Will Ryan hired as the head coach at Green Bay

Will Ryan, the son of former Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan and a Wisconsin-native, has been hired to be the next head coach at Green Bay. Ryan joins the Phoenix after one season as head coach at D-II Wheeling (WV).

“What a great day for UW-Green Bay and Green Bay men’s basketball,” AD Charles Guthrie said in a statement. “Hiring leaders is about getting the right fit at the right time and I have no doubt that Coach Ryan is exactly the right person to lead our program today and into the future. Will’s overall body of work as a collegiate coach has been remarkable and I believe that experience will serve us tremendously well as he embarks on his tenure at GB.”

While this is Ryan’s first D-I head coaching job, he spent 12 years as an assistant under Saul Phillips at North Dakota State (2007-14) and Ohio (2014-19) before heading to Wheeling last year. Prior to NDSU, he worked for five years on staff at Wisconsin and also played for his father at both UW-Platteville and Milwaukee.

“I am beyond excited to be the next head coach of the Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball program. It’s an honor and a privilege to come back to my home state of Wisconsin and join a great University,” said Ryan. I look forward to building a program with a group of hard-working student-athletes who are proud to represent Green Bay.”

The Phoenix went dancing in 2016 and were CIT Runner-Up just over a year ago. The school decided to part ways with former head coach Linc Darner last month after five seasons at the helm, during which time he was 92-80 overall.

Ryan inherits a team that went 17-16 (third in the Horizon) last year with three of the top five scorers graduating this summer. One key player that will return is sophomore Amari Davis, who averaged 16/4/2 last year en route to be named Third-Team All-Horizon and the League’s Freshman of the Year.

credit to Green Bay Athletics for the image