Bo Ryan now says he’s open to coaching beyond next season
Not even six weeks after he announced he’d coach only one more college basketball season, Bo Ryan no longer sounds so certain.
The 67-year-old Wisconsin coach left open the possibility he could coach beyond next year Wednesday while speaking with the Appleton Post-Crescent at a charity golf tournament.
“Everybody kind of thinks they know when they’re ready to retire, or step aside; I’m not totally sure,” Ryan said. “[Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez] said I could change my mind at any time. I haven’t submitted any papers yet. I haven’t submitted anything. … So I might stay for another four or five [years].
“I’m like a lot of other people who when they get to this stage in their career, who knows when the right time is? I was just trying to be up front and out in the open. But I wouldn’t be the first guy in the country that ever thought about retirement and then changed their mind. I’m not doing anything revolutionary here.”
Ryan’s comments seem to contradict the statement he made June 29 amid speculation that he might retire after back-to-back Final Four appearances. He announced he had “decided to coach one more season” with the hope longtime assistant Greg Gard would “eventually” succeed him. That’s a somewhat vague statement that leaves substantial wiggle room, yet Wisconsin has also gone six weeks without correcting numerous stories about Ryan’s intent to retire next spring.
While the lingering uncertainty surrounding its head coaching situation will undoubtedly hamper Wisconsin’s recruiting efforts, the Badgers would surely welcome Ryan back for as long as he wants to coach.
Ryan has never finished worse than fourth in the Big Ten in 14 seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach and has won four regular season titles and three Big Ten tournaments. His last two teams compiled a 66-12 record and twice fell just short of capturing the national championship.
Wisconsin loses standouts Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and Josh Gasser from those teams, but the Badgers won’t be in total rebuild mode next season. They’ll instead build around rising juniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
