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AUDIO: Former Badger Kaminsky expresses support for Greg Gard

Greg Gard

Greg Gard

AP

With the University of Wisconsin formally posting its head basketball coach opening on Friday, athletic director Barry Alvarez has taken the next step in the process of naming a successor for the retired Bo Ryan. Under state law, which is common for public institutions, before a hire can be made the position needs to be posted publicly and there have to be multiple interviews of candidates.

Does this mean that interim head coach Greg Gard will be the choice? That remains anyone’s guess, but the timing is seen by many as a positive development for the coach who has led the Badgers to nine wins in their last ten games. Gard, who served as Ryan’s assistant throughout the latter’s tenure in Madison, certainly has his supporters with one being former Wisconsin big man Frank Kaminsky.

Kaminsky discussed the matter on his “Year One” radio show that he co-hosts with Justin Termine on Sirius/XM NBA Radio, noting that he’s “going to be very upset if [Gard] does not have the job come next year.”

Termine: “And just by talking to other people is that the direction a lot of the former players want them to go in, with Greg Gard?”

Kaminsky: “Yeah, absolutely. It’s what everyone wants. It’s what everyone’s always wanted. That’s why he stuck around for so long. I mean, he definitely had opportunities to take other head coaching jobs, he just didn’t want to do it because he wanted this job. And now he’s done it and now he’s doing very well with it and I think he deserves to keep it moreso than anyone else. You’d hate to have some tradition that he and Coach Ryan built together just be handed to someone else.”


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After losing four of its first five Big Ten games, Wisconsin’s now 10-5 in conference play after picking up a 67-59 win at No. 8 Iowa Wednesday night. Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig have led the way, but the strides made by players such as forward Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown have been just as important for the Badgers. That’s helped Wisconsin, which at one point this season appeared destined for the NIT, develop into a team capable of having success in next month’s NCAA tournament.