Greg Gard named Big Ten Coach of the Year

March 9, 2020
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

Greg Gard is the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

The conference announced its award winners and all-conference teams Monday afternoon and the Wisconsin head coach took home the honor for being the best in his profession this season. It’s the first time Gard won the award and he becomes the first Badgers coach not named Bo Ryan to win it.

Gard guided Wisconsin through a ton of adversity on its way to a 21-10 record and its first conference title since 2015. That included the Howard Moore tragedy last May, the uncertainty around Micah Potter’s eligibility, second-leading scorer Kobe King leaving the team in late January and then the controversy and eventual resignation of long-time strength and conditioning coach Erik Helland.

“I really appreciate all the support from colleagues and media acknowledging me, but more importantly, our team and what they’ve accomplished,” Gard said in an interview on the Big Ten Network. “This is a team award. You’re not in this position if you don’t have a really good team. I’m fortunate enough to be able to coach those guys.”

Wisconsin was 5-5 in Big Ten play when King announced he was leaving the program, calling it no longer a fit for him personally or as a player. Since then, the Badgers are 9-1 and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

“I think they came together and they understood the whole was greater than the sum of the parts,” Gard said of the difference after King left. “Once they figured that out, and really believed in that, they just took off.”

The Badgers won the conference title despite not having a single player earn first or second-team All-Big Ten honors — the first a conference winner hasn’t had at least one on either team since voting began in 1948.

Wisconsin did place two players on third team. Junior forward Nate Reuvers was a consensus pick, while junior guard D’Mitrik Trice was named by the coaches.

Gard is the second Wisconsin coach to earn the honor. Ryan won it four times, including three of the four years (2002, 2003, 2015) that the Badgers won the Big Ten title under his watch.