Bo Ryan haters can retire now because the 66 year-old coach has reached the Final Four. Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers fought tooth and nail to take out the #1 seed Arizona Wildcats in an epic back-and-forth regional final.
Ryan was extra emotional after the game. Mostly because it’s the first year his father, Butch Ryan, isn’t around to attend the Final Four. Butch would have turned 90 on the day that Bo finally punched his personal ticket to the basketball’s paradise.
The stars have aligned to reward a coach and a program that’s been an exemplary example for the game of college basketball.
Most Final Four teams have a star player who grabs all the story-lines this time of year, but have no doubt about it, this is Ryan’s Final Four.
The trip has been so damn elusive in his tenure with six Sweet 16’s and two Elite 8’s in 13 total trips to the Big Dance.
Don’t get me wrong, Frank Kaminsky has been a crazy story. The guy scored a total of 133 points last season and has near half that (66 points) in this year’s tournament alone. However, Ryan deserves all the credit in the world for developing the junior forward’s game.
Not only has Kaminsky made strides in his personal game, Ryan has adjusted his offense to work through the big man’s game, not an easy feet when you consider all the talented players on the Badgers roster.
The missing notch in Ryan’s belt has always been the Final Four.
No longer as Ryan does away with the notion of just a dominant regular season coach. He’s now a great tournament coach and deserves to be recognized as one of the best in the business.
Can he take it to the next level and become a legendary coach with a National Championship? We do know that the Badgers are capable of beating at least two (Big Ten mates Michigan and Michigan State) of the teams left in the tournament.
What do you think of Ryan now that he has a Final Four under his belt? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Pictures obtained from Wisconsin Basketball twitter account.