Bo Ryan finalist for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

(WNFL)- Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan often has a lot to say about his team but he rarely gets emotional about it. Yesterday was an exception, when he was asked about his nomination for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 67-year-old Ryan was named on Saturday as one of 12 finalists for this year’s induction class. After his fifth-ranked Badgers trounced Illinois by 19 points, Ryan was asked what it would to be enshrined and honored for his three plus decades of basketball coaching. He said it would be a “Thank you” for all the people he played for, or played with and the all of the faculty members and administrators at the schools he has coached for. Ryan is in his 14th season at Wisconsin, and his 31st college season overall with a record of 727-226. Ryan notes that he doesn’t have Twitter or Facebook, but some players e-mailed him or texted him upon learning of his being picked as a Hall-of-Fame finalist. He said he’d be “pretty happy” if it put a smile on the face of the “12th man,” the player at the end of the bench whom he coached at all the schools where he served — including UW Madison, Milwaukee, and Platteville.