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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Bo Ryan
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Andrew Ruck
6/29/2015 1:54 PM
Many have said the one thing that would challenge coach Phillips' strong guarantee of staying in Athens for at least 8ish years would be if and when Bo Ryan retires. Well, he is retiring in 9 months:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/131...

But fear not - He specifically said he hopes his assistant Greg Gard will take his place. Which I would almost guarantee will happen.

On top of that, it would take an extremely successful year from Phillips and our Bobcats for them to justify bringing SP in at this point.
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GoCats105
6/29/2015 2:25 PM
This seems like odd timing. Why leave now?
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Recovering Journalist
6/29/2015 2:57 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
This seems like odd timing. Why leave now?
He's 67, and announcing well before next season (and after the height of recruiting season) minimizes disruption to the program and gives him a nice long farewell lap. It makes sense to me.
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Andrew Ruck
6/29/2015 3:58 PM
Not to mention puts pressure on hiring his hand picked replacement.
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GoCats105
6/29/2015 4:27 PM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
This seems like odd timing. Why leave now?
He's 67, and announcing well before next season (and after the height of recruiting season) minimizes disruption to the program and gives him a nice long farewell lap. It makes sense to me.
I get that part, but I mean why leave now as in he's currently at the top of his game. That program is no where near where it was when he started and he really hasn't been there that long (when compared to other program staples of course). More power to him, but I just find it strange.
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colobobcat66
6/29/2015 5:03 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
This seems like odd timing. Why leave now?
He's 67, and announcing well before next season (and after the height of recruiting season) minimizes disruption to the program and gives him a nice long farewell lap. It makes sense to me.
I get that part, but I mean why leave now as in he's currently at the top of his game. That program is no where near where it was when he started and he really hasn't been there that long (when compared to other program staples of course). More power to him, but I just find it strange.

There's more to life than coaching basketball. Why question his motives?
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giacomo
6/29/2015 5:49 PM
Wisconsin is not likely to just hire one of his assistants or former assistants. If you recall, we used to do that. A program like theirs will require a higher profile hire.
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brucecuth
6/29/2015 6:01 PM
Ryan can be a son of a gun (a few years ago he held up a kid's transfer), but I don't think there is any coach or coaching staff that does a better job of getting kids to play together and realize their potential. The loss of Ryan will bring the BIG 10 hoops quality down a half notch...
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Jeff McKinney
6/29/2015 6:38 PM
giacomo wrote:expand_more
Wisconsin is not likely to just hire one of his assistants or former assistants. If you recall, we used to do that. A program like theirs will require a higher profile hire.
I really think Wisconsin will hire someone from the current staff or someone from the Ryan tree.
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Mark Lembright '85
6/29/2015 9:33 PM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
This seems like odd timing. Why leave now?
He's 67, and announcing well before next season (and after the height of recruiting season) minimizes disruption to the program and gives him a nice long farewell lap. It makes sense to me.
Makes sense to me too and I applaud his decision. He's 67. Maybe after coaching for 30 plus years he just doesn't have the motivation to work 18 hour days anymore. I know I sure wouldn't, not at the age of 67, that's for sure. Perhaps after 2 straight Final 4 appearances (once as a finalist) he figures he's taken Wisconsin as far as he can take them?
Last Edited: 6/29/2015 9:35:16 PM by Mark Lembright '85
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cc-cat
6/29/2015 10:30 PM
Jeff McKinney wrote:expand_more
Wisconsin is not likely to just hire one of his assistants or former assistants. If you recall, we used to do that. A program like theirs will require a higher profile hire.
I really think Wisconsin will hire someone from the current staff or someone from the Ryan tree.
Agree. He has done so much for the program they will honor his request.
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BillyTheCat
6/29/2015 10:42 PM
colobobcat66 wrote:expand_more
This seems like odd timing. Why leave now?
He's 67, and announcing well before next season (and after the height of recruiting season) minimizes disruption to the program and gives him a nice long farewell lap. It makes sense to me.
I get that part, but I mean why leave now as in he's currently at the top of his game. That program is no where near where it was when he started and he really hasn't been there that long (when compared to other program staples of course). More power to him, but I just find it strange.

There's more to life than coaching basketball. Why question his motives?

+1
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Andrew Ruck
6/30/2015 7:48 AM
When Barry Alvarez retired, he did the same thing Ryan is doing here and pinpointed his replacement by name (Bret Bielema) and UW obliged. Gard will be the hire, guaranteed.

