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What is the measure of a great coach in college basketball? For Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan, it’s all about consistency. But does that make him great?

His resume speaks for itself: 12 years with the Badgers, 12 NCAA tournament berths. No finish lower than fourth in the conference standings. One of the best winning percentages in conference play. Ever.

Ryan has elevated Wisconsin men’s basketball to its highest level since 1941, when the team won its first and only NCAA tournament championship. What Stu Jackson and Dick Bennett started Ryan has continued, turning the Badgers program into a seemingly perennial lock for the NCAA tournament every year. For perspective, prior to Ryan’s arrival, the school had made just seven trips to the tournament since Wisconsin created a team in 1898.

Still, it’s hard to be satisfied when the farthest Ryan has made it in his 12 seasons is the Elite 8. And that was just one time, with the Badgers falling to eventual champion North Carolina Tarheels in 2005-a team that featured four NBA First Round picks and six draftees overall that year.

So, three Sweet 16’s and an Elite 8 appearance highlight Ryan’s success on college basketball’s biggest stage. You’d think after years of consistency Ryan would have had more success in the tournament. Maybe that year was 2007, when the Badgers were at one point ranked No. 1 in the country and had Alando Tucker, only to lose big man Brian Butch to a dislocated elbow late in the season during a road game with Ohio State. That team, widely considered far and away to be Ryan’s best, lost in the second round to UNLV with Butch watching on the bench.

Lately, the talent level hasn’t been the same on Ryan’s teams. There hasn’t been that dominant player like a Tucker or even a post player as dominant as Butch, but there has been noticeable talent. Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer were effective, but not at an unquestioned superstar level.

That being said, the last few years of recruiting have been harsh on Wisconsin and Ryan. While the rest of the Big Ten powers have been building and garnering nationally recognized prep talent, the Badgers are on the outside looking in. The last McDonald’s All-American Wisconsin has successfully recruited was Brian Butch, the only one since 2000 and just the second since 1977.

You can probably guess what programs have gotten the most of these high level recruits in the past 13 years. Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky make up the top three, while Big Ten schools Ohio State, Michigan State and Indiana all rank within the top 15.

Look at the incoming 2013 recruiting classes around the Big Ten. Indiana, according to ESPN.com, will bring in one five star recruit and three four star recruits. The only two recruits for Ohio State are both four stars. Michigan State has only one commit, but a season ago they brought in five star recruit and Big Ten Rookie of the Year Gary Harris along with three other four star players. And don’t look now, but Michigan has been hauling in some major recruiting classes. When you watch the Wolverines play in the Final Four this weekend, look at who’s on the floor wearing maize and blue. Chances are you’ll see former five star recruit Glenn Robinson III and former four star recruits Mitch McGary and Nik Stauskas. Michigan’s 2013 recruiting class is made up of three four star recruits.

The Badgers, in comparison, bring in just one four star player in Nigel Hayes and a much hyped about three star point guard in Bronson Koenig, who received offers from North Caroline and Duke. After that, it gets murky. Riley Dearring is another three star guy and Jordan Hill and Vitto Brown are both two stars.

Let’s be clear, rankings don’t mean everything. Ryan is a coach who can squeeze almost everything out of players and develop them, but it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to have some players who come into Madison ready to play right after their arrival like Sam Dekker, a five star recruit and Wisconsin’s initial sole scholarship recruit in the 2012 class.

Look at the last couple of years in terms of Wisconsin’s recruiting classes. Remember the Diamond Taylor and Jeremy Glover debacle when the two freshman recruits were kicked off the team for being charged with burglary in September of 2008? Then Wisconsin saw prized in-state recruit Vander Blue decommit and then commit to rival Marquette-thanks to heavy recruiting by then Golden Eagles freshman and past high school teammate Jeronne Maymon. Then Wisconsin lost one of their most touted underclassman last year, Jarrod Uthoff, a four star recruit from the 2011 class, when he elected to transfer to Iowa.

To go along with past recruiting mishaps, Ryan let in-state recruits slip away this year. Four high school seniors who call Wisconsin home were ranked in the ESPN 100 this year, an index of the top college basketball recruits. Out of those four, not a single one will be joining Ryan and the Badgers next season. Some of these players didn’t even receive an offer from Wisconsin.

Even though the talent in the state of Wisconsin has been thin the last few years, two Wisconsin high school players nationally ranked in the top 10 of recruits in Kevon Looney and Diamond Stone showcase a bright future of instate talent the Badgers should desperately focus on signing, no matter how slim their chances may be.

And why are chances so slim to sign these highly ranked players? Well, Wisconsin basketball does not have a great image with the high school talent of today. The kind of offensive style the Badgers run would make most athletic, offensive minded players-players that UW is in desperate need of-run for the hills rather than Madison. And Ryan doesn’t exactly have a very great PR image after initially blocking all those schools during the Uthoff transfer controversy.

I’ve often wondered how good a Ryan system team could be if they had top talent like a Duke or UNC. The only problem is, that’s a dream. Marquette is suddenly becoming a go-to destination for college basketball in Wisconsin rather than UW.

There is no arguing Bo is a great coach. But in college basketball, to be successful at the highest level, you have to be a great coach and a great recruiter. Is Ryan a great recruiter? Time will tell, but as of now, Wisconsin still hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2000.

Nick is a fifth year senior, sports editor of The Badger Herald and a law school hopeful. Besides writing, Nick also hosts “The Badger Herald Sports Hour” and is a member of the WBA award winning show the “The Student Section” on 91.7 WSUM.