Who Should Replace Greg Gard At Wisconsin

By: Melo Williams 

The Badgers lost 65-57 Wednesday night in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament to Ohio State, and it’s almost a certainty that Wisconsin won’t be playing in the NCAA tournament and will be invited to the NIT.

As Selection Sunday approaches, Greg Gard and his Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team are nerve-wracking sitting hoping the selection committee will spare them some grace for whatever reasons.

As I and other Badgers fans anxiously wait for the Selection Committee decision ourselves, the biggest buzz amongst us fans is if Athletic Director Chris McIntosh should fire head coach Greg Gard.

I am on the side of those who feel it’s time to make the tough decision and fire Gard, like right now.

Looking at the future recruits and commitments, and the landscape of B1G coaches, right now is the perfect time to not only fire Greg Gard, but continue changing Wisconsin’s athletic culture moving away from the old way of doing things.

It’s 2023 and I believe wholeheartedly AD Chris McIntosh understands that, as well as former AD Barry Alvarez which is why he turned the athletic program over to McIntosh, because he trusts his vision and leadership for Wisconsin Badgers athletics.

In his first year as the Badgers Athletic Director, it’s obvious Chris McIntosh’s focus is to make the Wisconsin Badgers an elite program that would attract top prep prospects to Madison, WI.

McIntosh fired Paul Chryst five games into the football season. I knew Jim Leonhard would be the new Badgers football team head coach.

However, McIntosh went against the expected and instead hired Luke Fickell from the University of Cincinnati over Jim Leonhard which completely shocked Wisconsin Badgers Culture.

McIntosh recently fired men’s hockey head coach Tony Granato for underperforming after two straight seasons of underperforming so he should finish cleaning house and fire Greg Gard.

The numbers suggest the Gard experiment isn’t the Badgers’ best bet going forward. Things are declining and going backward slowly but surely, which is exactly what happened under Chryst.

Greg Gard is 161-92 as the head coach of the Badgers. That’s good, not great, and yes things could be much worse no doubt.

For those in favor of keeping Gard, it’s not much on the resume as to why, besides Wisconsin has won a pair of regular season B1G championships which have happened in the last four seasons.

Oh yeah, Johnny Davis was the 10th Pick in the 1st round of the  2022 NBA Draft.

That’s it!

This is why he should be fired besides potentially not making the NCAA tournament this season.

The Badgers haven’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since his first full season with UW as head coach in 2017.

Wisconsin has failed to win 20 games in three of his five seasons as head coach. With former Badgers coaches, Dick Bennett and Bo Ryan consistently winning 20 games a year, the standards and expectations are set high.

Recruits are the Badgers’ biggest issue year in and out. The state’s best recruits always leave the state or choose Marquette. Now, with Marquette head coach Shaka Smart back in Wisconsin, that will make the recruiting trail more difficult for Gard not only in Wisconsin but the Midwest as a whole.

If you look at the top elite basketball players as of late in the NBA from Wisconsin, Tyrese Haliburton, Jordan Poole, Tyler Herro, Jalen Johnson, and Pat Baldwin Jr. all chose other schools besides Wisconsin.

Last year top players from Wisconsin Seth Trimble (North Carolina), Leon Bond (Virginia), Tyrese Hunter (Texas), and Brandin Podziemski (Illinois) all said no to Greg Gard and left Wisconsin.

For me, if the head coach can’t get the state’s best talent to commit to his program, he has to be the problem. Fire him and move on IF winning National Championships is the ultimate goal or if the goal is to only win B1G Titles then Greg Gard is your guy. It’s that simple.

The million-dollar question is if Chris McIntosh fires Greg Gard, then who should replace him, that’s where it gets interesting.

With that being said, names like Tony Bennett, Nate Oates, and John Beilein have come up. Though many feel Bennett will never leave Virginia for Wisconsin some have suggested McIntosh should send him a blank check. Makes sense and cents to me.

However, I have a qualified coach that should be the top candidate if it isn’t Tony Bennett. Are you ready?… Former Badger and Badgers Hall of Famer Tracy Webster.

Is it shocking to you that I said, Tracy Webster? Well, it shouldn’t be, and here’s why.

In high school, Webster was an All-State point guard at Thornton High School in Harvey, IL, and was named the sixth-best point guard in Chicago high school basketball history.

As a Badger, Tracy Webster was an All-Big Ten Conference guard playing under Steve Yoder and Stu Jackson. Webster finished his career with 1,264 points and a school-record 501 assists. He earned all-league B1G honors three times (1992-94), including first-team accolades when he set UW’s school single-season record with 179 assists in 1993 and is one of Wisconsin’s all-time leaders in steals (183).

