The Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball program is looking for a head coach after Athletic Director Josh Moon fired Will Ryan after just two and a half seasons at the helm. The son of Hall of Fame former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was let go, along with lead assistant Jared Swanson as the Phoenix are enduring the worst season in school history. The Phoenix have dropped 11 straight games and stand just 1-9 in the Horizon League and 2-19 overall. Ryan’s career record at GB was 15-61. He was hired in the summer of 2020 after Linc Darner was fired after five seasons. The program never got on track with the first time Division I Head Coach. Brought on board late in the recruiting year his first season which also coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, his initial team won 8 games. The NCAA transfer portal was relaxed in his second season and departures in each of the next two seasons resulted in declining success, going 5-24 a year ago before bottoming out this season with only two victories.
In a statement from the University’s Athletic Department, Moon said, “I want to sincerely thank Will Ryan and his family for their contributions to the men’s basketball program these past three seasons. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Ryan still has three plus years remaining on his original six year contract which had a base salary of $175,000 per season, meaning the school still owes him $525,000 unless a settlement agreement was reached. The school is also continuing to pay off the rest of Darner’s contract, owing him $20,000 per month through April.
Promising in-state recruits for the 2023-24 season include Max Klesmit from Neenah High School, Marcus Hall from D.C. Everest and Mac Wrecke from Arrowhead but their commitments may change because of the coaching change.
Former Wisconsin assistant Freddie Owens will stay on as interim coach for the remainder of the year along with assistant Brandon Pritzl.
Moon said a national search for a successor is underway with the assistance from the Parker Executive Search firm.
Green Bay’s season continues with road games at Northern Kentucky Thursday and Wright State on Saturday.
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