When Greg Gard took over after Bo Ryan stepped down as head coach back in December, an enormous task laid ahead for him.
The young Badgers sat at 7-5, including devastating home losses to Western Illinois and Milwaukee, and now had been dealt yet another blow with the loss of their head coach.
Sure, the timing of Ryan’s resignation essentially gave Gard a three-month tryout to convince athletic director Barry Alvarez that he was the right man for the job on a permanent basis, but he was inheriting a team that was mired in a state of disarray for which there was no easy solution.
Of course, every Wisconsin fan knows how the story has played out since then. Gard switched back to the swing offense and utilized his bench more than his mentor. Despite a rocky 1-4 start to Big Ten play, which included a couple close losses to quality opponents, the Badgers turned things around, winning 10 out of their last 11 games to miraculously find themselves on the cusp of extending the program’s streaks of NCAA Tournament appearances and top-four finishes in the Big Ten standings.
Given the unprecedented levels of success Wisconsin has seen over the last month and a half, the decision for Alvarez seems crystal clear— pull off the interim tag and make Greg Gard the permanent head coach.
For starters, the difficulty of the changes Gard made when he took over probably hasn’t been appreciated nearly enough. In hindsight, the switch back to a swing offense and greater use of the bench seems like an obvious move and, frankly, it’s a bit surprising that Ryan didn’t do it himself. But, Gard and his coaching staff had essentially one week to reinstall the swing and revamp their team’s rotation. Not exactly a simple task.
While the players most likely had a general idea of what to expect in the swing, no one on the current roster had ever experienced using it during their time in Madison. Implementing it over the summer would’ve given them months to work out the kinks, but these Badgers had to basically do it on the fly. Naturally, there were growing pains, but they’ve worked through them and Gard’s decisions have paid massive dividends.
In addition, seeing Ryan step down after what was already an extremely tough start to the season could’ve totally tanked the team morale. Making the transition from “Gardo” the assistant, albeit a highly respected assistant with a plethora of responsibilities, to head coach was no small task either for Gard. Combine everything the players endured with the bold changes Gard implemented right off the bat, and it’s not that hard to imagine a fractured locker room of guys mostly tuning him out and looking to just get this nightmarish season over with.
Of course, the exact opposite of that scenario has happened.
The swing has given structure that was desperately needed to the offense. The Badgers are getting much more production from their reserves and supporting cast, easing the heavy burden that Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig were carrying earlier in the season. Ethan Happ has started to tap into his seemingly endless well of potential. Simply put, every player on this team has completely bought in to what Greg Gard has sold them.
And now, decision time is approaching for Alvarez.
It’s no secret that Wisconsin’s AD’s initial hope was to convince Virginia’s Tony Bennett to return to his home state, and a majority of UW fans shared a similar sentiment. However, Bennett coming home was most likely nothing more than a pipe dream, though Alvarez still could’ve made a run at a high-profile hire by trying to get someone like Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall. Gard by no means was the frontrunner for the job when Bo Ryan decided to call it a career, and he was going to have to prove his worth to get the gig on a permanent basis.
Needless to say, he’s passed the test with flying colors.
The Badgers have orchestrated perhaps the best turnaround in the entire country and are essentially a lock to make an 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Given that this is an extremely young team with a very bright future ahead, hiring someone from the outside after all they’ve been through this year and how much they’ve bought in to Gard could be like playing with fire.
Gard has built a solid case to be considered a Coach of the Year candidate in not just the Big Ten, but nationally as well. Many of the fans that once prayed for Tony Bennett to leave Charlottesville for Madison are now pleading with Alvarez to remove the interim tag next to Gard’s name, and it looks like they might be getting their wish in the not-too-distant future.
This past Friday, the university posted the men’s basketball job publicly, as required by state law. Once two weeks pass, Alvarez can hire who he wants and, given the timing of this move, that person will mostly likely be Greg Gard.
Given everything that he’s accomplished in just two months on the job, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks he doesn’t deserve it.
