texas A&M-CC on Tuesday. He announced his decision to retire after Wisconsin’s win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Badgers made the NCAA tournament every single season under Ryan’s guidance. Wisconsin associate head coach Greg Gard will take over on an interim basis.

During his tenure at UW, Ryan led the Badgers to 14 NCAA Tournaments and seven Big Ten titles. He was 172-68 in Big Ten play and owns the Wisconsin school record for wins (364). “I think from that perspective, Wisconsin’s going to continue to be Wisconsin”. A hall-of-fame career is what Ryan leaves behind.

Gard said he’ll “make sure I still have (Ryan’s) phone number”.

When Alvarez balked at the idea of anointing Gard, it was clear the “Bennett option” was in play, though comments yesterday at the post-game press conference confirmed the two coaching legends came to terms on this plan through discussions over the past few months.

It has been a rough start to the season for Wisconsin, which was expected to take a step back from last year’s Final Four success, given the losses of Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, Traevon Jackson and Josh Gasser. Ryan created magic on the hardwood at a school that had gained the majority of its attention on the gridiron, mostly under former head football coach Barry Alvarez, who is now the athletic director and tasked with replacing Ryan.

Ryan briefly addressed his decision and took a handful of questions before telling reporters, “I’ll see you guys down the road” as he left the room after his team improved to 7-5 on the year. The good news here is that the Badgers don’t have a scholarship senior on the roster, with six of their scholarship players being freshmen. Ryan led Platteville to a 353-76 (.822) overall record and four national championships. They’re off until next Wednesday when they face Green Bay before opening their Big Ten schedule at home against Purdue on December 29.

Ryan retires as the Big Ten’s top coach by winning percentage, claiming 71.7 percent of his league games.

“His record speaks for himself”.

Per ESPN Wisconsin’s Zach Heilprin, Ryan was willing to step aside before this season if Gard would get the job. Tony is Dick’s son, who was an assistant for both his father and Bo Ryan in Madison before being named head coach at Washington State.

Wisconsin: The Badgers have dropped five non-conference games for just the second time since coach Bo Ryan arrived. He has worked with Ryan for 20 seasons, including 14-plus years in Madison.