By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – The Will Ryan era has officially begun.
Ryan was formally introduced to members of the media as the eighth head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s (UWGB) men’s basketball program June 11 at TitleTown Tech in Green Bay.
The 41-year-old Ryan, the oldest son of former UW-Madison head coach Bo Ryan, spent a year as head coach at Division II Wheeling University in West Virginia before arriving in Green Bay.
He also spent more than 15 combined years as a Division I assistant at Ohio University and North Dakota State University.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved for giving me this opportunity,” said Ryan, who takes over for the departed Linc Darner. “It’s a dream come true, and I’m beyond excited to be the new head coach at UWGB. It’s been a whirlwind, but come July 6 when we get back to campus, the plan is to hit the ground running – now the fun begins. We have some nice pieces returning and some newcomers coming in. I don’t have to recruit 14 kids to come and play.”
Ryan said no current players who are committed to the team have said they aren’t returning next season, including Horizon League Freshman of the Year Amari Davis, who averaged 15.9 points per game a year ago.
“My job is to make Amari a complete player, and he has the tools to do that,” he said. “We will work on his range, but the sky is the limit for him. I’ve been able to talk with most of the players, but you have to recruit every day. If we play tough, man-to-man defense, work our butts off and have the players interact with the fans through community engagement, we will put fans in the (Resch Center).”
He said he plans to recruit the state of Wisconsin, but has to keep his options open.
“The state of Wisconsin is near and dear to me, and there are a lot of good basketball players here,” said Ryan. “Everybody tells me I have to put a gate up around the state, but you also have to welcome kids from other areas, too. There are really good players out there, but do they fit what we want to do? I think Wisconsin kids normally do because of their work ethic.”
Ryan said he doesn’t have a set coaching staff in line yet, but that should be announced in a few weeks.
“I wish I could hire everyone who has reached out to me,” he said. “There are so many high-quality candidates, and I have some guys I’d love to work with – we’re getting close.”
Ryan was non-committal when asked if he would keep any of the Darner staff onboard.
While at Wheeling, Ryan took a team picked last in its conference to a fifth-place finish in 2019-20.
“Wheeling was quite the ride,” he said. “I got the job July 1 of last year, so it’s similar timing to this job. I had five players returning, so I was trying to figure which way was up. We got some kids late and wanted to be competitive. We won our first five games but went through some bumps in the road. We beat every team in the conference except for two. They competed for me and that’s special.”
When it comes to coaching, Ryan said he’s old school like his dad and grandpa
“Maybe I can balance a bit more than my dad did, especially with social media,” he said. “I have three young boys, so I know what it’s like. I want to teach first, and I learned from a young age from my dad on how to build a program. I’ll be constantly teaching.”
Bo Ryan also attended the press conference and said his son didn’t get the Green Bay job because of his successful family coaching tree.
“He probably would have been here sooner if he wasn’t my son,” joked Bo Ryan. “Somebody took a chance on me, and it worked out. I knew from a young age Will was going into basketball, but I never put pressure on him. He loves the game, and it’s in his blood. He was competitive in football and baseball, too. We sent him to a quarterback camp one time, and he came back as the best wide receiver in the history of the conference.”
The hall-of-fame coach said when he comes to the Resch Center to watch his son coach, he’ll be doing so from the box.
“It’s about Green Bay, and it’s about him,” Bo Ryan said. “I’ll be more relaxed sitting up there. It’s neat being a dad and being asked these questions, but he’ll do his own thing.”
Will Ryan and his wife, Emily, have three sons, Owen, Liam and Callen.
Ryan’s first official game as head coach of the Phoenix will be Nov. 10 at Oklahoma State, with his first home game coming Saturday, Nov. 14, against Montana State.