Wisconsin Badgers

A coaching veteran of more than 30 years, Greg Gard heads into his 11th season leading the Wisconsin men’s basketball program in 2025-26 and has proven himself to be one of the best head coaches in the Big Ten.

A finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year in 2022, Gard has guided the Badgers to Big Ten regular season championships in two of the last six seasons. Gard was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in each of those title-winning campaigns (2020 and 2022).

Wisconsin’s incredible postseason success hasn’t wavered on Gard’s watch either, qualifying for seven of the nine  NCAA tournaments during his tenure (Big Ten automatic qualifier status in canceled 2020 Big Dance, due to COVID-19 pandemic). His postseason ledger includes Sweet 16 appearances his first two seasons at the helm.

GREG GARD

Hometown

Cobb, Wis.

Family

Wife, Michelle

Daughters, Mackenzie and Peyton; Son, Isaac

Education

B.S., Physical & Health Education, UW-Platteville, 1995

M.S.E. Counselor Education, UW-Platteville, 2007

Coaching Career

Head Coach, Wisconsin (2015-present)

Associate Head Coach, Wisconsin (2001-2015)

Assistant Coach, UW-Milwaukee (1999-2001)

Assistant Coach, UW-Platteville (1993-99)

Assistant Coach, Platteville [Wis.] H.S. (1993-94)

Assistant Coach, Southwestern [Wis.] H.S. (1990-93)

In his first 10 seasons as head coach, Gard has amassed a record of 213-117 (.645), owning the third-highest win percentage in school history behind only Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members Bo Ryan (.737) and Walter Meanwell (.712). Gard has led the Badgers to six of the top-20 winningest seasons in program history.

Gard has guided the Badgers to a conference record of 117-77. During the 2023-24 season, he became the sixth-fastest coach to reach 100 Big Ten wins in the last 50 years trailing only Bob Knight, Bo Ryan, Thad Matta, Tom Izzo and Gene Keady.

After initially taking over on an interim basis midway through the 2015-16 season, Gard would go on to win the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award that season and was officially named head coach of the Badgers on March 7, 2016. Through nine seasons, Gard has already risen to fourth on the school’s all-time wins list and owns the third-best win percentage in program modern-era history.

In 24 total seasons on the Badgers’ bench (assistant/associate under Bo Ryan from 2001-15), Gard has seen the Badgers finish lower than fourth place in the Big Ten standings just five times.

During his tenure as head coach, Gard has helped a quartet of players reach first-team All-Big Ten status:  John Tonje was a second-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten in 2025; Johnny Davis was a consensus All-American, the Big Ten Player of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten in 2022; Ethan Happ was a third-team All-American that received first-team All-Big Ten distinction in 2017, 2018 and 2019; Nigel Hayes earned the first-team All-Big Ten nod in 2016.

Gard led arguably his most impressive coaching job during the 2021-22 season. Picked 10th in the preseason Big Ten standings, the Badgers finished 25-8 overall and 15-5 in league play while capturing a share of the Big Ten regular season title. UW earned a No. 3 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, claiming a 69-64 win over Colgate in the first round. Gard was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Sophomore guard Johnny Davis developed into one of the best players in the country, garnering consensus first-team All-America honors and winning Lute Olson National Player of the Year, Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year, and Big Ten Player of the Year. Brad Davison claimed second-team All-Big Ten honors, while Chucky Hepburn was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and Tyler Wahl earned a honorable mention All-Big Ten nod.

The 2020-21 season brought unprecedented challenges due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, but the leadership of Gard and his staff helped navigate the Badgers to an NCAA tournament appearance. The Badgers finished the season 18-13 overall (10-10 Big Ten), highlighted with an 85-62 win over North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Gard's leadership during the 2019-20 season was among his best. After opening the season 5-5 overall, then beginning Big Ten play with a 5-5 record, Wisconsin won nine of its final 10 games, including its final eight games of the season to clinch a share of the 2020 Big Ten regular season championship. UW also claimed the No. 1 seed for Big Ten tournament, which was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During its run to end the season, UW knocked off No. 14 Michigan State, won at No. 19 Michigan and closed the year with a win at Indiana to clinch its share of the regular season Big Ten title.

In 2018-19, Gard piloted the Badgers back to the NCAA tournament, posting a 23-11 overall record. Wisconsin also boasted a mark of 14-6 in Big Ten play, winning 14 conference games for just the 3rd time in school history, joining 16-win seasons in 2008 and 2015.

