Bo Ryan’s Name Should be Synonymous with the Word “Underrated”

Logan on 03 21, 2009

The Badgers just finished off an upset of the 5th seeded Florida State Seminoles in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Tournament. Outside of the game obviously being phenomenal to watch, it also sort of summed of Bo Ryan’s coaching career to me, especially at the University of Wisconsin. The Badgers were down by as much as 12 in this game, losing 31-19 at half. After a first twenty minutes that saw Wisconsin shoot the ball poorly, only scoring 19 points, the Badgers found themselves being embarrassed heading into the locker-room. The Badgers had been exposed. Florida just featured better athletes, something the Badgers have come to expect to see from opposing teams. Instead of panicking and continuing to be blown out by a heavily favored Seminole team, Bo Ryan gave his team a halftime speech that proved to be exactly what his club needed. Ryan said, “20 minutes is guaranteed to us and nothing after that,” he told his shell-shocked players that they should take advantage of those 20 minutes and hustle after every loose ball, but more importantly he told them to have fun, and smile. Those words pushed exactly the right button as his club managed to go out there and cut into that twelve point deficit right away, forcing an over-time period and eventually putting away the 5th seeded Seminoles. This seems to be a re-occurring theme with Ryan and his teams year after year. Without top-tier recruits, he always finds a way to put his team in position to win every game.

Look at the NBA talent that Wisconsin has produced during Bo Ryan’s tenure with the school. Ryan has been with the Badgers since 2001. Between the years of 2001 and the most recent NBA Draft, Wisconsin has produced just two NBA draft picks. Yes I said only two. Devin Harris was the 5th pick in round 1 of the 2004 NBA Draft, and Alando Tucker was chosen with 29th overall selection of the first round in 2007. Both had great careers at Wisconsin, but only Devin Harris is making a name for himself at the next level. Even without the talented players that go through places like North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and Michigan State, the Badgers continue to contend year in and year out in the Big Ten, never finishing lower than fourth in the conference during Bo Ryan’s time leading the Badgers basketball team.

Let’s stop and compare two coaches for a minute (during seasons 2001-2009):

Coach One
Record: 180-82
Winning %: .687
Conference titles: 0

Coach Two
Record: 192-72
Winning %: .727
Conference titles: 2

Coach Two obviously has better numbers right? That coach is Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan. Who is Coach One? It is Michigan State’s Tom Izzo. Tom Izzo is a perennial candidate for Coach of the Year not only in the Big Ten, but in the nation as well. Izzo is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the nation over the last ten years and longer. During Ryan’s time at Wisconsin, in which he has only produced two NBA draft picks, Tom Izzo and the Spartans have seen seven players drafted. It’s no secret, recruits are more drawn to the rich tradition of the Spartan basketball program, and it’s hard to blame them. With the likes of Earvin “Magic” Johnson playing before them, the nation’s top high school players and Junior College transfers seem to sign at East Lansing ignoring the opportunity to play for in my opinion, the best coach in the Big Ten. It’s also no secret that recruiting is a part of being a great coach, and Izzo does a great job in that respect, but he is no doubt aided by the name and tradition of the school he represents. Bo Ryan must have a difficult job trying to convince potential players to come and spend 4+ years in the state of Wisconsin. Yet year after year, Ryan’s teams get the job done. The Badgers seem to be known every year for their gritty defense and sound basketball. You can and should attribute this to coaching, coaching and more coaching. Bo Ryan may not be able to get the exciting and flashy recruits like other Big Ten teams, but he always manages to fill his roster with players that fit the system that he has in place, and that system has proved to be an effective one.

The Badgers have yet to miss the NCAA Tournament with Ryan at the helm. In his 8 appearances as the head coach of Wisconsin, the Badgers have only been ousted in the first round twice, including a one point loss in his first season to a talented Georgia State team. The Badgers have received a 6 seed or better in four of their eight appearances behind Bo Ryan, including a #2 and #3 seed respectively in the last two years. In the 2004-2005 season, Ryan brought his Badgers (a #6 seed) to the Final Four losing a close game to the #1 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels 88-82. Ryan is 13-11 in NCAA Tournament play, and 14-10 in the Big Ten conference tournament.

When asked who the best coaches are in college basketball today, you’ll get answer like Roy Williams, Bill Self, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo, but with such undeniable success throughout his career at Wisconsin, how can we continue to leave Bo Ryan’s name out? Give those same coaches the job at Wisconsin, and I’d be surprised if any could equal or surpass what Ryan has been able to accomplish.