Without a weekend game, Wisconsin head basketball coach Bo Ryan had some time on his hands this weekend. Though he did not have a game to coach, basketball was still very much on his mind. In his free time, he attended a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association meeting, where it was decided that Division I schools will be allowed to schedule Division III schools in the coming years.
“As the college rep on the executive board, I get a chance to be involved with a lot of issues in the state with the game of basketball,” Ryan said. “I enjoyed the news about being able to play Division III schools. They couldn’t believe how easily that went through, because what it does, it allows Division III schools [a choice]. If you don’t want to play, you don’t play. If you do want to play, you can. It’s great legislation when you’re leaving it up to the individual institutions to make the decision.”
A long-time veteran of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Ryan spent 15 years at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he won eight WIAC titles and captured four national championships. He also served as an assistant coach at the College of Racine. Ryan is looking forward to the opportunity to schedule interested Division III coaches.
“There are some schools that maybe don’t want to play — which is fine — in the state conference,” Ryan said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. They feel it might not help their team. There’s a difference of opinion out there. The other thing is these are our games, and we do get to pick who we want.”
Along with the Division III state schools, the state’s major programs will also be able to schedule private schools and NAIA teams.
“Nobody said we weren’t going to play any private schools, because they all jumped in right away and said, ‘Oh, yeah, he’s going to take care of all his state-school buddies,'” Ryan said. “Wait a second, it had to start somewhere. Who was it that pushed for legislation? The WIAC. There’s coaches out there in Division III and private schools — I played in Division III private schools — so it’s not just limited to state schools. There are state schools that do want to play, and there are private schools in the state that want to play. NAIA schools are eligible to play, that’s all part of it.”
The chance to play against the in-state powerhouse could prove to be added incentive for some Division III players who may have been passed over by larger schools coming out of high school.
“There are some teams that because of late bloomers, because of guys maturing in a way … where people would go, ‘Where did that guy come from? He’s pretty good. He could be playing at a lot of Division I schools,'” Ryan said. “That’s true, that happens and there might be some years where maybe Wisconsin or Milwaukee or Green Bay or Marquette might be down because of some injuries, because of maybe somebody that left for the NBA.”
Ryan and the Badgers are anticipating a challenge from some of the hungry Division III players and schools.
“You can’t tell me that there aren’t players in the state of Wisconsin on men’s and women’s side at some of those state schools that didn’t think that their teams in a particular year could give a Division I team a heck of a game,” he said. “If they’re not thinking like that, they’re probably not playing at a school that’s winning championships.”
There is no set-in-stone pattern as of yet for how Division III teams will be scheduled.
“Whatever Division I men’s and women’s coaches want to do, that’s all up to them individually,” Ryan said. “We never tried — when Lisa (Stone) and I were talked to about this — we never tried to say that the other Division I schools had to get some rotation going. No, it’s all individual coaches. While they’re under contract, it’s their exhibition games. We’ll play some state schools. Exactly which ones, that hasn’t been determined yet. The option is out there now, that’s the great part. The handcuffs are off.”