David Stluka / UW Athletics
Under Greg Gard, the Badgers won 11 of their final 13 regular-season games.
When Mark Tauscher and I interviewed Greg Gard eight days before he was suddenly named the interim head coach of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team, we asked him how he felt about the commonly held belief that he would eventually succeed Bo Ryan, the winningest coach in Badger basketball history.
At the time, Gard was still the Badgers’ longtime associate head coach, a man in his 23rd year working side-by-side with Ryan. Then, Ryan retired abruptly on Dec. 15 amid messy rumors both proven and unproven.
“I can only control what’s in front of me today,” Gard told us, seemingly in no rush to claim control of one of college basketball’s most consistent programs.
Well, today, after taking over a team in disarray following the loss of five key players from last year’s Final Four season, Gard officially becomes the head coach of the Badgers men’s basketball program. I never liked that “interim” tag, and I bet Gard and his loyal players didn’t, either.
Wisconsin was 7-5 when Ryan retired; 12 weeks later, Gard’s Badgers are 20-11. They won 11 of their final 13 regular-season games, are a No. 6 seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament and seem all but guaranteed an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament — something I didn’t think was possible two months ago.
Learn more about Gard’s background and what makes him tick here.
