After stating his intention to retire at the end of his next season, Wisconsin head men's basketball coach Bo Ryan appears to be thinking differently after some rest and relaxation.
Speaking with ESPN on Thursday, Ryan said he will reconsider his retirement plans when he returns from vacation. He also revealed he has not signed any retirement papers, nor is he ready to add years to his contract.
At 67, Ryan has been coaching Wisconsin since 2001, leading the Badgers to 357-125 record and three Big Ten Tournament Championships.
"I will know in the next few months now that I've stepped back into it after vacation,'' Ryan told ESPN. "The reason I did that with [Wisconsin athletic director] Barry [Alvarez] was so he would know my intentions. Barry went through the same thing when he stopped coaching [football] and went to the AD position.''
According to The Appleton Post Crescent, Ryan said at a charity golf event that his previous announcement was to let recruits know he could not "guarantee them four years."
"I just wanted to get it out there that I'm not going to be able to do this forever," he told the newspaper. "But who can say one year? Who can say that? I simply cut to the chase by saying I'll do another year and we'll see what happens in the next number of months."
Ryan also stated in his late June retirement announcement that he wanted to name Greg Gard, his longtime assistant coach, as his successor, ESPN reported. Even at the time of the announcement, Ryan said that was his "hope," so it is unclear if Gard will stick around to succeed his boss.
