Greg Gard has chance to put full stamp on Badgers program with next hire

[Da-news-now]

Lamont Paris’ departure shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone who follows the Wisconsin Badgers basketball program. On Sunday, Paris left for the head coaching gig at UT-Chattanooga.


While Paris has proved to be a skilled assistant coach, his time to take on a new challenge was now. However, his departure also means that Badgers head coach Greg Gard has a big opportunity ahead of himself.

Less than two years removed from taking over the UW program, Gard is now faced with the opportunity to bring in another new assistant coach. In fact, it will be the third hire he gets to make in filling out his staff.

Gard’s situation as head coach as been unique from the start. Unlike most coaches, he didn’t get to shape is staff out of whole cloth. Instead, he took the opening created by his promotion to re-hire old assistant Howard Moore back to the Badgers bench.

This past offseason saw the opportunity to bring on a former star player, as Joe Krabbenhoft replaced Gary Close, who stepped away after 13 years as an assistant coach himself.

Now, as Paris moves on to putting together his own program, Gard is in a position to make his third and final hire to his staff. If that doesn’t scream putting your own stamp on the program, not much else does.

There’s also the fact that this upcoming season will be the first to truly feature players that are all Gard’s doing. Whether by him being the lead recruiter as associate head coach or as the head coach signing off on offers and letters of intent, the team that will take the court in 2017-18.

What kind of stamp will Gard put on his coaching staff? If early indications hold true, you can bet Gard is going to turn to people who understand what this program is about.

Names like former assistant Rob Jeter and former players Freddie Owens and Sharif Chambliss have come to the forefront early on. Some are true names, others could be speculative at best.

However, given Gard has looked to UW’s past for his first two hires it shouldn’t be surprising to see him do it a third time. It also seems like the smart move for a program that has a clear identity and a clear path to success.

With four new starters to replace and a bunch of crazy-long streaks to live up to, Wisconsin faces a transformational year ahead. Gard is at the helm of it all and his next hire will likely set the stage for whatever will go down.

Getting assistants that understand that and bring their own flare to the job only makes sense.

Whomever Gard decides to hire, whatever happens from this season forward will certainly be all his to own. There isn’t a player or a coach that Gard hasn’t signed off on anymore.

The post Greg Gard has chance to put full stamp on Badgers program with next hire appeared first on A Wisconsin Badgers Site.

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[57packer]

Part of me is hoping they go a little outside the family for someone who can recruit Illinois and Ohio. Everyone keeps bringing up former players like Chambliss, Owens, and Tanner Bronson, but it might be a good idea to add someone without direct UW ties.

I would also cross off Jeter right away. I think he could be good, but he just moved his family to Las Vegas and in the Bo Ryan tree, Jeter was once ahead of Gard. I don't know if Gard being the boss would be such a great idea.

 

[TW]

Excellent point 57. Recruiting out of Chicago could be great. There is one problem with going into areas like that. They're athletes, not student athletes. Wisconsin has avoided that temptation so far.

Getting Hayes out of Ohio was a good move by the Badgers. They need to cultivate that having happened.

I remember when people were saying the Badgers screwed up not going after Diamond Stone and Henry Ellenson, both in-state top centers. Bo sat back, and watched them go to Maryland and Marquette. He also watched them do one season in college, and bolt to the NBA. It was a smart "non-signing," because the Badgers program is an ongoing program not a recruit one year training ground for the NBA.

At this point, I'm a bit skeptical about the talent the Badgers have starting next year. I have no idea how they will shake out.

 

[57packer]

Oh, I agree on Chicago . . . you have to be pretty selective there with regards to making sure you have kids that can make the grades. I'd just like to see if they could pull the occasional good student from there. The main thing is that they need to keep working Illinois for the recruits not in Chicago. Kids like Kaminsky and Happ; Illinois kids who don't seem to get much interest from the home state school. I think there are more of them out there.

Actually, Bo did go after both Ellenson and Stone despite their one-and-done leanings. The thing is, Bo and the UW wouldn't compromise on how they run the program and their standards, which probably led to both choosing to go elsewhere.

For Ellenson, it seemed like he and his family were trying to work a package deal with his brother Wally who had left Minnesota. UW was not interested. Marquette took Wally on scholarship and then Henry came on board. Maybe that was a coincidence, maybe not. Also, interesting that Wally was off the B-ball team after Henry bolted for the NBA. He still had a year of eligibility. Again, maybe a coincidence.

Rumors were that Stone became an academic casualty. I know he had to have multiple runs at the ACT because his scores were low. Again, it very well could be that UW academics were a roadblock and they weren't willing to compromise. Diamond denies it and I'm not sure either way.

Next year's team is a complete mystery. They are losing so many minutes and points and the only guys who seem like a sure thing are Happ and to some degree Trice. Iverson will likely get pretty big minutes as well. Two things might help. Rumor has it that they are actively trying to add a graduate transfer which would give them a senior with some experience. There are quite a few of them out there. The other thing that might help them a little is that they are doing a summer b-ball trip to Australia, which will give the coaches some extra time with the guys and let them work on some things before fall practices.

 

[TW]

I know a little about the Ellenson situation, from inside. My brother is a friend of Henry's Dad. Marquette used the Wally
Ellenson situation to draw Henry in. There was no guarantee. Henry actually wanted to go to Wisconsin, but the one thing the Badgers wanted was a verbal agreement with him and Dad that Henry would stay at least 3 years. He couldn't do that. So, the Badgers let him walk away.

You're right on Stone. He never would have gotten in with the Badgers. He was destined for a one season college career because of academics.

Your analysis of next year is right on. I wonder if Iverson is going to turn into the next Hayes? A grad transfer would be great, as long as it doesn't hurt chemistry. At this point, we have no idea what some of the younger guys could possibly do next year. We saw so little of them, and their roles were specific. We might have a pleasant surprise after they return from Australia. Hard to say.

I'd like to see us getting into a little west coast recruiting as well. There's a lot of talent out in California, particularly, that ends up DII and DIII, because of sheer numbers.

 

[57packer]

Interesting about Henry. Thanks for adding that to the story. No wonder Bo had trouble recruiting these kinds of players. (Not that it was necessarily a bad thing.) I'm sure Bo's stand on staying 3 years would drive many of these types of kids away. Henry actually might have benefited from another year in school but it's hard to turn down first round money.

Cali, Oregon and Washington would be new territory for UW. I think they recruited the Pritchard kid who was playing for Oregon this year. Not sure how that connection was made. I'm sure recruiting out there is a hassle in terms of how much time you spend in the air compared to the time you have to watch the player but it might be a good territory for them to try. Generally pretty good high school academics compared to some areas of the country so maybe a better percentage of kids who'd make the "grades" for UW.