Bo Ryan

Bo Ryan
Ryan in December 2008
Sport(s)	Basketball
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Wisconsin
Record	264–99 (.727)
Biographical details
Born	December 20, 1947 (1947-12-20) Chester, Pennsylvania, USA
Playing career
1965–1969	Wilkes
Position(s)	Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1976–1984 1984–1999 1999–2001 2001–present	Wisconsin (asst.) UW–Platteville Milwaukee Wisconsin
Head coaching record
Overall	647–202 (.762) 294–126 (.700) Division I
Accomplishments and honors
Championships NCAA Men's Division III Tournament Championship (1991, 1995, 1998, 1999) Big 10 Tournament Championship (2004, 2008) Big 10 Regular Season Championship (2002, 2003, 2008)
Awards Clair Bee Coach of the Year (2007) Big 10 Coach of the Year (2002, 2003)

William "Bo" Francis Ryan, Jr. (born December 20, 1947) is an American college basketball coach and current head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison men's basketball team.

Playing career

Bo Ryan began playing basketball at a very young age. His father, Butch Ryan, coached basketball to under-privileged children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bo's father taught him the skills to be a successful point guard, generally the position of the team leader. With these skills, he became a star basketball player, leading his high school team to a 25–1 record in his senior year. In addition to basketball, Bo was a high school quarterback. The center snapping him the ball was Ted Cottrell, who later served as a defensive coach and coordinator for a number of teams in the NFL. Ryan lettered in football, basketball and baseball, and was president of his class. After high school, Ryan starred as a point guard at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His love for the game drove him to remain involved with the sport, choosing to delve into the coaching profession.

Coaching career

Early years

After graduating from Wilkes University, Ryan began graduate work at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. After working at the Dominican College of Racine (now defunct — not to be confused with the earlier Racine College) in Racine, Wisconsin, Ryan became head coach at Sun Valley High School in Aston, Pennsylvania, where he was named conference coach of the year in 1976. His success at Dominican College and Sun Valley led to a job as assistant head coach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under head coaches Bill Cofield and Steve Yoder from 1977 to 1984.

University of Wisconsin–Platteville

After his stint as an assistant, Ryan accepted the head coaching position at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. From 1984 until 1999 Ryan's Platteville team posted a 352–76 overall record, a winning record of 82%. Ryan guided the UW–Platteville Pioneers to four national championships (1991, 1995, 1998 and 1999). He also won eight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and set a Division III scoring defense record in 1997 with his team only allowing 47.5 points per game.^{[citation needed]}

On January 27, 2007 the University of Wisconsin–Platteville officially honored Ryan's 15-year tenure by naming their basketball court "Bo Ryan Court". Ryan, along with the 2007 Wisconsin Badgers team, attended the event.

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

On the strength of his success at Platteville, Ryan was hired as head coach at Milwaukee for the 1999–2000 season. In his two seasons as coach, the team had its first back-to-back winning seasons in nearly a decade.[1] Ryan also brought a 161% increase in home attendance at Milwaukee, giving the program a new energy that continued into the tenure of his successor Bruce Pearl.

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Following the Badgers' 2000 Final Four run, head coach Dick Bennett retired two games into the 2000–01 season. Assistant coach Brad Soderberg finished the season as interim head coach, but was not retained by the university. The coaching search began to concentrate on Rick Majerus of the University of Utah (who was a Milwaukee native) and Bo Ryan. After Majerus pulled his name out of consideration, UW athletic director Pat Richter made the decision to hire Ryan as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's team.

Ryan's first season was much more successful than anticipated. The team was predicted to finish as low as ninth in the Big Ten in pre-season polls. The team, led by Kirk Penney, surprisingly tied with three other teams for the 2002 Big Ten Championship and received an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. In the 2002–03 season, the Badgers won their first outright Big Ten regular season title in 56 years and advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers won the Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2004, led by Devin Harris, and once again received an NCAA Tournament invitation. In the 2004–05 season, Wisconsin advanced to the "Elite Eight" in the NCAA Tournament, losing to the eventual national champion, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels. On December 10, 2005, Ryan recorded his 100th victory as Wisconsin head coach by defeating in-state rival Marquette.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2006–07 season, Ryan led the Badgers to the pinnacle of college basketball, helping them achieve their first top-five ranking and #1 ranking in the AP poll in the school's history. However, the Badger's time atop the poll was short-lived as they lost their following game against Michigan State before losing to Ohio State in a #1 vs. #1 matchup.[2] The Wisconsin–Ohio State game on February 25, 2007, featured two teams ranked #1 in that week's national polls, with Ohio State securing the top ranking in the Coaches' Poll and clinching the regular season Big Ten Title.[3] The following week they rebounded with a 52–50 win at home over Michigan State and again defeated Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament, before losing the Big Ten Tournament championship game to Ohio State. In 2007, Bo was named the winner of the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award.^{[citation needed]}

