Green Bay has a new head coach and hopes to remain in contention of Horizon League Basketball next season. They’ll be led by one of the league’s best players in Amari Davis.
The offseason has not been kind to Horizon League asketball. The conference has never been a model of stability and this offseason has been worse than normal. The best basketball team in the conference Wright State no longer have the required number of division I sports. If the Raiders do not get a waiver from the NCAA, which seems plausible considering the money lost by the school during the pandemic, Wright State will lose their Division I eligibility, leaving the Horizon League without their best basketball team.
The league took a step towards rectifying that by adding Northeast conference power Robert Morris and and Summit League team the Fort Wayne Mastodons. Those two teams are set to join the conference for the upcoming season. One of the longest tenured teams in the ever-changing Horizon League are the Green Bay Phoenix. Green Bay fired their coach Linc Darner recently, and even though the move may make sense to some. Darner had one tournament appearance in his tenure, and one could argue he underachieved with the rosters he was given. Green Bay hired Will Ryan, who is the son of former Wisconsin legendary coach Bo Ryan.
Coach Ryan is going to have some pieces to work with this year. Green Bay does return a talented sophomore in Amari Davis. Davis is a great piece to build a team around, especially for a first-time division one coach. Even though most of the Horizon League is a mess in terms of conference stability and consistency, the Phoenix are poised to take a big step forward this year led by their fantastic sophomore.