Wisconsin named coach Greg Gard the permanent replacement for retired legend Bo Ryan on Monday after he guided the Badgers back to a likely spot in the NCAA Tournament this season following a 9-9 start.
Ryan announced his abrupt retirement Dec. 15 following a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He took the Badgers to the national title game last season but lost to Duke. The Badgers lost in the national semifinals the previous season.
While Wisconsin fans knew this was going to be Ryan's final season after he made that announcement last summer, he shocked them by deciding to bow out early in December. But that decision might have ultimately played a major role in Gard getting the job. It certainly gave the longtime assistant a chance to prove he was the man to replace Ryan without having to compete with other resumes or famous faces who might have had interest.
Two of Wisconsin's most cherished streaks were in serious jeopardy in mid-January when the team fell to .500 and looked like it just didn't have the weapons or will power to fight its way back. The Badgers have been to the NCAA tourmament every year since 1999 and have finished in the top four of the Big Ten standings for 14 consecutive seasons.
Gard found answers and pulled the Badgers out of the doldrums steering the way to an 11-2 finish in the final six weeks of the regular season and a tie for that fourth-place position in the conference standings. Wisconsin appeaars in position to claim an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it doesn't win the Big Ten Tournament and an automatic invite.
Hiring Gard is a win for continuity and moving forward building on Ryan's teachings and his legacy instead of leaving all of that in the past and adapting to something completely new. Gard has been an assistant to Ryan since their days together at UW-Platteville in the mid-1990s.
Of course Gard will put his stamp on the position and the program, but it won't be a big change that is hard for anyone in the program to swallow and it should also be a smooth transition in the realm of recruiting as well.
It was up to Gard to prove he was up to the challenge 21/2 months ago, but now that he has done so, hiring him to carry on post-Ryan was really a no-brainer.
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