Coach K comments on Bo Ryan’s sudden decision to retire

Gard has been with him much of the way, joining Ryan’s Wisconsin-Platteville staff in 1993 and following Ryan at each of his stops.

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bo Ryan celebrates by cutting the net after overtime in the finals of the west regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at Honda Center. That’s apparently what happened tonight after UW’s victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when the 67-year-old Ryan announced in a press conference that he was stepping down from the program, effective immediately.

By retiring at midseason at Wisconsin, Bo Ryan effectively allowed top assistant Greg Gard to have a three-month audition to prove that he could handle the head coaching job on a permanent basis.

Last year, Bo Ryan had the most successful season of his career, setting a school record with 36 wins in a season. Alvarez said he will evaluate how Gard works with the team, and see how things go before making a decision at the end of the year on whether or not Gard will keep the job as the team’s head coach. Long-tenured associate head coach Greg Gard will take over for Ryan as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Junior Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig are returning starters from last year’s run to the title game.

“I’ve never anxious about the standpoint of what the end result will be”, Gard said. Ryan’s retirement on a Tuesday in December blindsided many. I was out at Stanford by then and we flew him out as a gesture to help him get off to whatever start he could at Platteville.

While the timing of his departure may rankle some, Ryan will be remembered as one of the best coaches to stalk a sideline in the Big Ten.

Athletic director Barry Alvarez appointed Gard the interim coach.

Ryan did not take questions after his announcement, saying he still had not told some staffers because he didn’t want to break the news before the game.

That’s also how he coached. Most Division III players were good high school players, but Ryan made it known that basketball is basketball and coaching is coaching, no matter who’s on the court. Gard, 44, could contend with Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson, Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew, and Virginia head coach Tony Bennett. Wisconsin won four Big Ten titles in that time. The Badgers went 18-11 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and Ryan was hired to replace Soderberg … who is now an assistant under Tony Bennett at Virginia.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was averaging 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds this season, but he recently fell out of the starting lineup and his playing minutes were declining under first-year Coach Eric Musselman.

Butch believes that Gard will not make major changes in the offensive system or other things that could really challenge young athletes like college basketball players.