Wisconsin's winningest men's basketball coach is stepping down, effective immediately.
Bo Ryan, who had previously flirted with retirement at the end of the season, announced his retirement in a postgame press conference following his team's non-conference win over Texas A&M–CC.
"After months of conversation with Barry Alvarez and his administrative staff, as well as my wife, Kelly, I have decided that now is the right time to step down from the head coaching position here at Wisconsin," Ryan said.
"This was a decision months in the making. I brought this up to Barry back in April. He advised me to take some time to think it over and I appreciated that. But in recent weeks, I have come to the conclusion that now is the right time for me to retire and for Greg Gard to have the opportunity to coach the team for the remainder of the season. I discussed this with Barry and I appreciate him giving me the space to make this decision."
"I want to thank Bo Ryan for everything he has done for our athletic department, the state of Wisconsin and certainly the Badgers basketball program," UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said. "He oversaw an incredible run of sustained success and helped elevate Wisconsin among the nation's elite programs. He is truly a Hall of Fame coach and led our program to the most successful era in school history. He will be missed."
In 14 seasons at Wisconsin, Ryan won 364 games and finished with an impressive 172-68 (.717) record in Big Ten play, the highest winning percentage in conference history. Ryan racked up seven Big Ten championships, four B1G Coach of the Year honors, 14 NCAA tourney appearances, seven Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and two Final Fours while in Madison.
Ryan was despised in Columbus – and surely other parts of the Big Ten – for things like his “Deal with it” comment, but there's simply no questioning his accomplishments.
Ryan's associate head coach Greg Gard assumes the title of interim head coach.
