Tag: Bo Ryan

Wisconsin legend voted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Great news for a Wisconsin legend:

Wisconsin legend Bo Ryan was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday morning.

Ryan appeared on the ballot in December and joins a 13-person class of 2024 that includes Doug Collins, Vince Carter, Dick Barnett and Jerry West (as a contributor). The class will be inducted into the hall on Aug. 17, 2024 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin basketball’s reported transfer portal visits and targets

Ryan retired in 2016 after a 15-year run as Wisconsin’s head coach. He led the Badgers to a 364-130 overall record, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Fours and one national championship game. He was a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and was annually regarded as one of the best coaches in the sport.

“I’m grateful and humbled by an honor like this,” Ryan said in a statement. “But I sincerely believe that this is a reflection of the contributions of so many people that have helped me in my career.”

The coaching legend was inducted into the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. He now earns the sport’s highest honor.

 

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

On this day: Wisconsin clinches second Big Ten Tournament title

On this day: Wisconsin clinches second Big Ten Tournament title

Captained by big man Brian Butch, Trevon Hughes and Marcus Landry, Wisconsin clinched its second Big Ten Tournament win in school history on March 16, 2008.

Held at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the Badgers entered the tournament with a 16-2 conference mark and No. 6 overall in the 2008 AP Poll, four spots higher than their last tournament win in 2004.

Five Badgers averaged eight or more points per game throughout the regular season. NBA veterans John Leuer and Greg Stiemsma, who combined to average 6.4 points per appearance, came off the bench for Bo Ryan’s squad. 

As the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Wisconsin throttled the University of Michigan 51-34 in its quarterfinal game. With three Big Ten All-Defensive Team members scattered throughout the rotation, UW held Michigan to 20% from the field and 18 points per half. Junior forward Joe Krabbenhoft led all scorers with 12 points. 

UW followed its explosive opening performance with a two-tally win against Michigan. Harris, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, scored eight of his 21 points in the final 2:56 of action. Wilkinson, Wisconsin’s most dependable big man, dropped 20 and corralled nine boards.

In its following contest, the Badgers orchestrated a 12-point comeback in the second half to steal a win from Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans. Michael Flowers, an excellent two-way guard, nailed a game-winning layup with 28 ticks to spare before the final buzzer.

The Badgers advanced to the championship game and plowed through the tournament’s No. 10 seed, the University of Illinois, by 13 points. 

With the win, Wisconsin captured its second Big Ten Tournament victory in program history and automatically clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Junior Marcus Landry was named the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. 

Wisconsin basketball social media reacts to viral post about refs in 2015 national championship

What is your memory of the last 10 minutes of Wisconsin’s National Championship loss to Duke?

There must be some Wisconsin basketball fans who still think about the final 10 minutes of the 2015 national championship and what could have been — or arguably what should have been.

I must admit it isn’t an everyday thought in my head. But there are moments when something sparks the memory of Grayson Allen suddenly remembering how to play basketball and single-handedly powering Duke to the title.

Related: Wisconsin basketball social media reacts to the arena evacuation, Wisconsin’s loss to Indiana

Single-handedly in terms of being the only player. Not, of course, neglecting how the second half was officiated.

Thanks to @JayCuda on X, we were reminded again Wednesday afternoon of what took place in the last 10 minutes of the title loss to Duke.

As everybody remembers, the foul discrepancy was alarming:

This post on X has 146 comments, 361 reposts, 3 1/2 thousand likes and more than 1.2 million views.

Nobody needs an article to re-litigate every foul call and why the game suddenly turned. It’s a memory I try my best to block out.

But when the raw numbers were again presented, Wisconsin basketball fans on X all had a similar reaction:

Wisconsin legend among 14 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Finalists

Wisconsin legend among 14 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Finalists

The 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Finalists were announced yesterday evening

The list includes 14 people, ranging from high school coaches, to some of the best NBA players of all time, to legendary owners and executives.

Related: ChatGPT ranks the most intimidating Big Ten football stadiums to play in

The finalists are put in front of the Honors Committee, which then officially votes on the new class. That class will be announced on April 6 at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Included among the 14 Hall of Fame finalists is a Wisconsin legend:

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Former Wisconsin MBB coach honored Wednesday

After what felt like far too long, former Badgers men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan is set to be honored Wednesday in Madison.

After what felt like far too long, former Badgers men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan is set to be honored Wednesday in Madison. Ryan along with multi-sport athlete Gary Buss will be inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame Club.

Ryan was the head coach at Wisconsin for 14 full seasons (12 games in 2015) and produced 364-130 overall record, which is good for an all-time program best 73.7 percent win percentage. Additionally, Wisconsin made the NCAA Tournament in all 14 of the campaigns he was the head coach.

Most notably, the Badgers made two consecutive trips to the Final Four in 2014 and 2015, losing in the National Championship to Duke 68-63 in the latter run.

