Nearly a decade following his retirement, former Wisconsin Badgers basketball head coach Bo Ryan is headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. It has been a long time coming for the man who built the Badgers basketball program into what it is today.
Former Wisconsin Badgers Basketball Players Honor Hall of Famer Bo Ryan
Ryan finished his career by bringing Wisconsin to unimaginable heights. With two consecutive Final Four appearances, the Chester, Pennsylvania native cemented his legacy. Ryan and his all-time great Badgers players made those 2014 and 2015 seasons magical.
Sam Dekker was one of the most dynamic pieces of those Final Four runs. The two-time all-Big Ten honoree called his former coach “a legendary teacher of basketball and so much more.”
Defensive stalwart Josh Gasser was seemingly created in a lab to play for Ryan in Madison. The 2010 Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year was a sharpshooter from three who earned three Big Ten All-Defensive Team selections.
Before Madison, Bo Ryan Changed Basketball in Wisconsin
Ryan made two stops in Wisconsin before getting to Madison. His first stop as an NCAA basketball head coach was at UW-Platteville. After spending eight seasons with the Badgers as an assistant under Bill Cofield and Steve Yoder, Ryan built a Division III powerhouse in Platteville. After winning four national championships in nine seasons with the Pioneers, Ryan got his call-up to Division I.
Although he only spent two seasons in Milwaukee, Ryan reinvigorated a struggling UW-Milwaukee program. The Panthers made the jump to DI in 1990, and the initial bump in competition made finding sustained success tricky. It was not tricky for Ryan, however, who led the Panthers to back-to-back winning seasons.
Friends, Staffers, Commentators, and the Chancellor Congratulate Bo Ryan
https://x.com/uwp_pioneers/status/1776634142643433707
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