Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan Retires

“Greg’s ready”, Ryan said.

When he announced his immediate retirement Tuesday night after the Badgers’ victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, he talked about the stresses and demands that go with the job. Only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (20), Tom Izzo of Michigan State (18), and Gonzaga’s Mark Few (16) have taken their respective schools to the tournament in more consecutive years than Ryan. I brought this up to Barry back in April. “I feel the need to take time off to allow myself to rehab … to get back to where I can perform at my peak level”.

Ryan had initially said he would retire following this season, but in a post-game interview, Ryan said he felt now was just the right time to step down. “I think this gives him the best chance of becoming the next coach”.

“[Greg’s] been a phenomenal mentor to me, but just an outstanding brother”, Jeff Gard said. He is truly a Hall of Fame coach and led our program to the most successful era in school history. Gard, 44, has served 23 seasons as an assistant under Ryan.

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.

Now that the info is out, the speculation as to why immediately begins. But those numbers aren’t the only thing Ryan is remembered for inside that gym.

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.

Over the course of his Badgers coaching career, Ryan reached the National Championship game once and the Final Four twice.

The last time an iconic Wisconsin men’s basketball head coach attempted to name his own successor, it ended in disaster. Headlining the efforts for Coaches vs. Cancer Wisconsin since 2007, Ryan and his wife helped raise $1,078,301 in four years of the #MakeBoPay student event on campus alone, plus millions more via the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Wisconsin Gala. Following Glen Gard’s death, Ryan then spoke with athletic director Barry Alvarez and decided the semester break would be an appropriate time to step down. Davis’ son, Keno, worked one of Ryan’s camps in Platteville, and former Iowa player Rodell Davis spent a year under Ryan. Alvarez will see Gard command a program up close before conducting a national coaching search, a luxury Wisconsin would not have had if Ryan had retired in a more traditional manner. If anyone knows Ryan’s system for success, it would be Gard, who was a big part of putting it all together. The Badgers’ head coach then was Dick Bennett, the father of current Virginia head coach Tony. He turned over the reigns of the program to longtime assistant Greg Gard. Bennett is coming off two straight ACC conference championships and is now 6-1 this season. They’re off until next Wednesday when they face Green Bay before opening their Big Ten schedule at home against Purdue on December 29. One of his first orders of business today will be to meet with administrators to figure out how to fill out the coaching staff. He also coached the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.