BadgerBlitz.com reexamines its 3-2-1 feature, where we tell you three things we learned, ask two questions and make one bold prediction roughly 10 days after Wisconsin's exit from the NCAA Tournament.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED SINCE WISCONSIN'S TOURNAMENT EXIT
1. Greg Gard will be back in 2024-2025
One of Wisconsin's most polarizing head coaches will be back for another season.
Athletic director Chris McIntosh said Badgers men’s basketball coach Greg Gard will return for a 10th season, according to a report by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Speaking to columnist Jim Polzin, McIntosh said Gard puts the Wisconsin program, “in the best position to be successful in the future.”
“I think Greg has a great understanding of what’s needed in the continued evaluation of our program to get there,” McIntosh told Polzin. “It’s a program that’s been evolving with the times that we live in, and I’m excited about some of the things that he and I talked about for the future and the evolution of our program.”
Gard returning to the sideline is not a huge surprise for a variety of reasons. Since taking over for Hall-of-Fame coach Bo Ryan midway through the 2015-16 season, Gard is 186-107 (.635) and 104-70 (.598) in Big Ten play. A two-time conference coach of the year, Gard is one of 23 B1G coaches to win 100 conference games and the sixth-fastest to hit the century mark in the last 50 years.
Playing the nation’s third-toughest schedule this season, Wisconsin went 22-14 and made the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. Gard-led teams have accounted for five of the 19 winningest seasons in school history.
However, while the Badgers have been mostly competitive in the Big Ten, advancing to the tournament finals earlier this month, UW hasn't been successful in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite earning a five seed, Wisconsin was soundly beaten in a 72-61 loss to 12th-seed James Madison in the first round. The Badgers haven’t advanced past the second round since 2017, losing on an overtime buzzer-beater to four-seed Florida in the last game for Final Four holdovers Vitto Brown, Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig, and Zak Showalter.
The Badgers have lost three of their last four games against lower-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament, twice to No.12 seeds by double digits.
Asked before the tournament if he has spent much time evaluating why UW’s Sweet-16 drought now dates back seven years, Gard answered with a convincing ‘no’ because of the increased parity in college basketball and the impact of the transfer portal.
“There’s going to be more shifting of rosters,” Gard said. “It just flips rosters overnight.”
-Benjamin Worgull
2. Badgers lose five players to the portal, headlined by AJ Storr
