UW-Platteville alumni now lead three Division I teams

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. —Starting Wednesday, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville will mark three alumni who now are head coaches in NCAA Division I basketball games. Interim UW-Madison Coach Greg Gard ’95 joins Rob Jeter ’91 at UW-Milwaukee and Saul Phillips ’96 at Ohio University as head coaches at the highest level of college basketball.

All three played and/or coached under former Pioneer Coach Bo Ryan, who retired from UW-Madison Dec. 15. Gard succeeded Ryan on an interim basis and is the head coach for the first time Wednesday vs. UW-Green Bay. Gard, Jeter and Phillips first worked together on the Pioneers’ staff in 1995-96.

“What’s amazing is that we were all together at the same time,” Phillips said.

Gard joined Ryan as a student assistant in 1993 and was a coach for three of the four Pioneers’ NCAA Division III national championships. He went with Ryan to UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison as an assistant and then associate head coach.

“UW-Platteville should be extremely proud,” said Gard, whose younger brother Jeff is the Pioneers’ head coach. “If not for the people there and the family-type atmosphere they created, none of this ever happens. Of all the places I’ve been, Platteville will always be special and the place where it all started.”

Jeter, who is in the UW-Platteville Athletic Hall of Fame after a standout playing career, is in his 11th season as the head coach at UW-Milwaukee. He has guided the Panthers to a pair of NCAA playoff berths. This season, the Panthers’ 8-4 record includes a win against the Badgers in the Kohl Center.

“UW-Platteville has been such a special place,” he said. “Because it has such a nurturing environment, it allowed us to grow under Coach Ryan and into where we are now.”

Phillips, who captained the Pioneers’ undefeated national championship team in 1994-95, is in his second season at Ohio University. He previously was the leader of North Dakota State for seven seasons, taking the Bison to two NCAA tournaments, including a 2014 appearance that featured a win over fifth-seeded Oklahoma.

“There weren’t many, if any, schools that had the fan base of UW-Platteville,” Phillips said. “I had a blast, and I wouldn’t have traded my five years there for anything. I feel at home there.”

The three coaches all use many of the lessons they learned in Williams Fieldhouse as undergraduates and then as assistant coaches.

“In a large part, what we do is very similar to what we were doing at UW-Platteville,” Gard said. “You can’t reinvent the wheel. There are only so many different things you can do with five guys. So you better have strong principles and philosophies. What it all boils down to is taking care of the ball and taking high percentage shots. That hasn’t changed.”

What else has not changed are their friendships. They stay in contact throughout the year and have been especially close in the past week with the coaching change at UW-Madison.

“Basketball is a common thread in all our lives,” Phillips said. “When you’re a basketball coach for your career, you basically talk basketball and family.”

The three UW-Platteville graduates still consider themselves family, he said, adding, “we’re all very proud of each other and happy for each other.”

Phillips and Jeter offered their advice to Gard as he begins his new stint Wednesday at the Kohl Center.

“Be Greg,” Phillips said. “He’s flat-out as prepared as anyone can be. He’s been ready for this for a long time, and he’s uniquely ready to be the Wisconsin coach. He just needs to be the same Greg Gard who graduated from UW-Platteville.”

Jeter added, “He’s ready. He understands the foundation the program is built upon, but he also won’t be afraid to put his own stamp on the program and be himself. Most importantly, enjoy it. There’s so much pressure in this profession. I know I didn’t appreciate all the little triumphs when I first started. He needs to enjoy the process.”

The three Pioneer alumni have been enjoying the journey together since their paths first crossed at UW-Platteville.

“One year at summer camp the three of us were counselors along with Keno Davis, who is now at Central Michigan,” Phillips said. “One of my campers was Shaka Smart (now the University of Texas head coach). It’s amazing that all those future coaches were together at one time in Southwest Wisconsin.”

“Look at all the coaches who have come out of Southwest Wisconsin and UW-Platteville,” Gard said. “The number of high school coaches who got their start there is something. Miami of Ohio is called the cradle of coaches, but I’m not so sure we shouldn’t be calling UW-Platteville that.”

Written by: Paul Erickson, UW-Platteville University Information and Communications, 608.342.1194, ericksop@uwplatt.edu