The leak of a secretly recorded team meeting in February has given the Wisconsin men's basketball program more attention than it would prefer this week.

Those in attendance inside the locker room, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, included seven seniors from a veteran-laden squad, along with the three assistant coaches and Greg Gard. The 37-minute clip displays all seven players letting out their frustrations on a variety of issues that included on the court matters and not having a relationship with their head coach after as many as five years in the program.

In a Thursday afternoon appearance on the Scalzo and Brust Show, Gard tabbed the meeting - and meetings like that - as necessary and "healthy," but said his immediate concern was for his players and the boundary that was crossed.

"I was unaware, much like everyone in that room, that it was recorded. I found out shortly before it was released," Gard said on the show. "Your first thought goes to your players and just the confidentiality and privacy of those types of meetings, which happen throughout the course of years in sports. So that was my first concern.

"There’s always been player meetings, player-coach meetings, since the beginning of time, so those conversations are always healthy. Sometimes they’re uncomfortable, but they’re always healthy in terms of their end result and where they get to. I think part of it was a mechanism for everybody to get some things off their chest."

The audio plays 37 minutes of what was reportedly a two-hour long meeting. The leak only includes the portion of the meeting with the players venting their feelings towards Gard.

"Obviously, there is only a small portion of that meeting," Gard added. "I haven’t listened to the audio because I was in the meeting, I know what was said, so I have not listened to it. But there’s a lot more dialogue and conversation about a variety of topics that also took place beyond that timeframe."

In terms of where the program goes from here, Gard held a team meeting to reassure the groups' circle of trust.

"I met with the team yesterday (Tuesday) and I said, 'how many of you have ever had a team meeting with your high school coach,' and almost every hand in the room went up. That is normal - team meetings and being able to communicate and talk because it’s like a family. What’s not normal is having it recorded and then having it be made public. Players and athletes have very few safe zones and the locker room is always viewed as a safe zone, or a meeting room is viewed as a safe zone. So that right to privacy or confidentiality that everyone expected gets violated, that’s very shaking.

"My message was just, 'hey, be reassured that this is a safe zone.' This is a safe zone and be confident in the people around you that what’s shared here can be done in confidence and with trust and that this circle of trust cannot be broken. That was important."

Gard, who is entering his sixth full year as head coach, assured his concern is with his players, but jokingly asked if he should ask guys to leave their phones at the entrance of rooms.

"They did not deserve that. They entered that room with a sense of confidentiality and a closed-door meeting that was private, so my concern is with them," Gard said. "That’s where I’ve really focused my energy. This isn’t about me. This is about the young men that had a private family meeting be made public. I’m still always open to conversation. Do I have to put a drop box on everybody’s phone or leave devices at the entrance of a meeting room? I’ve had a lot of coaches reach out to me over the last 24 hours saying, ‘hey, we have a drop box, we have a lock box.’

"That circle of trust that was violated is something that, for my players, is my main concern that they have that circle of trust reestablished. That they're safe in those zones and safe in those areas and that’s just a line that doesn’t get crossed."

It was announced Thursday that Wisconsin will play in the 2021 Gavitt Tipoff Games. The Badgers will play Providence on Nov. 15.

The Gavitt Tipoff Games, which began in 2015, is an early-season series between the Big Ten and Big East conferences, according to a release. It is named in honor of Hall of Famer Dave Gavitt, founder of the Big East.

2021 Gavitt Tipoff Games Schedule

Monday, Nov. 15

Providence at Wisconsin

Illinois at Marquette

Tuesday, Nov. 16

Seton Hall at Michigan

Creighton at Nebraska

Wednesday, Nov. 17

Michigan State at Butler

St John’s at Indiana

Thursday, Nov. 18

Ohio State at Xavier

Rutgers at DePaul