In his 21 seasons as a head coach of a University of Wisconsin system school, Badger head basketball coach Bo Ryan has always been a vocal proponent of the basketball in the state.
His remarkable 15 seasons at UW-Platteville where he captured four Division III national titles, to his rebuilding of the UW-Milwaukee program and now his continued record-setting run in Madison, Ryan has found success everywhere.
Coming up in the next three games at the Kohl Center against UW-Green Bay, Marquette and Milwaukee, Ryan will be able to witness first hand the work he and other coaches have done in taking the state of basketball in Wisconsin to unprecedented heights.
'As a professional, I get to do what I'm doing in the state of Wisconsin for X number of years. While I'm doing that, I'm going to promote basketball as hard as I can for as long as I can,' Ryan said on Monday.
Wisconsin was once viewed as a barren ground for successful basketball schools, particularly at the Division I level. But in recent years that could not be farther from the truth. With a continued string of successes on the national level, namely Wisconsin and Marquette's recent Final Four appearances, along with UWM's surprising run to the Sweet 16 last year, collegiate basketball in the state of Wisconsin has never been better. Even basketball in the high school ranks has improved as schools continue to turn out talented players such as Wisconsin's Devin Harris and Marquette's Travis Diener, who are more and more frequently taking their games to the NBA level.
'There are a lot of high school coaches out there that have the same philosophy I do,' Ryan said. 'They're going to coach, and they're going to teach, and they're going to work life's lessons through a game. And the more they're playing it and the higher the level and the better the coaches get as instructors, the better basketball becomes.'
Despite a slow start in Saturday's victory over Pepperdine, junior forward Alando Tucker finished with 16 points and found his scoring touch in the second half against the Waves, alleviating many fans' concerns that the mask, protecting Tucker's broken nose, could become more than a nuisance. Ryan said he did not know how much the mask was bothering the preseason All-Big Ten player.
'Can't answer that because I'm not wearing it, but you'd have to ask him. I think he was thinking a little bit about the 'Phantom of the Opera' deal though, a little half mask.'
The injuries continued for Tucker after injuring his knee during Monday's practice. Tucker limped into the Badger locker room where a protective brace was placed on his right knee. The severity of the injury remains unknown and Tucker was held from live competition for the remainder of practice.
