This past football season, we were able to celebrate the career of Barry Alvarez. Because the don of Badger football was leaving the sidelines to commit himself to bettering Wisconsin athletics as the athletic director, we knew his heart was in the right place. He wasn't leaving for the dollar signs and prestige of Notre Dame and Touchdown Jesus, just cutting back on his workload and leaving his program in the hands of Bret Bielema.
For men's basketball coach Bo Ryan, the exit could be much different. ESPN analyst and former Daily Cardinal sports editor Andy Katz reported on his Insider blog that North Carolina State has added Ryan to its long list of potential candidates for the job in Raleigh. Now Katz said Ryan's not going, but keep in mind that the Wolfpack brass has plenty of money to throw Ryan's way.
Before we discuss the devastation a Ryan exit would cause, let's look at his career and ask ourselves if it has ever been about the money? Sure he made the jump from Platteville to Milwaukee to Madison, but who wouldn't? You want to coach at the highest level. To Ryan, it seems that he's thought Wisconsin basketball is the highest level, and it seems he's bent on improving this team.
The only step up is the NBA. And take a look at any roster and ask yourself if Ryan's emphasis on selflessness and team play would work on any of those rosters, maybe excluding Detroit.
At N.C. State, Ryan would be able to attract better recruits, but has that ever really been Ryan's motivation? He has seemed to take pride in bettering players who are not close to complete yet, teaching them the basics of his swing offense so when players like Marcus Landry and Greg Stiemsma graduate, one can see their improvement year by year.
And why would Ryan leave something he has created, laid the foundation for? With Ryan's first class of recruits leaving Madison the past two years, the groundwork is set for next year's big run.
With only Ray Nixon graduating, the team will most likely add Michael Flowers to a starting lineup that returns Alando Tucker, Kammron Taylor, Brian Butch and Jason Chappell. And if all goes right academically for Landry and Stiemsma during this semester, the duo will join young guns Joe Krabbenhoft and Kevin Gulickson, along with sweet-shooting recruit Jason Bohannon on what could be the deepest bench in all of college basketball.
So, while it seems as though a Ryan departure is not likely, we all know that a big wad of green is hard to turn down. A jump to Raleigh isn't so improbable that we should dismiss it altogether.
However, if the jump were to occur, Badger basketball would be stuck in a state of confusion. Do we replace Ryan with one of the assistant coaches (most likely Greg Gard), or do we go elsewhere? Very few coaches have taken to Ryan's swing system, so that would mean a mentality change and an alteration in approach. All in all, a year that was supposed to be one for the ages abruptly turned into one of bewilderment and flux.
But Ryan probably won't go. Like Katz said, and like all Badger basketball fans know, Ryan is an institution in Wisconsin. He has grown as a coach in this state and his players have grown under his guidance.
Let's just hope Bo feels the same way.
Sam Pepper is a junior majoring in political science. He can be reached for comment at sepepper@wisc.edu.
