Breaking a long silence, University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez made his thoughts regarding the UW men’s basketball team public Monday, specifically in regards to interim head coach Greg Gard.
“I’ve been impressed with how the basketball team has improved,” Alvarez said. “I think it’s quite obvious that there’s individual improvement. I’ve been very impressed with [Gard’s] adjustments during games and how he matches players up.”
Alvarez, however, declined to comment further on whether Gard is the leading candidate for the job come season’s end.
“It’s way too early to even talk about that,” Alvarez said. “I don’t want to go that far. I gave you my evaluation and that’s where we’ll go. I’m pleased so far.”
At an athletic board meeting Jan. 22, Alvarez and the rest of the board’s members approved the formation of a committee tasked with overseeing the selection process for the next head coach. Whether it’s just a formality or if Gard has fully proven himself to Alvarez is yet to be seen.
A strong list of candidates sits at the longtime athletic director’s desk and speculation has it that current Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is a leading candidate.
Bennett, a Clintonville native, played at UW-Green Bay and was an assistant for the Badgers underneath his father, former UW head coach Dick Bennett.
While Bennett has the lineage and pedigree that make him a flashy potential successor, Gard has held his own.
The Badgers are now 6-4 under Gard, which includes wins over No. 4 Michigan State and No. 19 Indiana, and losses haven’t come at a margin of more than six points, putting him in high-standing.
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Gard, who’s been with the program since 2001, knows the inner-workings and his players well. He helped the Badgers to back-to-back Final Fours as an assistant, but after losing the star players of those teams, he has been tasked with an enormous challenge.
But he has been up to the task so far.
Ethan Happ, a redshirt freshman, struggled to find himself early on in the season under former head coach Bo Ryan. Yet under Gard, he has gone on to win three straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards after winning again this week.
Gard has also looked to the bench more often than Ryan.
Players such as Jordan Hill and Aaron Moesch have seen significant rises in their playing time and the team has looked better with their production.
After his impressive performance during the win against Indiana, Hill was named a starter for the next game against Illinois, in which he recorded two points, five rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes.
For now, Gard has caught the attention of Alvarez and it will be up to him to continue to show he’s a suitable candidate for head coach.
