Wisconsin Basketball Coach Bo Ryan Retires Effective Immediately

Following the Wisconsin Badgers‘ 64-49 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday night, head coach Bo Ryan announced that he would be retiring immediately. While the announcement seemed to come out of nowhere, Ryan and athletic director Barry Alvarez had decided prior to the season that the end of the first semester would be a proper time to walk away.

Here’s the video of Ryan’s press conference:

BREAKING: Bo Ryan makes it official, announces retirement as @BadgerMBB head coach. Here is the entire announcement. https://t.co/iHSbotWgHY

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 16, 2015

Ryan coached 15 years at Wisconsin-Platteville where he led the school to four national championships and a 353-76 overall record. After leaving Platteville, he spent two seasons at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and compiled a 30-27 record, including leading the Panthers to their first back-to-back winning seasons in nearly a decade. Ryan joined the Badgers in 2001 and went 364-130 in 14-plus seasons in Madison, including leading the school to the national championship game last season.

Longtime assistant Greg Gard will take over as interim head coach for the Badgers. Gard has been an assistant of Ryan since 1993 and should be prepared to lead the team for the foreseeable future.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.