Wisconsin Basketball Coach Bo Ryan Retires

After Wisconsin lost to Duke in the NCAA championship game back in April, Badgers coach Bo Ryan announced he would be at the helm one more year and then retire. Twelve games into the 2015-16 season, and after picking up a win December 15th after losing two straight, Ryan announced at the post game news conference that he would retire effective immediately. Long time assistant Greg Gard will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season, and then the coaching situation will be evaluated, according to athletic director Barry Alvarez.

Ryan retires as the winningest coach in Wisconsin basketball history with 364 victories in his 14 plus seasons. His teams won seven Big Ten titles and had 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including back to back Final Four appearances the last two seasons. Wisconsin has only had two other Final Four appearances ever (1941, when the Badgers won the championship, and 2000).

This has been a year of transition for Wisconsin after those two Final Fours. Several key players have graduated and he team has struggled to a 7-5 record. Ryan said the move was months in the making, but the team’s struggles probably helped him make the decision now. Ryan has also been lobbying to have Gard named to succeed him as head coach, and having him audition for the job by being named the interim coach may have been part of the deal as well. Nonetheless, the announcement came out of the blue.

Gard will have a tough act to follow. He’ll coach his first game on December 23rd against Wisconsin-Green Bay.