Bo Ryan steps down, ending incredible career
Bo Ryan took Wisconsin to 14 NCAA Tournaments and five Sweet 16’s during his wildly-successful tenure in Madison.
Published on Wednesday, 12/16/15, at 12:28 a.m. Eastern.
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan announced his retirement, effective immediately, after the Badgers beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 64-49 Tuesday night in Madison.
Ryan’s assistant Greg Gard has been named UW’s interim head coach.
Ryan won 747 games compared to just 223 losses. He is the Badgers’ all-time leader in wins and never missed the NCAA Tournament once in his 14 completed seasons.
Wisconsin advanced to at least the Round of 32 in 12 of his 14 NCAA Tournament appearances. Ryan took the Badgers to five Sweet 16’s, three Elite Eights, two Final Fours and one Finals appearance just last year.
Ryan led Wisconsin to no worse that a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten standings for 14 consecutive seasons. He is undeniably one of the best coaches in Big Ten history and one of the most underrated coaches of all-time.
Like Steve Spurrier for football, Ryan has done enough for basketball to not take criticism for this move. Ryan is 67, while Spurrier was 70 when he abruptly left South Carolina in early October.
Ryan was one of The Good Guys and college hoops won’t be the same without him.
**Matt Norlander of CBS Sports did a stellar job of breaking down all the key stats of Ryan’s illustrious career, including this one: He had fewer losses at home (29) than years coached (29.5)! Another good factoid here: Wisconsin went to nine total NCAA Tournaments before Ryan’s arrival, then went 14-of-14 with him.