Ryan helped coach some of the best players in program history, namely Alando Tucker, Devin Harris, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker amongst others. There’s no denying that he left a substantial impact on the program, the university, the city of Madison and the state of Wisconsin as a whole.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzzyj3n3jt6m7 player_id=none image=]

Ryan once again left out of Naismith Hall of Fame in 2023

Bo Ryan retired as the head coach of the Badgers in 2015, but he has yet to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bo Ryan retired as the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball team partially through the 2015-2016 campaign, but he has yet to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

After a long career as a collegiate head coach, Ryan decided to hang it up in December of 2015, handing the program off to Greg Gard. Ryan’s retirement came at the tails of the Badgers’ back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2014 and 2015, including a 68-63 National Championship loss to Duke in 2015.

Now over seven years removed from his time with Wisconsin, Bo Ryan was once again not named a finalist to make the Hall of Fame.

His head coaching career started with UW-Milwaukee in 1999, where he led the Men’s Basketball team to a 30-27 record over two seasons. Ryan then went on to Madison in 2001 and the rest is history. He led the team to the National Tournament in all 15 of his seasons, while also winning the conference tournament three times as well.

In the end, Bo Ryan finished his coaching career at Wisconsin with a 364-130 record, finishing his career 394-157 overall. That’s good for a 71.5 percent winning percentage all-time.

With numbers like that, Bo should be in the Hall of Fame.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzzyj3n3jt6m7 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Former Badger basketball player gets first win as head coach

Former Badger guard Freddie Owens got his first win as a collegiate head coach Monday after UW-Green Bay defeated UW-Milwaukee 80-79 in overtime.

Former Badger guard Freddie Owens got his first win as a collegiate head coach Monday after UW-Green Bay defeated UW-Milwaukee 80-79 in overtime. Owens replaced Will Ryan, son of Wisconsin great Bo Ryan, after Ryan was fired on January 24.

The victory was Green Bay’s third of the season as they have produced an abysmal 3-22 record so far, but it’s a win nonetheless for the team’s head coach.

Owens spent four seasons with the Badgers from 2000-2004, appearing in 111 contests and starting 61 games over his junior and senior campaigns. Overall, the guard produced a career average of 7.2 points per game and in 2003 he made a game-winning three-pointer versus Tulsa in the second round of the National Tournament.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzzyj3n3jt6m7 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Wisconsin basketball is one of just five programs to accomplish this feat

The Wisconsin men’s basketball program is in elite company:

Following a hall-of-fame coach is never easy, especially when that coach is the legendary Bo Ryan. However, Greg Gard was given the keys to the program and has helped keep the University of Wisconsin on the right path since his departure.

A run of NCAA Tournaments that began with former Badgers head coach Dick Bennett back in 1999, became commonplace under Coach Ryan, who would go on to make the big dance in 14 straight seasons.

Since taking over, Coach Gard has made the NCAA Tournament in all but one of his seven years at the helm, making Wisconsin men’s basketball one of just five programs to make 22 of the last 23 NCAA Tournaments.

The other programs being Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, and Gonzaga. That’s some pretty elite company, and certainly shouldn’t be taken for granted. These are the good ol’ days Badger fans.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

Top 5 individual scoring performances of the Bo Ryan & Greg Gard eras

Here, in order, are Wisconsin’s top five individual scoring performances of the Bo Ryan and Greg Gard era’s.

Monday night against Purdue, Wisconsin Badgers star guard Johnny Davis posted one of the most memorable scoring barrages in recent memory.

The sophomore guard finished with 37 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in a 74-69 victory at Mackey Arena.

It was a top-five individual scoring performance against a team ranked in the top five, and put Davis’ name firmly in the discussion for National Player of the Year.

The La Crosse, Wisconsin, native’s historic offensive performance took me on a stroll down memory lane on other big-time individual scoring performances in program history.

So, here, in order, are the school’s top five individual scoring performances of the Bo Ryan and Greg Gard eras.

Two Wisconsin basketball legends are eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022

Two Wisconsin legends are on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ballot

Before a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class is voted on, a list of eligible nominees are announced. For the Class of 2022, a pair of Wisconsin basketball greats are on the ballot.

Current Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks and former Wisconsin basketball star Michael Finley is once again on the ballot. A first round pick in 1995, Finley went on to be a two-time NBA All-Star, and won the 2007 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs. He was a Badger from 1991-95, and held Wisconsin’s all-time scoring record for 11 seasons before being passed by Alando Tucker in 2007.

Legendary Badger head coach Bo Ryan is also on the ballot. Ryan served as Wisconsin’s head coach from 2001-15, leading the Badgers to four Big Ten titles and a pair of Final Four appearances.

Finalists will be announced during NBA All-Star Weekend on February 18.