Badgers basketball head coach Bo Ryan announced he will be retiring effective immediately, instead of at the end of the season.
Ryan made the announcement Tuesday night after the Badgers beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 64-49 at the Kohl Center. That was his last game as head coach.
“It was extremely hard telling the players, as you can imagine,” Ryan said.
Ryan said during a news conference that coach Greg Gard will be taking over for the rest of the season.
“Greg is ready. The staff is ready. All the way through, the top flight people and I feel really good about that,” Ryan said.
Ryan coached Wisconsin to a school-record 36 wins last season and a loss in the national championship to Duke. But the Badgers are off to a slow start this year with a 7-5 record.
Ryan says he recently decided “now is the right time for me to retire and for Greg Gard to have the opportunity to coach the team for the remainder of the season.” He finishes with a school-record 364 wins and seven Big Ten titles.
