Bo Ryan disciples branch out

Now that Joe Krabbenhoft has decided to kick off his coaching career back at his alma mater, you might be wondering what to make of this video coordinator position. The role was previously filled by another of Bo Ryan's players, Sharif Chambliss, who left Wisconsin to become an assistant coach for Rob Jeter at UW-Milwaukee last month.

The video coordinator is responsible for running the team's film exchange program and dissecting scouting tapes for teaching points. In addition to fine-tuning your coaching eye, you would get very familiar with the day-to-day administrative duties that are required of a coach.

Stepping stone positions like video coordinator have been valuable stops for aspiring coaches during Ryan's tenure at Wisconsin. Three of Ryan's five former Wisconsin video coordinators are now assistant coaches for NCAA Division 1 programs, two of whom left after ascending to Director of Basketball Operations (DBO) for Wisconsin as well. Chambliss skipped that step entirely, but again, three of the five former DBOs are now assistants (Saul Phillips was the only former DBO to not also start as video coordinator).

All this leads us to discussion of Ryan's coaching tree at large. Ryan has four former assistant coaches currently serving as Division 1 head coaches: Tony Bennett (Virginia), Rob Jeter (UW-M), Phillips (North Dakota St.), and Howard Moore (UIC). Jeter and Phillips also played for Ryan at UW-Platteville.

As you might expect, there are some bigger coaching trees out there, but we don't care about those here. Plus, even though our focus here is on the Division 1 college ranks, ignoring other levels of play would fail to highlight Ryan's enormous impact on the high school coaching ranks in Wisconsin. Several former players from Ryan's Platteville days have had great success at the prep level as the Swing offense has proliferated throughout the state.

Bo Ryan, Wisconsin; former head coach, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Platteville

Head coaches

• Tony Bennett, Virginia (UW asst '01-'03)
• Rob Jeter, UW-Milwaukee (UW associate HC '01-'05; UW-M asst '99-'01; UW-P asst '94-'98)
• Saul Phillips, North Dakota State (UW DBO '01-'04; UW-M asst '99-'01)
• Howard Moore, Illinois-Chicago (UW asst '05-'10)

Assistant coaches

• Duffy Conroy, UW-Milwaukee (UW DBO '04-'05; UW video coord. '01-'03)
• Will Ryan, North Dakota State (UW DBO '05-'07; UW video coord. '03-'05; UW-M player; son)
• Freddie Owens, Montana (UW player '00-'04)
• Tanner Bronson, St. Louis (UW player '04-'08)
• Sharif Chambliss, UW-Milwaukee (UW player '03-'05; UW video coord. '10-'12)

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Here is the entire press release on Krabbenhoft's hiring:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 11, 2012

Joe Krabbenhoft added to Wisconsin men’s basketball staff

MADISON, Wis. –A team captain for the Badgers just four years ago, Joe Krabbenhoft returns to the Wisconsin basketball program to assume the role of video coordinator, head coach Bo Ryan announced Wednesday. An All-Big Ten Defensive Team honoree, Krabbenhoft appeared in every game of his four-year career before graduating in 2009.

"I’m very thankful to Coach Ryan for the opportunity," Krabbenhoft said. "Coaching basketball is something I have always dreamed of and I couldn’t think of a better place to begin working toward that career than at Wisconsin, especially under Coach Ryan. I love the university, the city of Madison and I obviously feel very comfortable with the staff and know most of the players on the team.

"I’m excited to learn the ins and out of the coaching and administration side of basketball through this video position. I’m very grateful for the chance to play professionally over the past three years, and that is hard to give up, but I feel like I’m trading it in for a spot on the sidelines of Big Ten basketball, and that’s an incredible opportunity."

Krabbenhoft joins the Wisconsin staff after playing in the NBA Development League as well as professional teams in South Korea, Greece and most recently Spain in 2011-12.

A 2009 honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, Krabbenhoft still holds the Wisconsin record, since equaled by Jordan Taylor, for career games played. He appeared in 136 contests, with 70 starts, for the Badgers. He was also a part of 100 wins during his collegiate career, totaling 827 points scored. With 756 rebounds and 273 assists in his career, Krabbenhoft is the only player in Wisconsin history to post at least 750 boards and 250 assists. He was also just the fifth player in Big Ten history to reach those milestones.

A native of Sioux Falls, S.D., Krabbenhoft earned his bachelor of science degree in history from Wisconsin in 2009.

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