On December 12, 2009, Ryan recorded his 200th victory as Wisconsin head coach by defeating in-state rival Marquette, 72–63 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

On January 24, 2010, Ryan recorded his 100th Big Ten Conference victory by defeating Penn State, 79–71 at the Kohl Center. With that victory, Ryan became the 2nd fastest coach to reach that milestone, tying Ryan with Branch McCracken who both needed 140 games to reach the 100th conference victory. The only coach to reach the 100th conference win faster was Bob Knight, who only needed 131 games.

Ryan is currently second on Wisconsin's all-time wins list, behind only Bud Foster, who had 265 wins with the Badgers. Ryan has led the Badgers to ten NCAA Tournaments; the team had only been to a total of seven NCAA Tournaments before Ryan's arrival (three of them under Bennett).

Head coaching record

Division III

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UW–Platteville (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1984–1999)
1984–1985	UW–Platteville	9–17	4–12	7th
1985–1986	UW–Platteville	16–11	8–8	5th	NAIA 1st Round
1986–1987	UW–Platteville	14–11	6–10	T–5th
1987–1988	UW–Platteville	24–5	14–2	1st	NAIA 3rd Round
1988–1989	UW–Platteville	24–5	13–3	3rd	NAIA 3rd Round
1989–1990	UW–Platteville	26–3	15–1	1st	NAIA 3rd Round
1990–1991	UW–Platteville	28–3	13–3	2nd	NCAA D–III Champions
1991–1992	UW–Platteville	27–4	13–3	2nd	NCAA D–III 3rd Place
1992–1993	UW–Platteville	24–4	13–3	T–1st	NCAA D–III Elite Eight
1993–1994	UW–Platteville	23–5	13–3	2nd	NCAA D–III Sweet 16
1994–1995	UW–Platteville	31–0	16–0	1st	NCAA D–III Champions
1995–1996	UW–Platteville	23–3	15–1	1st	NCAA D–III 1st Round
1996–1997	UW–Platteville	24–3	14–2	1st	NCAA D–III 2nd Round
1997–1998	UW–Platteville	30–0	16–0	1st	NCAA D–III Champions
1998–1999	UW–Platteville	30–2	15–1	1st	NCAA D–III Champions
UW–Platteville:		353–76	188–52
Total:		353–76
National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion       Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

Division I

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Milwaukee (Horizon League) (1999–2001)
1999–2000	Milwaukee	15–14	6–8	T–4th
2000–2001	Milwaukee	15–13	7–7	5th
Milwaukee:		30–27	13–15
Wisconsin (Big Ten Conference) (2001–present)
2001–2002	Wisconsin	19–13	11–5	T–1st	NCAA 2nd Round
2002–2003	Wisconsin	24–8	12–4	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003–2004	Wisconsin	25–7	12–4	T–2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
2004–2005	Wisconsin	25–9	11–5	3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
2005–2006	Wisconsin	19–12	9–7	T–4th	NCAA 1st Round
2006–2007	Wisconsin	30–6	13–3	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
2007–2008	Wisconsin	31–5	16–2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2008–2009	Wisconsin	20–13	10–8	T–4th	NCAA 2nd Round
2009–2010	Wisconsin	24–9	13–5	4th	NCAA 2nd Round
2010–2011	Wisconsin	25–9	13–5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–2012	Wisconsin	22–8	11–6
Wisconsin:		264–99 (.727)	131–54 (.708)
Total:		294–126 (.700)
National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion       Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

Notable players coached

• Jason Bohannon
• Brian Butch
• Devin Harris
• Trevon Hughes
• Joe Krabbenhoft
• Marcus Landry
• Jon Leuer
• Kirk Penney
• Greg Stiemsma
• Jordan Taylor
• Alando Tucker
• Mike Wilkinson

Trivia

• At the end of the 2010-11 season Ryan had a 72.7 winning percentage at Wisconsin. [4]
• He has a 76.3 career winning percentage. Among coaches with 500 career wins his percentage ranks second only to Roy Williams.
• In Big Ten Conference play Ryan has a 71.4 winning percentage. That ranks first all time among Big Ten coaches with at least five years of experience.[5]
• Bo Ryan has written three books: "Bo Ryan: Another Hill to climb," "The Swing Offense," and "Passing and Catching: the Lost Art."

See also

• List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins

External links

• Bo Ryan's Biography on UWBadgers.com