Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches in 2023 offseason

By Joey Loose | Apr 17, 2023

Feb 16, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter fist bumps Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo after the game at Mackey Arena. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 75 to 65. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

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Big Ten Basketball Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports /

6. Greg Gard – Wisconsin

Gard has spent his entire basketball life in the state of Wisconsin after being born just outside of Madison. An alumnus of Wisconsin-Plateville, he coached there under Bo Ryan and followed him to both Milwaukee and Wisconsin in the following years. Gard spent more than two decades aiding Ryan and was a part of Wisconsin’s Final Four teams in 2014 and 2015.

He was named head coach in December 2015 after Ryan retired and has had a decently successful seven and a half years at the helm. The Badgers made Sweet Sixteen runs in each of his first two seasons and have recently won a pair of Big Ten regular season titles. Although Wisconsin missed out on the NCAA Tournament this season, he’s averaging more than 20 wins a season and has won two of the last four Big Ten Coach of the Year awards.

The bottom line is that Gard is not Ryan and they haven’t quite had that same level of success, but what Gard has done with the Badgers isn’t disappointing either. While it’s certainly disappointing to miss out on the NCAA Tournament again this season, he’s made five trips and has had decent success when he’s gotten there, even if the Badgers are six years removed from a trip to the second weekend. It’s not always pretty, but Wisconsin has had winning basketball under Gard’s leadership.

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