Wisconsin Basketball: Greg Gard Deserves Big Ten Coach of the Year

Greg Gard deserves Big Ten Coach of the Year honors for the Wisconsin basketball turnaround he orchestrated

Early in the season, the Badgers looked destined for the NIT and the bottom of the Big Ten. Greg Gard has turned the Wisconsin basketball team into a conference contender and a near-lock for the NCAA Tournament, and deserves the Big Ten Coach of the Year award for his job at the helm of the Badgers.

Let’s travel back in time a bit to December 15, 2015. The Badgers had just won a relatively easy contest against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, a welcome win after back-to-back losses to Milwaukee and Marquette. The press conference following the win shocked Badgers fans everywhere – Bo Ryan was retiring, and Greg Gard was taking over immediately as the interim coach.

For many, it seemed like the season was out the window. The Badgers brass would see if Gard could handle the head coaching job while they prepared their pitches for the likes of Tony Bennett and others.

The situation really looked bleak for the Badgers.

Gard took over a 7-5 Wisconsin team reeling from the news that its head coach of 15 years was stepping down mid-season. Add to that the roster was still trying to figure out how to play without the likes of five departing players – Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan – all five of whom were integral to the Badgers back-to-back Final Four runs.

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But Gard stepped in and after a rough start, has the Badgers in contention for a Big Ten title.

Frankly, it’s a remarkable turnaround.

The first six games with Gard as the interim coach didn’t exactly go as planned. The Badgers won their first game under new leadership against in-state opponent Green Bay, then lost four of their next five to open Big Ten play, digging themselves into a 1-4 hole in the conference.

Since then, the Badgers have been nearly perfect, winning 10 of their last 11 games, including three top-10 victories, two of them on the road. The Badgers are now 11-5 in conference play, and are 12-5 under Gard.

Gard has completely changed Wisconsin’s approach to the game this season. Under Ryan, the Badgers barely cracked a seven-person rotation. Under Gard, four freshman average 10 minutes or more off of the bench, and those freshmen are contributing.

While the Badgers entered the season with a roster that featured just two players – Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig – who averaged more than eight minutes per game last season, low-minute guys from last season are becoming important pieces down the stretch this year.

Vitto Brown has emerged as a legitimate scoring option. Zak Showalter has gone from an energy guy giving six or seven hard minutes off of the bench to a 30-minute-a-night defensive workhorse. Redshirt freshman forward Ethan Happ has gotten stronger and stronger as the season progresses, and the host of young players off of the bench – Jordan Jill, Khalil Iverson, Alex Illikainen and Charlie Thomas – have each had their moments helping Wisconsin’s effort.

Since January 17, the Badgers have completely re-written their post-season expectations, and are now not only expected to make the NCAA tournament, but could even still win the Big Ten.