Badgers to unveil Bo Ryan banner at Kohl Center in November

Ryan was recently enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Oct 13, 2024; Uncasville, Conn, USA; Class of 2024 inductee Bo Ryan speaks during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement at Symphony Hall Springfield. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Badgers will raise a banner at the Kohl Center honoring legendary former coach Bo Ryan on November 15, the team announced on Monday. That's the night Wisconsin hosts Arizona in the marquee game of its non-conference schedule. Members of Ryan's 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams will be in attendance to watch their coach's name go into the rafters.

It will be a banner moment for Bo Ryan

Friday, Nov. 15 at the Kohl Center

🎟️ https://t.co/r9ePbEZ8Gv pic.twitter.com/QypxfOobnN

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) October 28, 2024

Ryan coached the Badgers from 2001 until his retirement in December 2015. He's the winningest coach in program history, having gone 364-130 while making the NCAA Tournament in all 14 of his full seasons. He was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year four times.

Earlier this month, the 76-year-old Ryan was officially inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Now his name will deservedly be displayed at Wisconsin's home arena forever.

"If my name's going up somewhere, it's all because of the people in the shorts and the shirts like you're wearing right now, and the sneakers," Ryan said while addressing Wisconsin's current team after being surprised with this news. "It's all because of other people. But thanks for this honor. Always remember, it represents the program. That's all that matters."

Before his tenure as the Badgers' head coach, Ryan was an assistant coach at Wisconsin and the longtime head coach of D-III Wisconsin-Platteville.

Greg Gard took over for Ryan in 2015 and has been the Badgers' coach ever since. Gard has won two Big Ten regular season titles, but hasn't advanced past the first weekend of March Madness since 2017. Although expectations aren't particularly high for this year's team — Wisconsin was picked T-12th in a preseason media poll — Ryan believes in this group.

"You're gonna make the experts that predict all this nonsense in the beginning of the year, you're gonna make them look bad again," he said. "But you can carry a towel with you and give them the crying towel after you kick ass this year."

The Wisconsin-Arizona game on Nov. 15 is at 8:00 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN. The Badgers begin the 2024-25 season on Nov. 4 against Holy Cross.