Thoughts On Bo Ryan?

[armageddon]

See, in my scenario, the rift goes the other way. "Don't these guys know who my dad is?"

But yeah, Wiscy is the school that worries me in terms of stealing Bennett. At least he went to Green Bay, so it's not his alma mater.

Sorry, but you're not going to get Tony to think that way, either. He is too decent a person.

Ryan isn't going anywhere unless he succumbs to health issues. He loves to coach and he loves to coach at his current address.

But when he does step down, if certain people are still in power at UW Tony's cell will be buzzing so fast it will make his head spin.

And unless he is firmly entrenched at Virginia (assuming he is still there), he'll be packing up the van and moving to Madison.

 

[Big Circus]

Oh, I know the rift isn't happening. Pure wishful thinking on this Wahoo's part.

I do think they have a shot to keep him. If he's still there when Ryan retires, he'll have had the kind of success that makes it hard to leave a school. And, most importantly, never underestimate UVa's ability and desire to money-whip a coach they're interested in keeping. They had the highest hoops budget in the country a few years ago. This is the school that gave Al Groh 10 years for going to the Continental Tire Bowl, and they've been looking for a hoops winner since Terry Holland left. They'll back up the money truck for him if he wins.

 

[armageddon]

Oh, I know the rift isn't happening. Pure wishful thinking on this Wahoo's part.

I do think they have a shot to keep him. If he's still there when Ryan retires, he'll have had the kind of success that makes it hard to leave a school. And, most importantly, never underestimate UVa's ability and desire to money-whip a coach they're interested in keeping. They had the highest hoops budget in the country a few years ago. This is the school that gave Al Groh 10 years for going to the Continental Tire Bowl, and they've been looking for a hoops winner since Terry Holland left. They'll back up the money truck for him if he wins.

Won't be about the money (and UW won't back up the Brinks truck).

Seeing his pops take UW to the Final Four in 2000, at a place he longed to coach, was a huge moment for the family.

The chance to come back and coach where his dad coached, in state in which his name is legendary, would be hard to turn down.

 

[Big Circus]

Speaking of the Bennetts (and jacking this thread beyond all recognition)...did any of you Sconnies read the unfortunately-timed SI feature on the Bennetts a couple of months ago? It was a perfectly good article, but I had to laugh at the picture of **** they used. I mean, Tony is a handsome mother****er, and the **** pic (ha!) they used made him look like Mr. Bean.

 

[dixiehack]

Not that I'm an Urban Meyer cheerleader, but he didn't go to another school in his conference and he sat out a year. Maybe not the best example.

 

[armageddon]

Speaking of the Bennetts (and jacking this thread beyond all recognition)...did any of you Sconnies read the unfortunately-timed SI feature on the Bennetts a couple of months ago? It was a perfectly good article, but I had to laugh at the picture of **** they used. I mean, Tony is a handsome mother****er, and the **** pic (ha!) they used made him look like Mr. Bean.

Didn't see the story but **** Bennett doesn't look like **** Bennett if he isn't wearing a "tortured" look.

You want to talk about a guy who was a blast/pleasure to cover, ask any of the reporters who covered Bennett's teams.

They'll all tell you he was brutally honest, answered any question as truthfully as he could and understood the job of a scribe.

Someone told me a story once regarding the death of his brother, back in the mid-90s I think. Guy died from AIDS and we all know that's not something a lot of folks talked about openly back then.

Apparently, Bennett was going to miss a game to attend the funeral. Rather than hide anything, he apparently called the reporters over after practice and explained everything. Where he was going, why, when he'd be back etc.

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

I think he's doing a great job so far with the Illinois Central College men's golf team. Just named conference coach of the year, team won the league. Seems to be on right track with recruiting ... oh, not THAT Bo Ryan. Sorry.

 

[exmediahack]

Speaking of the Bennetts (and jacking this thread beyond all recognition)...did any of you Sconnies read the unfortunately-timed SI feature on the Bennetts a couple of months ago? It was a perfectly good article, but I had to laugh at the picture of **** they used. I mean, Tony is a handsome mother****er, and the **** pic (ha!) they used made him look like Mr. Bean.

