Polzin: How a Hall of Fame speech filled with thank-yous ended a 'beautiful day' for Bo Ryan

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Bo Ryan wasn’t taking any chances.

The man known for his attention to detail during a legendary coaching career that included stops leading University of Wisconsin men’s basketball programs at Platteville, Milwaukee and Madison is still a stickler for the little things when preparing for something.

This weekend it was Ryan’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame as a member of its 2024 class. What could possibly go wrong with a moment as glorious as this one?

Well, Ryan had thought about it. He’d watched those green jacket ceremonies on Sundays of the Masters golf tournament and, while they normally went off without a hitch, sometimes they didn’t.

So Ryan took matters into his own hands. Check that: He enlisted the help of his wife, Kelly, who was going to be the one placing the jacket onto her husband during a ceremony on Saturday.

When the moment finally arrived, the Ryans carried it out without a flaw. Turns out, they’d spent some time practicing.

“Kelly did a great job,” he said. “No turnovers.”

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Ryan delivered a turnover-free performance of his own a day later, dishing out plenty of assists along the way while delivering a speech during the induction ceremony Sunday night at Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield.

This was the cherry on the top of a coaching career that included over 747 victories at the college level. Ryan won four NCAA Division III national titles at UW-Platteville and turned the Badgers into a Big Ten powerhouse while leading Wisconsin to seven Sweet 16 appearances and a pair of Final Four berths.

That success wouldn’t have been possible, Ryan said, without an “inner circle” that included fans, administrators, student managers and assistant coaches.

Ryan saved his players for last.

“For every hill you ran, which I’m known for,” Ryan said. “For every rebound you grabbed, for every free throw you practiced, for every charge you took, for every time you went to the floor for a loose ball, I thank each and every one of you. It was my supreme honor to coach you. I will cherish the memories we share for the rest of my life. Together, all of us along the way were so lucky to run out of that locker room onto that floor to the cheers of family and fans and play the world’s greatest game.”

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A large Wisconsin and Platteville contingent in attendance giggled when Ryan led off his speech saying he wasn’t a storyteller. It was a callback to the inductee who preceded him on stage, Doug Collins, whose speech went on … and on … and on.

Ryan wasn’t about to make it back-to-back soliloquies. He wrapped up his prepared words in a tight 10 minutes.

“I have former players back there that are doing the over-under on how many minutes I’m going to take,” Ryan said.

One of those former players was Rob Jeter, who helped deliver Ryan’s first national title at Platteville and later served as an assistant under Ryan at Platteville, Milwaukee and Madison.

Jeter was like a little kid at Christmas. He took a selfie in front of a poster of Ryan at a downtown hotel and watched with pride as Ryan walked up the stairs during a red-carpet event before the induction ceremony.

“I tell this story all the time, but I was probably his least-recruited player,” said Jeter, who’s now the coach at Southern Utah after stints at Milwaukee and Western Illinois. “He maybe recruited me for a month. I came to visit and there was something about him that I’m like I want to play for him. There was something about him that was just different.”

It was pouring in Springfield as inductees and their families arrived, but Jeter said that didn’t matter.

“This,” he said, “is a beautiful day.”

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Ryan said earlier in the day that the only thing that made him nervous about his upcoming speech was that he knew it’d be emotional. He’d broken down during a practice run earlier Sunday and, sure enough, it happened again during the real thing.

Mentioning former Wisconsin coach Bill Cofield, who gave Ryan a chance to coach at the college level after starting his career as a head coach at a junior high school near Philadelphia, made Ryan take a moment to collect himself.

So did mentioning his father, Butch, who died in 2013, months before the Badgers began a season that ended with a special group led by Frank Kaminsky and Co. helping Ryan get the Final Four monkey off his back.

“He excelled at teaching life through the game,” Ryan said of his father, “and I have strived to follow his example.”

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Ryan thanked his wife, Kelly, “the real Hall of Famer in our family.” The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past June and arranged for all five of their children and spouses to attend the Naismith Hall of Fame festivities.

When Jeter heard that Bo and Kelly had practiced putting on the Naismith jacket, he just smiled.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Jeter said. “One of his favorite deals was, ‘plan your work, work your plan.’ There’s just something about how he looks at everything. That’s why it’s so fitting that he’s here today.”

How grateful was Bo?

“I’m so happy,” he quipped, “I might even thank the refs.”