Badgers coach Bo Ryan gets bonuses for NCAA tournament success

USA Today says Badger men’s coach Bo Ryan has already made $100,000 by getting his team through the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

He could get another $200,000 if the Badgers can find a way to win the national championship a week from Monday night.

The paper said Ryan got $50,000 when the Badgers made the NCAA field for a 14th straight year, and another $50,000 by making the Sweet 16. Ryan reportedly gets another $50,000 if Wisconsin makes the Final Four, $100,000 if they make the title game on April 2, and $50,000 more if the Badgers are tearing down the nets when CBS plays “One Shining Moment” following the championship game.

Ryan is Wisconsin’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach. His teams have made the Sweet 16 five times in his 11 years in Madison. Last fall, Ryan got a raise that exceeded his total annual compensation to over $2 million.

His base salary from the university is $436,000. The rest comes from a foundation and private gifts.

Getting ready for Syracuse

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team practiced against a seven-footer Tuesday night, as the Badgers got ready to play top-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA’s East Regional at Boston.

Paul Grant, a center for the Badgers in the late 1990s, was part of the scout team that posed as the Orange during the workout in Boston.

Grant played the role of the center in Syracuse’s famous 2-3 zone, the favored defense of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim for three dozen years. Syracuse and fourth-seeded Wisconsin will square off in a Sweet 16 matchup at Boston’s TD Garden at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

Grant lives in Boston. He contacted a UW assistant to see if he could help them out. The NCAA lets alumni practice with teams as long as it doesn’t happen too often.

During the NBA lockout last fall former Badgers Devin Harris and Michael Finley practiced with the team. Wisconsin takes a 26-9 record into Thursday night’s contest. Syracuse is 33-2.

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