Few, if any, coaches have left a more indelible mark on college basketball in the state of Wisconsin than Bo Ryan.
On Saturday, he took his place alongside some of the state’s most iconic sports figures in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
Ryan was inducted at a ceremony at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena Saturday evening, joining the likes of Hank Aaron, Vince Lombardi, Barry Alvarez, Robin Yount, Oscar Robertson and Bob Uecker in the Hall of Fame. Donald Driver, the Green Bay Packers’ leader in career receptions (743) and receiving yards (10,137), was also enshrined at the ceremony.
Though Ryan was born and raised in Chester, Pa., he made his mark in the coaching profession in Wisconsin.
Ryan’s collegiate coaching career began in 1976, when he joined Bill Cofield’s staff at Wisconsin. After spending eight years in that capacity, Ryan accepted the head coaching position at Wisconsin-Platteville.
During his 15-year tenure, Ryan turned the Pioneers into a Division III powerhouse. Under Ryan, Platteville went 353-76, won four national championships (1991, 1995, 1998, 1999) and posted two undefeated campaigns (1994-’95 and 1997-’98).
Following the 1998-’99 season, Ryan made the leap to Division I, taking over as head coach of the Milwaukee Panthers. He went 30-27 in two seasons there before making his return to Madison in 2001.
In 14-plus seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach, Ryan became the winningest coach in school history and lifted the program to heights previously almost unimaginable. The Badgers made the NCAA Tournament and finished in the top four of the Big Ten standings each year under Ryan, and made it to back-to-back Final Fours in the final two full seasons of his tenure.
Ryan’s illustrious career came to an end to this past December, when he abruptly decided to step down after a 7-5 start to the season. He finished with a 364-130 record at Wisconsin and a 747-233 record overall as a head coach at the collegiate level.
Ryan found success at every stop of his coaching career and many high school basketball teams across the state use his swing offense as a model for their own offensive philosophies. Though his work in Madison with the Badgers put him on the map nationally, the Ryan’s influence on basketball in the state of Wisconsin is matched by very few.