Perhaps the bigger concern for us is not losing Phillips but losing Will Ryan to an assistant job at UW.
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colobobcat66
6/30/2015 11:29 AM
Andrew Ruck wrote:expand_more
When Barry Alvarez retired, he did the same thing Ryan is doing here and pinpointed his replacement by name (Bret Bielema) and UW obliged. Gard will be the hire, guaranteed.

Perhaps the bigger concern for us is not losing Phillips but losing Will Ryan to an assistant job at UW.

Barry also became the AD so the hire of whoever Barry wanted seemed a little automatic. Not the same here at all, but Bo will probably get his wish.
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A-townBound
8/17/2015 9:45 AM
Maybe... maybe not...
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/08/13/wisconsin...
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OhioStunter
12/15/2015 11:54 PM
Official per ESPN.
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perimeterpost
12/16/2015 12:22 AM
He's not retiring in 9 months, its effective immediately.
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OhioCatFan
12/16/2015 12:23 AM
Apparently it's immediate:

http://tinyurl.com/jtervnm
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Andrew Ruck
12/16/2015 7:53 AM
I guess our rooting interest is for the Badgers to improve and do well this season so that the interim coach and all the current assistants are retained. It seems like a long shot, but if we have some good success this season while the Badgers fade, it isn't impossible to see a scenario where UW is interested in some form of Saul Phillips and/or Will Ryan next spring in some capacity.
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Recovering Journalist
12/16/2015 8:03 AM
Andrew Ruck wrote:expand_more
I guess our rooting interest is for the Badgers to improve and do well this season so that the interim coach and all the current assistants are retained. It seems like a long shot, but if we have some good success this season while the Badgers fade, it isn't impossible to see a scenario where UW is interested in some form of Saul Phillips and/or Will Ryan next spring in some capacity.
Somehow I'm not worried. I daresay we're a year or two from even competing for a MAC title. The most recent thing on Saul's resume is a 10-win season in the MAC. You think the fan base of one of the top B1G teams would be excited about that hire?
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
12/16/2015 9:05 AM
Biggest concern is: Wisconsin is really good at hiring coaches. They don't hire guys because they had one great run or are the flavor of the week. They actually hire the guy best-suited for the job.

If somehow the Badgers tank the rest of the year, Saul Phillips would be on their radar when it came time to make a short-list in the offseason. And Wisconsin is smart enough to pluck him off the tree even before he's completely ripened because they'd know he'd grow into that job. That scares me.

I always thought losing Phillips to that region was an inevitability -- but it would be four or five years down the road.

That said, the Badgers will get better throughout the year, Gard will keep the job, and Phillips will be the head coach here for at least another season.
Last Edited: 12/16/2015 9:07:13 AM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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OUVan
12/16/2015 9:13 AM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
Somehow I'm not worried. I daresay we're a year or two from even competing for a MAC title. The most recent thing on Saul's resume is a 10-win season in the MAC. You think the fan base of one of the top B1G teams would be excited about that hire?

Agreed. Things would have to go really well this year and I mean REALLY well for Saul to even be considered. There are going to be a lot of really good established coaches with resumes considerably more impressive than Saul's interested in that job.
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OU_Country
12/16/2015 10:04 AM
OUVan wrote:expand_more
Somehow I'm not worried. I daresay we're a year or two from even competing for a MAC title. The most recent thing on Saul's resume is a 10-win season in the MAC. You think the fan base of one of the top B1G teams would be excited about that hire?

Agreed. Things would have to go really well this year and I mean REALLY well for Saul to even be considered. There are going to be a lot of really good established coaches with resumes considerably more impressive than Saul's interested in that job.
The question is, do they want those guys, or a guy whose "system" is more similar to the way they're currently built? Time will tell.
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OUVan
12/16/2015 10:25 AM
OU_Country wrote:expand_more
The question is, do they want those guys, or a guy whose "system" is more similar to the way they're currently built? Time will tell.
No idea but the more I thought about it there would have to be an absolute dumpster fire for them to dump Gard after this year IMO. You might lose a valuable asset and ally in Bo Ryan if they don't give him a real shot at keeping the job.
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doubledribble
12/16/2015 10:34 AM
There is no doubt that Gard will have the job going forward and will be given a good contract with a reasonable time frame to make the transition to the head coaching position. Ryan's ability to hand-pick his successor was "the" important part of this entire process. You can take that to the bank.
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