Wisconsin Basketball Coach Bo Ryan Announces He’s Retiring

The Big Ten is losing one of its Hall of Fame basketball coaches.

Wisconsin's Bo Ryan announced on Monday this will be his final season before he retires. Here's a full statement he released this afternoon:

"Back in the spring, in the days after the national championship game, (UW Director of Athletics) Barry Alvarez and I discussed the possibility of me retiring. I've always been told that is not a decision to make right after a season is completed. Barry thankfully encouraged me to take some time to think about it and I have done that. I considered retiring this summer or coaching one more season.

"I've decided to coach one more season with the hope that my longtime assistant Greg Gard eventually becomes the head coach at Wisconsin. I am looking forward to another year with our program, including our players, my terrific assistant coaches, our office staff and everyone who supports Wisconsin basketball here in Madison, around the state and across the country."

Ryan's record at Wisconsin is 357-125 in 14 seasons, including four Big Ten regular season titles, three Big Ten tournament titles and being named the Big Ten Coach of the Year four times. The 67-year-old Pennsylvania native has a career record of 740-228, having won four Division III NCAA tournament titles at Wisconsin-Platteville.

Ryan has guided the Badgers to the NCAA tournament in each of his 14 seasons in Madison, including back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2014 and 2015. Prior to that, Wisconsin had made seven tournament appearances in the previous 63 years.