Gard’s Badgers posted a 12-6 conference campaign in 2017, finishing second in both the regular season and the Big Ten tournament. Wisconsin would cap off its 27-win season with a signature win in the NCAA tournament, knocking off the nation’s No. 1 team Villanova, 65-62, to advance to the Sweet 16. In fact, Gard became just the third coach in the last 20 years to pilot his team to the Sweet 16 in each of his first two seasons, joining UCLA's Steve Lavin (1996-97) and Gonzaga's Mark Few (2000-01).

In his inaugural season as head coach, Gard led the Badgers to the 2016 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, becoming just the second-ever first-year coach to win the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award. He followed that up by leading UW to the fifth-highest single-season win total in school history (27-10) and making a second-consecutive visit to the Sweet 16. The transition to Gard’s leadership began with a 1-4 start to the Big Ten Conference season in 2015, leaving UW at 9-9 overall, but it didn’t take long for the Badgers to adjust. Wisconsin proceeded on a run that saw them become one of the nation’s hottest teams down the stretch of the regular season, winning 11 of its final 13 games. A 77-76 victory over No. 4 Michigan State at the Kohl Center on Jan. 17, 2016 was the beginning of a seven-game win streak that also featured a home win over No. 19 Indiana and an impressive road triumph at No. 2 Maryland. The Badgers later added another road win over No. 8 Iowa on Feb. 24. UW finished the 2015-16 regular season in a tie for third place in the Big Ten standings with a 12-6 conference record. Gard led the Badgers to the most Big Ten wins by a first-year coach since 2004 (Bruce Weber, Illinois).

Long considered one of the top assistant coaches in the game, Gard served as an assistant at Wisconsin for 14-plus seasons, including the final seven as the associate head coach. During that time, Gard served as the Badgers' recruiting coordinator in addition to on-floor coaching duties, opponent scouting and game preparation, and the constructing of future game schedules. He was also the director of the Badger Boys Basketball Summer Camps.

In 2015, Gard was ranked as the fourth-best "X&O" assistant coach in college basketball by coachstat.net. In 2012, Gard was named No. 3 on the list of top assistant coaches in college basketball according to Bleacher Report. FOX Sports also listed Gard No. 10 on its list of the nation's top 25 assistant coaches.

Gard's 13th and 14th seasons in Madison were some of the program's most memorable. He helped guide the Badgers to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2014 and 2015, and in 2015 UW reached its first national championship game since 1941. Wisconsin shattered the school's single-season wins record (36) in 2015 and became one of just 10 teams with at least 36 wins in Division I history. In 2014, UW finished 30-8 and won at least 30 games for just the third time in school history.

As an assistant and associate coach at Wisconsin (2001-15), Gard helped pilot the Badgers to four Big Ten regular season titles and three Big Ten tournament championships, most recently winning both crowns in 2015. UW made the NCAA tournament in each of those 14 seasons, advancing to seven Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights, two Final Fours and one national championship game appearance.

Gard’s first six seasons as head coach at Wisconsin continued a trend of lofty academic success, placing 40 players on the Academic All-Big Ten list. Over his 20 years in Madison, UW has boasted a total of 88 Academic All-Big Ten honors, trailing only Purdue and Northwestern over that span.

Prior to coming to Wisconsin in 2001, Gard spent the previous two seasons as Ryan’s assistant at UW-Milwaukee, where he had responsibilities in scouting, summer basketball camp operations and on-floor coaching, as well as involvement with recruiting.

Previously, Gard served as an assistant coach to Ryan at UW-Platteville from 1993-99. During Gard's years on the Pioneer staff, UW-Platteville compiled a 161-13 (.925) record and won three NCAA Division III titles, five straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championships and appeared in six consecutive NCAA tournaments. In his final year at UW-Platteville, Gard served as Ryan's top assistant in charge of recruiting, camp operations and scouting. He also worked as an advisor in the university's admissions office.

Prior to joining Ryan's staff in Platteville, Gard spent three seasons at Southwestern High School and one at Platteville High School, where he served in junior high and assistant varsity coaching capacities.

In 2016, Gard and his wife, Michelle, partnered with the University of the Wisconsin Foundation and the UW Carbone Cancer Center, to launch Garding Against Cancer. This fundraising initiative raises funds for cancer research and patient care within the state of Wisconsin. Since its inception, Garding Against Cancer has raised over $9 million as of May 2025 - including $750,000 alone at GAC's most recent signature fundraising event.

Gard is a 1995 graduate of UW-Platteville with a degree in physical and health education. He received a master's degree in counselor education from Platteville in 2007.

Gard and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Mackenzie and Peyton, and a son, Isaac.