Former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan set to be inducted in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

MADISON – Wisconsin coach Greg Gard expects to relive years of highlights Sunday in Kansas City, Mo.

“I am sure there will be a lot of walks down memory lane,” Gard said.

Bo Ryan, Gard’s boss and mentor for more than two decades, is scheduled to be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Gard worked under Ryan for more than two decades at three schools — UW-Platteville from 1984-’99, UW-Milwaukee from 1999-2001 and at UW from 2001-’15.

UW’s staff and players are expected to attend the ceremony, set for 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland.

The Badgers are competing in the Hall of Fame Classic and face Baylor at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Monday at the Sprint Center. Creighton faces UCLA in the first game, at 6 p.m.

The consolation game is set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with the title game set for 9 p.m.

"It will be a neat weekend and for us to be there," Gard said. "It wasn’t really planned that way. That is kind of the icing on the cake for us to be in that tournament and to be there when he is inducted."

The full class: Tim Duncan, Wake Forest; Scott May, Indiana; Rick Mount, Purdue; John Stockton, Gonzaga; Jay Williams, Duke; Paul Silas, Creighton; Cleo Hill, Winston-Salem State; and Ryan.

Ryan, 69, compiled a 364-130 record in 14-plus seasons at UW. That included a 7-5 mark in 2015-’16. His Big Ten record was a remarkable 172-68.

UW won four Big Ten regular-season titles, never finished outside the top four of the Big Ten standings and reached the NCAA Tournament each season under Ryan. He was named Big Ten coach of the year four times.

Ryan won four NCAA Division III titles in 15 seasons at UW-Platteville and compiled a 30-27 mark in two seasons at UW-Milwaukee before taking over the UW program before the 2001-’02 season.

“He is a Hall of Famer in every sense,” said UW assistant Joe Krabbenhoft, who played for Ryan from 2005-’09 and served as the team’s video coordinator in 2012-’13 before joining Gard’s staff in 2016. “He proved it at every level. The best way I can describe coach Ryan when other coaches or players ask me about him is consistency.

“He came in every day with the same demeanor. You knew what he expected out of you as a player as an assistant as a video coordinator when I worked for him. Managers knew what they needed to do. He never wavered in his beliefs."