MADISON, Wis. - - After 29 seasons coaching on the Division I level, Gary Close announced on March 30 that he would not be returning to the University of Wisconsin men's basketball bench for the 2016-17 season.

"That’s a long time," Close told BadgerBlitz.com of his time at Wisconsin. "There were a lot of great memories, and yet hopefully there’s something else out there for me, and that’s why I’ve gotten into this whole ordeal."

A mere 19 days later, Gary Close will be at Glacier Creek Middle School hosting the first session of his newly founded Shot Dr. Academy, aimed at giving boys and girls aged from fourth grade through 12th grade the necessary tools and teachings in order to reach their full basketball potential.

"I’ve always believed in working with players and seeing players get better, and now I may be able to get even a greater impact, in terms of numbers, in helping people improve their game and appreciate the game as much as I do," Close said.

"This venture will hopefully allow for me to touch even more people and help them get better while gaining a greater appreciation for this great game," Close continued. "Part of it is giving back to the community, and a little bit that I’m helping myself out a little bit because I want to stay in coaching. I hope it will be a win-win, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes."

As for the name "shot doctor," Close said: "I’ve never really liked it, to tell you the truth, but in sitting around with my family we were trying to come up with a catchy name, and they insisted on that, so I have to blame it on them."

Throughout the majority of his coaching career, especially during his 13 seasons at Wisconsin, Close was known in and throughout the program as "the shot doctor" due to his unmatched ability to help players fix all aspects of their shot so they may take their game to the next level.

"When I got to campus Coach Close told me my shot was uglier than I was...which was most definitely true," Frank Kaminsky, 2015 National Player of the Year and first-round NBA Draft selection, said of Close on the academy's website. "He worked with me for countless hours to improve my shot. He was committed to making sure that I was not only prepared to play well, but that I could excel while I was on the court."

While one-on-one time is often hard to come by in a team sport, Close always made sure to be available to his players before, during, and after practices throughout the season and even during the offseason to help them with their shot.

Players like Kaminsky, Jordan Taylor, Jon Leuer, Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser, Zach Bohannon, and Ethan Happ have all called upon Close's expertise and teaching skills to help them improve their game.

"When you get phone calls and texts from people saying how much you appreciate what you’ve done for them and their career," Close said, "That feels pretty good."

No one truly knows when or where Close was first referred to as "the shot doctor," but the name does have its origins.

As a self-described "pretty good shooter in high school," Close decided that upon his arrival as an assistant at Stanford University in 1983 he had to find a niche to where, "I could be valuable and have an impact on the program, so I gravitated toward player development and shooting."

It was during his time at Stanford when Close met Des Flood, who was the original shot doctor.

"He taught shooting down in Southern California and really developed quite a reputation for working kids out in his backyard," Close said of Flood. "I used to go down there recruiting, and we got to be pretty good friends to the point where he worked with us on campus. He loved shooting and loved teaching, and we would just sit for hours talking about it. He was really a catalyst for me getting into the teaching of shooting and analyzing it and looking at it closer."

Flood, who was 57 when the two first met, showed Close the intricacies of the shooting motion and allowed for Close to find his niche - one that helped propel the University of Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Fours more than three decades later.

Now, although his time at Wisconsin is complete, Close still believes his niche will be able to provide him with the opportunity to impact lives both on and off the court, even though his target demographic may have changed.

"Obviously most of my time has been spent at the college level for the past 29 years, but I’ve really coached at all of the levels and I’ve enjoyed every level," Close said. "It’ll be a little bit different in terms of teaching them, so communicating with them and giving them teaching points they’ll be able to grasp will be a challenge because of the wide range of age.

"But when you see a smile on a kid’s face as they get excited about doing something and about getting better," Close continued, "That’s a good feeling no matter how old they are."

Of course, there are challenges Close is facing aside from the change in age group, mainly focused around getting his newly-found company off and running.

Close worked tirelessly to secure two gym locations in Middleton - one at Kromrey Middle School and one at Glacier Creek Middle School.

Close meticulously set a schedule for different age groups that sees the younger children go for 60 minutes while the older ones go for 90 - "We're going to push them a little bit harder."

And although Close's sessions have seen a massive amount of interest, the 58-year-old is still trying to figure out ways to best market this next chapter.

"I’ve never Twittered before in my life. Maybe I need to do that."

Sessions, which are currently scheduled to run multiple times per week from April 18 through June 9, are limited to 10 players and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis on the academy's website.

"I’m going to try and do a shooting camp in July, and I’m also going up to the (Wisconsin) Dells and doing some work with players up there on Sundays in the Spring," Close said. "We’ll just see what the interest is out there.

"It might take some time for it to develop, but I’m not in any hurry. I want to do it really well."

The structure of the camp will focus on offensive skills, with an emphasis on shooting. Close will take a hand-on approach and is currently leading all of the sessions on his own - although numerous former players have reached out with offers to help him if need be. The drills will be similar to what Close ran with his players at Wisconsin, but of course will cater toward the needs of the players.

"I might get to the point where I’m video taping kids shots," Close said half-jokingly. "But I haven’t gotten quite that far yet because I wanted to do something here in the Spring, and I didn’t have much time to put it together because this came on pretty quick."

While Monday's first session will be somewhat of a learning experience for Close in terms of figuring out what works and what doesn't work in his new venture, the bottomline for him is that he gets to continue doing what he loves while being able to spend more time at home with his wife and two children.

"No matter what you’re doing, one of the greater things in life is being able to help somebody else. I don’t know if there’s any greater satisfaction, whether it’s your own kid or somebody else’s kid," Close said. "When you see the fruits of your labor in terms of seeing kids achieve these lofty goals they’ve set, and the appreciation they have, that’s as good as it gets.

"I don’t think there’s anything better than that. Even going to the Final Four.

"Those kinds of things last a lifetime."

For more Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and discussion, follow Zack on Twitter.