Bo Ryan

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Bo Ryan bigraphy, stories - American basketball player and coach

Bo Ryan : biography

December 20, 1947 –

William Francis "Bo" Ryan, Jr. (born December 20, 1947) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Badgers men’s basketball team, a position he has held since 2001. Ryan served as the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville from 1984 to 1999 and at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1999 to 2001.

Playing career

Ryan began playing basketball at a very young age. His father, Butch Ryan, coached basketball to under-privileged children in Chester, Pennsylvania. Butch taught him the skills to be a successful point guard, generally the position of the team leader. With these skills, he became a star basketball player, leading his high school team to a 25–1 record in his senior year. In addition to basketball, Ryan was a high-school quarterback. The center snapping him the ball was Ted Cottrell, who later served as a defensive coach and coordinator for a number of teams in the NFL. Ryan lettered in football, basketball and baseball, and was president of his class. After high school, Ryan starred as a point guard at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Bo’s love for the game drove him to remain involved with the sport, choosing to delve into the coaching profession.

Head coaching record

Division III

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Notable players coached

  • Jason Bohannon
  • Brian Butch
  • Devin Harris
  • Trevon Hughes
  • Joe Krabbenhoft
  • Marcus Landry
  • Jon Leuer
  • Kirk Penney
  • Greg Stiemsma
  • Jordan Taylor
  • Alando Tucker
  • Mike Wilkinson

Coaching career

Early years

Ryan’s coaching career began 1972 at Brookhaven Junior High School in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where for one year he worked as a history teacher and basketball head coach. After graduating from Wilkes University, Ryan began graduate work at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. After working at the Dominic College of Racine (now defunct — not to be confused with the earlier Racine College) in Racine, Wisconsin, Ryan became head coach at Sun Valley High School in Aston, Pennsylvania in 1974, where he was named conference coach of the year in 1976. His success at Dominican College and Sun Valley led to a job as assistant head coach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under head coaches Bill Cofield and Steve Yoder from 1976 to 1984.

Wisconsin–Platteville

After his stint as an assistant, Ryan accepted the head coaching position at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. From 1984 until 1999 Ryan’s Platteville team posted a 352–76 overall record, a winning record of 82%. Ryan guided the UW–Platteville Pioneers to four national championships (1991, 1995, 1998 and 1999). He also won eight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and set a Division III scoring defense record in 1997 with his team only allowing 47.5 points per game.

During Ryan’s tenure, UW-Platteville was the winningest NCAA men’s basketball team of the 1990s (all divisions) with a 266-26 (.908) record. http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ryan_bo00.html

On January 27, 2007 UW-Platteville officially honored Ryan’s 15-year tenure by naming the playing surface at Williams Fieldhouse "Bo Ryan Court". Ryan, along with the 2007 Wisconsin Badgers team, attended the event.

Milwaukee

On the strength of his success at Platteville, Ryan was hired as head coach at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee for the 1999–2000 season. In his two seasons as coach, the team had its first back-to-back winning seasons in nearly a decade.http://uwmpanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/wiml-m-baskbl-archive.html Ryan also brought a 161% increase in home attendance at Milwaukee, giving the program a new energy that continued into the tenure of his successor Bruce Pearl.