Tracy Webster has 15 years, a second-to-none wealth of knowledge about basketball, and an impeccable reputation for recruiting in the Midwest. With that, his reach for elite basketball recruits is better than Gards or any other potential coach Badgers fans have thrown out as possible hires.

Webster’s first coaching experience in the B1G was during the 2003-04 season when he worked under Gene Keady with the Purdue Boilermakers.

That is when Webster started making a name for himself as a recruiter in cities like his hometown Chicago, IL, Milwaukee WI, Detroit MI, and Indianapolis, IN among other Midwest strong B1G recruiting areas.

He spent the next three years (2004-07) as an assistant to Bruce Weber at the University of Illinois. The Fighting Illini went to three NCAA tournaments.

Webster coached on the 2005 team that reached the National Championship game that finished as the runner-ups losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels 75-70. That team trio of Deron Williams who went on to become an All-Star in the NBA with the Utah Jazz, Luther Head (Houston Rockets), and Dee Brown (Utah) were all Webster recruits developed by his teachings.

For the next two seasons (2007-2009) Webster was an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky as a member of Billy Gillipsie’s coaching staff where he helped Jodie Meeks develop his game and eventually was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks second-round in the 2009 NBA Draft.

After two brief coaching jobs with DePaul where he was named interim head coach mid-way through the season and Nebraska, Webster spent the next three seasons at the University of Tennessee when Cuonzo Martin hired him to be on his coaching staff, eventually being promoted to associate head coach.

Tennessee reached the postseason in each of Webster’s three years including a Sweet 16 appearance.

Webster helped in the development of Jordan McRae, who finished his career among UT’s career leaders in scoring (16th, 1,521 points), three-point field goals (T-7th, 179), and blocks (13th, 97). A two-time First Team All-SEC selection and was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Cuonzo Martin was eventually hired by Cal and Webster joined Martin’s coaching staff as the associate head coach. In two seasons, Cal went 41-26 earning a No.4 seed in 2015-2016, the school’s highest NCAA seed ever.

In 2009, http://HoopScoopOnline.com ranked Tracy Webster as one of the top 50 assistant coaches in the nation.

Tracy Webster has the ability to recruit better, teach and develop NBA-caliber players. Exactly what Wisconsin needs and Greg Gard can’t offer that.

The Badgers went through a decade of losing after the good teams in the late 70s with Wesley Matthews Sr.

Then the Badgers’ fortunes changed in college basketball after Wisconsin fired coach Steve Yoder and hired Stu Jackson after he resigned as the head coach of the New York Knicks. Stu was the beginning of what we know today as Badgers basketball. Stan Van Gundy replaced Jackson for one season, then Dick Bennett was hired who made improvements to the program. After Bennett was Wisconsin’s favorite coach Bo Ryan who set the bar for Badger’s basketball standards.

Now, we’re here in 2023 on the eve of Selection Sunday and Wisconsin is on the outside looking in.

Though Chris McIntosh recently said Greg Gard’s job is safe, after losing in the opening round of the B1G Conference tournament I’m not certain that Greg Gard is actually that safe.

IF Gard is given another year and it’s a duplicate of this season of losing games, McIntosh will not hesitate to move on from Greg Gard. If and when that day happens and Tracy Webster is available and willing to take over his alma mater, I believe he’s the coach to lead the new culture of Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball.

Tracy Webster Stats:

Inducted in UW Athletic Hall of Fame 2017

• Second-team All-Big Ten in 1992, third-team in 1993, and honorable mention in 1994

• Scored 1,247 career points in just three seasons and is the only player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 500 assists

• Led the Badgers to the 1994 NCAA Tournament, the school’s first appearance in over 40 years

• Still holds the Wisconsin record for career assists with 501 and is ranked second to Mike Kelley in career steals with 183

• Holds the top two single-season assist marks in school history with 179 in 1992-93 and 171 in 1993-94

• Posted seven double-doubles with points and assists

• Holds UW’s single-season mark for 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 49.0% in 1991-92

• His seven 3-pointers in a 1994 NCAA tournament game vs. Missouri tied the school record as did his 13-assist game vs. Michigan (2/26/92)

• Earned team MVP in 1991-92

• Three-time team captain (1992, ’93, and ’94)

Follow Melo on Twitter and Instagram: @_MeloWilliams