Post by thetulsawarrior on Jun 26, 2020 21:12:56 GMT -6
Mike Lucas has a nice story tracing Bo Ryan’s Hall of Fame coaching journey. It is linked below but I thought I would add a few UW-Green Bay footnotes to the story. I went online to check my memory. The first time I remember Bo Ryan he was an assistant coach at Racine College. His team was at the old Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena to play a pretty good GB squad coached by Dave Buss. It was the 1973-74 season.
Bill Cofield was the Head Coach of Racine, a financially trouble institution that would close its doors after his lone year on the job. Cofield was the nation's first African American athletic director and head coach at a predominantly white institution of higher learning. Racine was surprisingly tough and there was a guard named Fudge, I kid you not, who kept draining deep shots from all over. I think it was the way the PA announcer would say "Fudge" that stuck in my mind all these years later.
Even with a strong NAIA team Green Bay drew few fans and a handful of us would sit pretty much anyplace we wanted so we were only a few feet from the bench. Buss’s team was old school and it was before a shot clock. The pace while winning was glacial. Cofield and his assistant, Ryan seemed different. Their game featured radically more movement. Even on a shoestring budget, Cofield was a dapper presence on the sideline and his assistant looked young enough to be on the court playing.
After Racine College closed -- Cofield found his way to an assistant coaching position at the University of Virginia under Terry Holland. Two years after that Cofield landed the Wisconsin job and brought Ryan in as his top assistant. Cofield had a five or six-year run in Madison but died of cancer at 43. The Badger players lobbied hard for Ryan to replace Cofield. The higher-ups opted for Steve Yoder out of Ball State who had a ten-year run highlighted by two NIT appearances. Ryan ended up at Platteville, Milwaukee, Madison, and the Hall of Fame.
"When Will Ryan got his big break as head coach, jumping from D-II Wheeling to Green Bay, it confirmed what Bo Ryan has always bought into: 'Somewhere along the line somebody has to believe in you in this profession.' Who was that person in Bo's timeline?"
uwbadgers.com/news/2020/6/26/athletics-general-news-events-lucas-2020-uw-athletic-hall-of-fame-bo-ryan.aspx
Mike Lucas
@lucasatlarge
Bill Cofield was the Head Coach of Racine, a financially trouble institution that would close its doors after his lone year on the job. Cofield was the nation's first African American athletic director and head coach at a predominantly white institution of higher learning. Racine was surprisingly tough and there was a guard named Fudge, I kid you not, who kept draining deep shots from all over. I think it was the way the PA announcer would say "Fudge" that stuck in my mind all these years later.
Even with a strong NAIA team Green Bay drew few fans and a handful of us would sit pretty much anyplace we wanted so we were only a few feet from the bench. Buss’s team was old school and it was before a shot clock. The pace while winning was glacial. Cofield and his assistant, Ryan seemed different. Their game featured radically more movement. Even on a shoestring budget, Cofield was a dapper presence on the sideline and his assistant looked young enough to be on the court playing.
After Racine College closed -- Cofield found his way to an assistant coaching position at the University of Virginia under Terry Holland. Two years after that Cofield landed the Wisconsin job and brought Ryan in as his top assistant. Cofield had a five or six-year run in Madison but died of cancer at 43. The Badger players lobbied hard for Ryan to replace Cofield. The higher-ups opted for Steve Yoder out of Ball State who had a ten-year run highlighted by two NIT appearances. Ryan ended up at Platteville, Milwaukee, Madison, and the Hall of Fame.
"When Will Ryan got his big break as head coach, jumping from D-II Wheeling to Green Bay, it confirmed what Bo Ryan has always bought into: 'Somewhere along the line somebody has to believe in you in this profession.' Who was that person in Bo's timeline?"
uwbadgers.com/news/2020/6/26/athletics-general-news-events-lucas-2020-uw-athletic-hall-of-fame-bo-ryan.aspx
Mike Lucas
@lucasatlarge