KANSAS CITY, MO – Bo Ryan, a 1969 graduate of Wilkes University, is one of 12 decorated former players and coaches that will be inducted into the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame on Thursday, October 31 at the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph, Missouri.
 
Joining Ryan in the class is Phog Allen (Central Missouri, Baker), World B. Free (Guilford), Michael Harper (North Park), Marques Haynes (Langston), Cleo Hill (Winston-Salem State), Larry Humes (Evansville), Vern Mikkelsen (Hamline), Danny Miles (Oregon Tech), Mel Peterson (Wheaton), Ed Smallwood (Evansville) and John Smith (Winona State).
 
Ryan served as the Head Coach at Wisconsin-Platteville from 1984-1999, where his teams posted an overall record of 352-76 for an 82% winning percentage.  He guided the Pioneers to four NCAA Division III National Championships, winning the title in 1991, 1995, 1998 and 1999. The '95 and '98 titlists posted 31-0 and 30-0 records, respectively, only the second and third time that feat has been accomplished in DIII history. 
 
He also won eight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and set a Division III scoring defense record in 1997, with his team allowing only 47.5 points per game.  During his tenure, UW-Platteville was the winningest NCAA men's basketball program of the 1990's (all divisions of the NCAA) with a 266-26 record, good for a remarkable 90.8% winning percentage.  In his last 12 seasons at Platteville, his teams had a home record of 157-7.
 
Ryan was hired by Wisconsin in 2001 and spent the next 14-plus years piling up a school-record 364 victories. His Badger teams never failed to reach the NCAA Tournament, never finished lower than fourth in the Big Ten standings, and won four conference titles. A four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, Ryan's Wisconsin career was highlighted by a Final Four appearance in 2014 and a run to the national championship game in 2015 - his final full season on the sidelines.
 
Ryan was named DIII National Coach of the Year four times and also earned WSUC/WIAC Coach of the Year honors six times. He is a member of the UW-Platteville Athletic Hall of Fame, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the Wilkes University Athletics Hall of Fame. The court at UW-Platteville now bears his name.
 
Ryan was a standout guard from 1965 to 1969 with the Wilkes men's basketball team. During that span he scored 807 points, grabbed 278 rebounds and handed out 276 assists. Ryan still holds the Wilkes record for field goals made in a game after hitting on 18 of 28 shots on his way to a 43-point performance against Susquehanna in 1969. He graduated from Wilkes with a degree in business administration in 1969.