Wisconsin basketball coach Bo Ryan announced his retirement Tuesday night after the Badgers beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 64-49.
He stepped down effective immediately. Greg Gard, the Badgers' associate head coach, assumes the title of interim head coach, according to the university.
"After months of conversation with (athletic director) Barry Alvarez and his administrative staff, as well as my wife, Kelly, I have decided that now is the right time to step down from the head coaching position here at Wisconsin," Ryan said.
"This was a decision months in the making. I brought this up to Barry back in April. He advised me to take some time to think it over, and I appreciated that. But in recent weeks, I have come to the conclusion that now is the right time for me to retire and for Greg Gard to have the opportunity to coach the team for the remainder of the season. I discussed this with Barry and I appreciate him giving me the space to make this decision."
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Ryan, who turns 68 years old next week, is the winningest coach in Wisconsin basketball history with 364 victories. He coached the Badgers to a school-record 36 wins last season, when his team made it to a second consecutive Final Four. Last season ended with a loss to Duke in the title game.
Under his watch, Ryan won seven Big Ten titles, and his conference winning percentage (.717) is the best in Big Ten history.
"I want to thank Bo Ryan for everything he has done for our athletic department, the state of Wisconsin and certainly the Badgers basketball program," Alvarez said in a statement. "He oversaw an incredible run of sustained success and helped elevate Wisconsin among the nation's elite programs. He is truly a Hall of Fame coach and led our program to the most successful era in school history. He will be missed."
Ryan is a 2015 Naismith Hall of Fame finalist. He has accumulated 747 career wins.
Before coming to Wisconsin, Ryan spent 15 seasons at UW-Platteville and two seasons at UW-Milwaukee. Ryan led Platteville to a 353-76 (.822) overall record and four national championships.
