Dec. 16--Late at night after losing in the NCAA tournament championship game to Duke in Indianapolis last season, Bo Ryan was asked what it meant to have a successful season come to a close.
"It's really hard to put into words the years, the hours, the travel," he said. "It will be in my memory bank."
Wisconsin fans are rehashing their memories from the past 14 seasons after Ryan surprisingly announced his retirement effective immediately after Tuesday's victory against Texas A Christi. He had said this would be his last season, but on Tuesday said he wanted assistant Greg Gard to coach out the season and take the reins.
Ryan's legacy will be that of one of the best coaches to ever stalk a sideline in the Big Ten.
In his 14 seasons in Madison, he never finished lower than fourth in the conference. The Badgers made the NCAA tournament every single season under Ryan's guidance. They won seven Big Ten titles.
Ryan did all of this with only one McDonald's All-American player.
He changed the Big Ten, making Wisconsin an annual team to be reckoned with.
Ryan, 67, went out on top -- or close to it. Ryan never won an NCAA tournament championship, but the Badgers did appear in back-to-back Final Fours, the highlight coming with a victory against previously undefeated Kentucky last season.
This season, after its star players Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker left, the Badgers started this season a disappointing 7-5.
"From the players' standpoint, we wish him well with his retirement and all the things old people do," forward Nigel Hayes told reporters after Tuesday's game. "We've got to remember he's an old guy. He's been yelling and screaming for a long time."
Ryan was sarcastic and self-depricating at times, sensitive and sentimental at other times.
He frequently reminisced about his coaching career in Division III at UW-Plateville and his hardscrabble upbringing outside of Philadelphia.
He won four Division III championships at Platteville and finished his career 747-233, ranked 27th on the NCAA's all-time win list.
He finished 364-130 at Wisconsin, the winningest coach in school history and best winning percentage in conference history.
Before Ryan arrived in Madison, the Badgers had been to the NCAA tournament only seven times in the school's history.
Gard is serving as the head coach on an interim basis. He is in his 23rd season as an assistant with Ryan, and athletic director Barry Alvarez said he will make a coaching decision at the end of the year.
For now, Wisconsin fans, Big Ten fans and college basketball fans are thinking about the past 14 seasons.
"I'll see you down the road," Ryan said.
