Bo Ryan (Photo : Twitter)
For the Wisconsin Badgers, they were inching a step at a time towards the title, and last season, they were at the doorstep. Coach Bo Ryan may seem like he's left work unfinished.
While he has announced in June that the 2015-16 season will be his last, Ryan is suddenly not as certain.
The 67-year old coach led the Badgers to two Final Four finishes in the last two years and has never missed the post-season in his entire Badgers' tenure.
Perhaps after getting so close to the prize, he believes he can take it all this year. However, it might not be as easy since his two best players, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, just turned pro.
Ryan was at a golf tournament and explained to Post Crescent that the announcement last June was simply about being honest in the recruitment process.
"Well, I needed to get a statement out there knowing I wasn't able to tell recruits I could guarantee them four years and I wanted to be fair to our staff and Barry (Alvarez) and the athletic department."
He then clarified that nothing was really set in stone: "Everybody kind of thinks they know when they're ready to retire, or step aside. I'm not totally sure. Barry said I could change my mind at any time. I haven't submitted any papers yet. I haven't submitted anything. As I was telling someone earlier, some of the offers these people made tonight, they made some offers I can't refuse. So I might stay for another four or five."
ESPN notes that one possible reason is that he wants to assure that his successor would be (associate coach) Greg Gard:
"I just sell Wisconsin, the university and our program,'' Ryan said. "Obviously, I would like to see Greg Gard (his longtime associate head coach) get the position. That's what corporations do -- the second-in-command steps up.''
