Ryan again named finalist for Naismith Hall of Fame
Madison — Former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, has made the final cut again. Ryan, who stepped down as the men’s head coach Dec. 15, on Friday was among 14 finalists named for the 2016 class, which will be announced April 4 in Houston before the men’s NCAA championship game.
Ryan, 68, guided UW to the Final Four in 2014 and ’15. The Badgers reached the title game last season but fell to Duke, 68-63, to finish 36-4.
When Ryan retired in December he left with a record of 747-233 in 32 seasons of coaching. That included a 364-130 mark in 14-plus seasons at UW.
The Badgers never missed the NCAA Tournament under Ryan and won four Big Ten Conference regular-season titles and three Big Ten tournament titles. They never finished worse than fourth in the league.
Ryan’s Big Ten record was 172-68 (.717). That is the No. 1 mark in league history.
A native of Chester, Pa., Ryan won four NCAA Division III national titles at UWPlatteville and coached two seasons at UW-Milwaukee (1999-2000 and 2000-’01) before taking over the UW program.
Also chosen as finalists by the North American or Women’s Committees: NBA players Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Kevin Johnson; college coaches Tom Izzo, Lefty Driesell, Eddie Sutton and Muffet McGraw; women’s superstar Sheryl Swoopes; longtime referee Darrel Garretson; high school coaches Leta Andrews and Robert Hughes; 10-time AAU national champion Wayland Baptist University; and John McClendon, the first AfricanAmerican coach in a professional league.