Wisconsin's interim head coach Greg Gard speaks during an NCAA college basketball press conference at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. Bo Ryan, the team's head coach since 2001, announced his retirement Tuesday after his team's win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. (Michael P. King/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Each time he runs into the man who cut him from the Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team about a quarter century ago, Greg Gard does something few would do in his position.

He thanks his former coach profusely.

Gard's career path changed for the better once his inability to hit a college-level curve ball was exposed.

Having grown up cleaning stalls on his parents' hog farm, Gard had long been content to major in agricultural business and sell tractors for a living after he graduated. Only after being cut from the baseball team did the former three-sport high school athlete realize he wasn't happy without a competitive outlet.

"There was just something missing in my life," Gard said. "When baseball didn't work out, I happened to see an ad in a local shopping guide for a job coaching eighth-grade boys basketball for $800. While all my other classmates were bagging groceries or washing cars to earn money, that was my job. It helped pay for college and it became something I really enjoyed."

In the 25 years since he began dabbling in coaching, Gard has advanced farther than he ever thought possible. He met Bo Ryan while still in college and quickly earned a spot on the future hall of fame coach's staff, ascending from volunteer assistant, to trusted lieutenant, to hand-picked successor.

When Ryan abruptly retired Tuesday night after his 364th victory at Wisconsin, the timing of the announcement was meant to provide Gard the best chance to replace him.

He didn't retire last summer when Gard's father was in the throes of fatal illness. He didn't retire after the season when athletic director Barry Alvarez would have time to conduct a national search. Instead he did it after an innocuous mid-December win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, giving Gard eight days to prepare for his first game as head coach and three-plus months to prove that he's the right man for the job.

"It really shows how Bo looks after and takes care of his guys," said Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter, a member of Ryan's staff from 1994-98 and from 1999-2005. "Greg has been with Bo for almost his entire run and I know Bo values that. He saw something in Greg a long time ago even though Greg wasn't a former player or anyone Bo had known before. Greg made his own way, and I think that's really special."

The challenge for Gard the next few months will be molding an uncharacteristically inconsistent Wisconsin team into NCAA tournament contenders. Having lost five of their seven top players from last year's Final Four team, the Badgers (7-5) have already suffered three home losses against the likes of Western Illinois, Milwaukee and rival Marquette.

There's immense pressure on Gard to succeed with his job at stake, but those close to him think he's too even-keeled to let it unnerve him. They expect him to approach the next three months the same way he always would even if Alvarez will surely have Virginia's Tony Bennett or Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson on speed dial should Gard falter.

"I can't say Greg won't feel any pressure, but knowing the way he operates, I don't think it will affect him," younger brother Jeff Gard said. "He's not going to worry that he's auditioning for his job. That's not how he's wired. He's going to think, 'This is not about me. This is about the guys in the locker room.' When he does that, the higher-ups will see it. They'll see he is the right hire."

One reason Ryan already has faith in Gard is because they have known each other so long.

Gard attended Ryan's basketball camps from eighth grade on and bonded with the coach once he began working those same camps during college. The UW-Platteville staff kept giving Gard more responsibilities each summer until Ryan finally called him over and offered him a full-time position as an undergraduate assistant.

Gard eagerly accepted the gig before realizing that it came with some unforeseen complications. One of UW-Platteville's top players shared an apartment with Gard.

"It was definitely a little odd," Gard said. "I'd hang out with him at the apartment, then I'd tell him he wasn't working hard enough during practice, then we'd go back to the apartment. There were some interesting nights and conversations, but I learned pretty early what line I could cross and what line I could not cross."

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