Why Hasn't Greg Gard Hired a New Assistant Coach Yet?

A few weeks ago, head man Greg Gard dismissed assistant coach Dean Oliver from his staff. He has yet to name a successor, so what's the deal?

After a few average years, Gard made the decision to let Oliver go. He explained his reasoning to 97.3 The Game saying, “We’re not going to stay in maintenance mode. We’re not going to stay status quo. We’re going to keep getting better and push it, and you have to in today’s world. With the portal and NIL and everything, this landscape of college basketball has changed so much so fast that if you don’t change and stay up with it, you’re going to get buried. And I want to make sure we're continuing on the cutting edge of what we're doing.”

It sounds like Gard wasn't happy with the state of the Badger's recruiting and wanted to make a change. Oliver hadn't produced many impactful recruits and ended up being the odd man out. So where does Gard turn now? He wants someone who can recruit, that much is clear, but he already has assistant head coach Joe Krabbenhoft on staff, so whoever he ends up hiring will presumably have to be fine with being lower on the coaching totem pole.

Finding an A+ recruiter who is also fine with being third fiddle on the staff seems nearly impossible. It could be part of the reason Gard has yet to find a replacement despite losing valuable recruiting time in the process. It's also interesting to note that all of the coaches on Gard's current staff are former players. it would probably be wise for him to break from that tradition a bit in order to get the right person for the job.

The Badgers haven't received a commitment in the transfer portal yet this year, which closes on May 1st. Gard is likely pulling double duty now recruiting both players and a new assistant coach. You'd think he want a high-powered recruiting coach on his staff as quickly as possible, but so does every other team looking for new staff.

Gard might be feeling the pressure and warmth under his own seat, so he probably is making sure this coaching hire hits the mark. Still, without a new coach or a new transfer, fans are left frustrated. Marquette didn't lose a single player to the portal. Illinois just hired a longtime Kentucky assistant. Indiana scored the top transfer in the class. At this point fans just want to see something...anything.