Bo Ryan

Bo Ryan

William "Bo" Francis Ryan, Jr. (born December 20, 1947 in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States) is the 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. Butch Ryan taught his son 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. His center in high school 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, WI, 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 1977–84.

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 percentage of 82%. Ryan guided the UW–Platteville Pioneers to four national championships (1991, 1995, 1998, 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.

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 Badger team, attended the event.

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

On the strength of his success at Platteville, Ryan was hired as head coach at UW–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 UW–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 2000-2001 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. When Majerus pulled his name out of consideration, the decision was made to hire Bo Ryan as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball 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. The Badgers again won the Big Ten championship in the 2002-2003 season 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 2004-2005 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.

In the 2006–2007 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.

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 in Madison, Wisconsin. 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.

Head coaching record

Division III

Statistics overview

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         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Division I

Statistics overview

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
Wisconsin:		217-82	107-43
Total:		247-109
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

NBA Players

• Alando Tucker
• Devin Harris
• Marcus Landry

Trivia

• At the end of the 2008-09 season Ryan had a .733 winning percentage at Wisconsin. [4]
• He has a .767 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 .707 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."

External links

• Bo Ryan's Biography on UWBadgers.com