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JIM PHELAN
NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD |
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April 4, 2008 |
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OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
JimPhelanAward.com
PRESS RELEASE:
2008 Phelan Award Finalists
THE AWARD:
Download the 2008
Award |
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 BOSTON
(MA) -- After
leading Wisconsin to both the Big Ten and regular
season and conference tournament championships, Bo
Ryan has been selected as the recipient of the 2008
Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.
The award, which is voted on by a 20-member selection
and is chaired by Jim Phelan, is presented annually at
the Final Four to the top coach in college basketball.
“There weren’t many who thought Wisconsin would be a
factor in the Big Ten, let alone win the league,” says
CollegeInsider.com’s Joe Dwyer. “But Bo Ryan has made
a career of proving people wrong. He is without
question one of the top handful of coaches in all of
college basketball.”
Wisconsin did in fact begin the season unranked and
all the preseason publications had the Badgers picked
anywhere from fourth to sixth in the Big Ten. Ryan’s
team would end the season with a school-record 31
wins, which includes a record 16 Big Ten wins (most in
the conference since Indiana went 17-1 in 1992-93).
Ryan’s team ran off ten straight wins early in the
season, highlighted by a last-second win over Texas on
the road (Dec. 29). The Badgers closed the season with
a 13-game winning streak before losing to Davidson in
the regional semi-finals.
“It’s a great honor to receive an award from an
organization like CollegeInsider.com bearing Coach
Phelan’s name,” says Ryan. “I have gotten to know
Coach Phelan over the years and I have always admired
him as both a coach and a person. And nobody does a
better job of covering all aspects of the game then
CollegeInsider.com so I am truly honored to hold this
award.”
This was the third Big Ten regular-season title for
Ryan in his seven seasons. It’s the first time in
school history the Badgers have won both the
regular-season and tournament titles in the same
season.
On the heels of the Big Ten tournament championship,
the Badgers earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA
tournament, which is the second-highest seed in school
history. Wins over Cal State Fullerton and Kansas
State put Wisconsin in the Sweet 16 for the third time
in the last six seasons.
Under the guidance of Ryan, Wisconsin is one of only
five schools in the country to win at least 30 games
in each of the last two seasons and a 61-11 record
over two years is fifth best nationally.
 Ryan’s
team led the nation in scoring defense (54.4 ppg.).
In his seven seasons at the University of Wisconsin,
Bo Ryan has led the Badgers to heights not reached in
Madison in many years. Each season further establishes
UW as a major player on the national scene and Ryan as
one of the top coaches in the country. His Badger
teams have compiled a 173-60 (.742) record, already
placing him third on Wisconsin’s all-time wins list
(behind basketball hall of famers Bud Foster and
Walter Meanwell).
Ryan was one of ten finalists for the award. The other
nine finalists were Rick Barnes (Texas), John Calipari
(Memphis), Keno Davis (Drake), Bob McKillop
(Davidson), Sean Miller (Xavier), Matt Painter
(Purdue), Bruce Pearl (Tennessee), Brad Stevens
(Butler) and John Thompson III (Georgetown).
Prior to 2003 the award was known simply as the
CollegeInsider.com national coach of the year. It was
renamed to honor longtime Mount St. Mary’s head coach
Jim Phelan who retired following the 2002-03 season.
The previous winners of the award are Tony Bennett
(Washington State) in 2007, Ben Howland (UCLA) in
2006, Tubby Smith (Kentucky) in 2005, Phil Martelli
(St. Joseph’s) in 2004 and Mark Slonaker (Mercer) in
2003.
www.JimPhelanAward.com
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