Cobb natives and brothers enjoy historic season

Platteville, Wis.-Cobb, Wisconsin is a small rural city in Southwest Wisconsin with a population that hoovers around 450.  As Tim McGraw lyrics from his 1997 hit song "Where the Green Grass Grows" says "I'm from a map dot, a stop sign on a black top."  That is Cobb, Wisconsin. 

University of Wisconsin men's head basketball coach Greg Gard grew up in Cobb, attended Iowa-Grant high school and went to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to get an education, earning an undergraduate degree in 1995 and a masters in 2007.  UW-Platteville men's head basketball coach Jeff Gard followed in the steps of his brother, from attending Iowa-Grant, and following Greg to UW-Platteville, earning an undergraduate degree in 2001 and a masters in 2005.  Now, two basketball coaches from a dot on the map are leading their programs to great success.

The first thing to realize is that success can happen anywhere and can come from anywhere," Greg said.  "I have always looked at being from a small town and high school as a huge advantage, because we have both had to climb our way, pay our dues, work hard, and find the right mentors."

Jeff and the Pioneers won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and made the NCAA Division III tournament.  Greg and the Badgers won a share of the Big Ten Title and would have been selected to the NCAA Division I tournament if it was not cancelled by the COVID-19 virus.

The similarity doesn't stop with their respected conference championships, both were named coach of the year in their league, and both were named district coach of the year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).  A pretty good run for two coaches from tiny Cobb, Wisconsin.

Greg began his coaching career in 1990 at Southwestern Junior High as the 8th grade basketball coach, hired by the late Jim Nedelcoff.  He would move up to varsity assistant a year later.  In 1993 Greg took a job at Platteville High School and UW- Platteville.  After the 1993-94 season, Bo Ryan offered Greg a full-time coaching position at UW-Platteville. 

Greg accepted the Hall of Fame coach's offer and was on Coach Ryan's staff up to 2015, when Coach Ryan hung up his whistle and retired.  Greg became interim head coach of the Badgers, and on March, 7th 2016 was officially named head coach.

Jeff started his coaching career at a young age as well, was hired to coach the junior high team at Cuba City, by legendary coach Jerry Petitgoue.  After three seasons at Cuba City, Jeff took a job at Southwestern.  After earning his degree from UW-Platteville, Jeff took a position on Paul Combs' staff at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  Jeff returned to his alma mater in 2003 when Combs was named head coach of the Pioneers.

Jeff spent six years as the lead assistant, helping the Pioneers return to the NCAA III tournament for the first time in 10 years in 2009.  Jeff was named head coach in the spring of 2009 and has led the Pioneers to three NCAA III playoffs and three WIAC titles.

"At a young age I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in athletics," Jeff said.  "Once I saw my 40 time and vertical, I knew being a professional athlete was out of the question.  Having our dad coach us growing up and having outstanding high school coaches in football, basketball and baseball, I was able to see firsthand how much of a positive impact a coach could make on the student-athletes life."

It hasn't been all smooth sailing for the Gard brothers.  Four years ago, the Pioneers finished last in the WIAC.  Jeff leaned on some advice from his older brother.  A year later, Greg and the Badgers finished under .500 and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20 years, and Jeff returned the advice favor.

"The biggest thing we talked about was to stay the course and true to what you believe in and what you are about," Greg said.  "Don't listen to the outside noise because it is irrelevant to the job you have at hand with your team.  We talked a little through each team's struggles but I think we are both confident enough in who we are and what we believe in that we both knew that in time, things would get better.  It was important to not 'overreact' which is today's society's natural knee-jerk reaction.  The last thing a struggling team trying to find their way needs is overreaction."

"It took me a while to connect with Greg during our struggles," Jeff said.  "I was more concerned about wins and losses, then making sure our student-athletes were developing as men.  It wasn't until Greg and I talked that he reminded me to make sure we are doing the little things well, not cutting corners and make this experience about the student-athlete. At the end of the day he was making sure that I stayed true to who I was and continue to believe in who I was and what I was doing."

"Unless you are in a locker room, you sometimes don't see the little things going on.  You have injuries, team cohesion and other things that can give you a rollercoaster of a season."

During the offseason, basketball talk is put on the back burner, occasionally they will exchange ideas, pick each other's brain and give some input on potential recruits they see during the spring and summer evaluation period.  But the talk centers around family and hunting. 

Glen and Connie Gard where the head coaches of the Gard family.  Glen passed away of cancer in 2015, and Glen's funeral card sits on Jeff and Greg's office desks, and both keep it in their front coat pocket of the suit on the sideline. 

"It starts with parenting, that didn't enable us, but yet is supporting and motivating," Greg said.  "We both obviously had that, but were required to work the family farm and do things the right way.  I know that ingrained good work habits into us.  Our parents didn't give us the easy way out, and looking back that has paid huge dividends in our lives."

In December of 2016, Greg and wife Michelle began the  "Garding Against Cancer" initiative to help raise funds for local charities in memory of Glen.  Every season, a WIAC school will host a "Garding Against Cancer" fundraiser on campus, in return the WIAC school will travel to Madison for a pre-season exhibition contest against the Badgers.  Every year, Greg hosts an annual signature event, the 2020 Kentucky Derby themed event was postponed due to COVID-19.  A new date has yet to be released.  Since the inception of "Garding Against Cancer", the initiative has raised over four million dollars.  For more information and ways to donate, please visit www.gardingagainstcancer.org.

Two coaches from a dot on the map, two coaches that led their programs to conference titles, two coaches who been named coach of the year multiple times. Two brothers who continue to make positive impacts on the largest stages.