In it for the long run: UW hires Greg Gard

MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Badgers have been winning games for a while now, but the biggest victory of the season may have come on a dotted line at the end of a sheet of paper.

The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved the hiring of Greg Gard as the full-time head coach of the men's basketball program on Monday evening.

"It's an honor and a privilege to be named the head coach at the University of Wisconsin," Gard said in a release. "I'm extremely thankful to Coach (Barry) Alvarez, the Athletic Board and the Board of Regents for this incredible opportunity to lead my home-state program into the future. It's a role and a responsibility that I cherish and take extremely seriously. It's been a long journey over the last quarter-century or so, but for me to be able to spend my entire career in this state and be surrounded by such incredible support has been vital to my success. I am so grateful to everyone who has played an integral part in my development.

"I am thankful to Coach (Bo) Ryan for the opportunity he gave me to be a college coach over 25 years ago. He has been a positive mentor in the professional development of my career and showed great confidence in my abilities and potential as I grew as a young coach.

"I'm looking forward to building on the great tradition at Wisconsin and representing my home state in a manner that can make Badgers fans proud."

"As I said many times throughout the past weeks, I've been very impressed with the job Greg has done with this team," UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said. "Not just from a wins and losses perspective but also in terms of player development and making necessary adjustments. It became clear to me as the season wore on and I was able to observe Greg both on and off the court that he was the right person to lead our men's basketball team. I was extremely excited to be able to offer him the job and fully believe that the program is in good hands for years to come."

Gard took over head coaching duties on an interim basis on December 16, 2015 when Bo Ryan announced his retirement following Wisconsin's victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Since that date, Gard has led the Badgers to a 13-6 (.684) record overall and a 12-6 (.667) mark during conference play, which includes victories in 11 of its last 13 games. Under Gard's watch, the Badgers have picked up marquee victories against then-No. 4 Michigan State, then-No. 19 Indiana, then-No. 2 Maryland, and then-No. 8 Iowa.

The Badgers clinched a top-four finish in the Big Ten for the 15th consecutive season, and enter the Big Ten Tournament as the 6-seed (tiebreaker rules) where they will face the winner of Nebraska and Rutgers on Thursday evening.

Gard, 45, served under Ryan for 22-plus seasons - including all 14-plus seasons at Wisconsin.

"He’s been here long enough and he embodies Wisconsin basketball and everything that it stands for," Nigel Hayes said in support of Gard last week.

When Ryan first hinted at his retirement this past June, he made his desire for Gard to be his successor known.

"I've decided to coach one more season with the hope that my longtime assistant Greg Gard eventually becomes the head coach at Wisconsin," Ryan said at the time.

Ryan, of course, did not finish out the season, which opened up the door for Gard to prove his worth as the lead-man of a Big Ten program - something he has never done, regardless of level.

Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez made it known that he would open up the search on a national level, but at the end of the day Gard's performance with this year's team, the high praise and immense support players within the program have shown him, and the level of respect recruits have for Gard made this decision one Alvarez could simply not pass up.

"Everybody on our team loves him, and I think he’s doing a really good job as everyone else can see," Bronson Koenig said of Gard.

"Coach Gard has done a great job of putting pressure on us a little bit more and making sure that we work hard in practice everyday. Coach Gard has been doing great, and that’s all we care about. He’s really got us to gel better, and that’s helped us a lot," Vitto Brown said. "I support coach Gard."

With the full-time position officially in hand, Gard and his staff can now go out on the recruiting trail without having to hear questions about the uncertain future of the position.

Wisconsin currently does not have a commit for the 2016 class, but 2017 G Kobe King has made his verbal commitment to the Badgers known.

When told the news, King had one thing to tell BadgerBlitz.com: "That's great news."

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