UW to vote on winter coaches’ contracts in June
MADISON – University of Wisconsin officials are on schedule to address the contracts of winter sports coaches during the athletic board’s June 12 meeting.
Those contracts were set to be dealt with during the athletic board’s April 24 meeting, based on recommendations from the personnel committee. The athletic board moved to postpone the matter, however, because the coronavirus pandemic had disrupted the evaluation process.
The board is expected to vote on the contracts for men’s basketball (Greg Gard), men’s hockey (Tony Granato), women’s hockey (Mark Johnson), wrestling (Chris Bono), women’s basketball (Jonathan Tsipis) and men’s and women’s swimming and diving (Yuri Suguiyama).
“Given the circumstances, we’ve got different data than normal to consider,” Peter Miller, athletic board chair, said Tuesday. “But we’re working with department leaders to ensure we do the best we can.”
Miller has informed members of the athletic board that the evaluations should be straightforward.
“We have received assurances from athletic administrators that there are no big problems in these sports in terms of student-athlete experiences,” Miller said.
That quote is revealing because Kobe King, who left the men’s basketball team in late January and eventually committed to Nebraska, reportedly felt several of his teammates also were unhappy.
UW went 9-2 after King’s departure, however, to finish 14-6 in the Big Ten and 21-10 overall.
The Badgers closed the season with eight consecutive victories to secure a share of the Big Ten regularseason title for the first time since 2015.
Gard was named the league’s coach of the year.