Didn't see the story but **** Bennett doesn't look like **** Bennett if he isn't wearing a "tortured" look.

You want to talk about a guy who was a blast/pleasure to cover, ask any of the reporters who covered Bennett's teams.

They'll all tell you he was brutally honest, answered any question as truthfully as he could and understood the job of a scribe.

Someone told me a story once regarding the death of his brother, back in the mid-90s I think. Guy died from AIDS and we all know that's not something a lot of folks talked about openly back then.

Apparently, Bennett was going to miss a game to attend the funeral. Rather than hide anything, he apparently called the reporters over after practice and explained everything. Where he was going, why, when he'd be back etc.

I was there that day at practice. Had just transitioned from college kid who plays a lot of pickup to college kid who is just starting in media.

That's exactly what **** did when his brother passed. **** loved to talk about the pursuit of the perfect basketball game. His brother Jack wasn't as tortured but ran the same system at Stevens Point (and won multiple titles... After Ryan left Platteville).

Not to say that **** wasn't moody at times but I think that came from frustration when we arrived in Madison, trying to get the Jackson/Van Gundy holdovers to play his style.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I remember watching Bennett's Wisconsin team lose to Michigan State in the national semifinals game in 2000 and it was about as painful to watch as elite college basketball could be.

He's a great coach, but that slowdown offense was just dreadful to watch. I never seemed to mind when Princeton did it, but I remember during that game overhearing someone behind me say, "Will somebody take a ****ing shot?"

 

[armageddon]

I remember watching Bennett's Wisconsin team lose to Michigan State in the national semifinals game in 2000 and it was about as painful to watch as elite college basketball could be.

He's a great coach, but that slowdown offense was just dreadful to watch. I never seemed to mind when Princeton did it, but I remember during that game overhearing someone behind me say, "Will somebody take a ****ing shot?"

Mizzou:

Had the pleasure of covering that Final Four (love indy) and was assigned to that game.

Reason that team couldn't take a shot that night was that it couldn't GET a shot against the team that played hellacious defense and won the national title two nights later.

That UW team finished just 8-8 in the Big Ten but got hot at the right time -- 11-4 in the last 15 games. The four losses? All against Michigan State.

UW averaged 63.5 ppg in the 11 victories; 46.3 ppg in the four losses to Sparty.

It wasn't the team so much as MSU's defense.

Still have the numbers on flash drive. Pathetic, I know. ;D

 

[poindexter]

Not that I'm an Urban Meyer cheerleader, but he didn't go to another school in his conference and he sat out a year. Maybe not the best example.

He didn't sit out a year going from Bowling Green to Utah. Or from Utah to Florida.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I remember watching Bennett's Wisconsin team lose to Michigan State in the national semifinals game in 2000 and it was about as painful to watch as elite college basketball could be.

He's a great coach, but that slowdown offense was just dreadful to watch. I never seemed to mind when Princeton did it, but I remember during that game overhearing someone behind me say, "Will somebody take a ****ing shot?"

Mizzou:

Had the pleasure of covering that Final Four (love indy) and was assigned to that game.

Reason that team couldn't take a shot that night was that it couldn't GET a shot against the team that played hellacious defense and won the national title two nights later.

That UW team finished just 8-8 in the Big Ten but got hot at the right time -- 11-4 in the last 15 games. The four losses? All against Michigan State.

UW averaged 63.5 ppg in the 11 victories; 46.3 ppg in the four losses to Sparty.

It wasn't the team so much as MSU's defense.

Still have the numbers on flash drive. Pathetic, I know. ;D

Agree that was an amazing MSU team. It was definitely strange seeing a team score something like 40 or 41 points in a game. Hell, Haslem scored 27 against them in the title game.

My favorite memory of that Final Four was that I was on the road covering something else and was about to fly home and my boss called me and said, "We just changed your ticket, drive to Indy and cover the Final Four." We had gotten one more credential than we thought we were getting, so I was sidebar boy. The best part was I had three days in Indy where I didn't have to write a single thing. I felt like I was on vacation.