Written by Matt Zemek at The Comeback
College basketball coaches have been known to flip-flop from time to time on employment situations, but the most memorable examples concern coaches who thought about moving from one job to another.
Recall Dana Altman going to Arkansas but then reversing field and retreating to Creighton. Recall Bobby Cremins going to South Carolina but then retracting his decision and staying at Georgia Tech, just over 20 years ago. Recall Billy Donovan going to the Orlando Magic but then reconsidering and returning to Florida just after his second national championship in Gainesville.
Bo Ryan has also flip-flopped — twice, to be precise — but he didn’t leave one program in the lurch. He merely had a hard time deciding when to call it a career.
Now, that moment has fully, firmly and finally arrived.
Ryan, who announced his intention to retire last June but then decided he might coach beyond this season at the University of Wisconsin, changed his mind a second time. This time, it’s for good. Ryan announced his retirement Tuesday night, enabling assistant coach Greg Gard to take over and essentially audition for the permanent job over the remainder of the 2015-2016 season.
Here’s the quick overview of the Wisconsin coaching situation:
Anyways, for Wisconsin, it’s 1) Tony Bennett, 2) Ben Jacobson, 3) Gard, in that order. Basically three choices here.
— Kevin Trahan (@k_trahan) December 16, 2015
Ryan, who is fiercely supportive of Gard, wants his guy to get the best possible odds of being retained. If Tony Bennett chooses to leave Virginia and coach where his father — Ryan’s predecessor, Dick Bennett — once worked, Gard will be out of luck. However, if the younger Bennett stays in Charlottesville, Bo Ryan’s succession plan just might become reality, with Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa being the remaining primary obstacle.
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