Dick Vitale shouts out Greg Gard, Wisconsin ahead of NCAA March Madness

ESPN’s Dick Vitale is going to pay good attention to Greg Gard and Wisconsin going into NCAA March Madness next week. The Badgers will take on Michigan Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the Big Ten semifinals but have been hot lately, getting to 24-9 on the season.

Funny enough, Wisconsin beat Michigan earlier this year, 91-88, in Ann Arbor on January 10th, stunning the Wolverines. Can that be duplicated in Big Tens? According to Vitale, it certainly can.

Not only that, Vitale wanted to praise Gard and his job done as head coach. Gard’s been the head coach since the 2015-16 season.

“A team to give some attention to in March Madness will be (Wisconsin),” Vitale wrote on Twitter/X. “They have a # of big time wins over Illinois (2 times) Michigan, Purdue, Michigan St, OhioSt & UCLA ! Greg Gard (is a) veteran coach (who) deserves more positive PR baby.”

Overall, Gard is 237-126 as head coach in his only head coaching gig. He’s led Wisconsin to the NCAA Tournament seven times, including the Sweet 16 during his first two seasons.

If it goes the way Vitale sees it, Wisconsin might set a new best-win total under Gard, which currently sits at 27. But first things first, Michigan in the semifinals.

As far as the improvement is concerned, Wisconsin had notable wins in over the last month that included Michigan State, Purdue and even Illinois in the quarterfinals in the Big Ten Tournament. Gard explained how.

“I think it’s a credit to them for how they recognized how we had to improve, and the improvement,” Gard said. “There were things on the court, but there were probably as many things in our physical and mental makeup that we had to improve upon and grow through, and they’ve done that. It’s been a joy to watch them come together, the chemistry, the connectivity. It just took us time because it’s a relatively new group. Seven of the top eight or nine are new to our program.

“Like I said, it’s just a credit to them for taking coaching, embracing the fact that we had to get better, and they took ownership in it. The results speak for themselves. They’ve done it. They answered the challenge. They followed the instructions of what the coaching staff put out in front of them of how we needed to get better and what it was going to entail, and they attacked it. They’ve done a terrific job with it. Today’s another example of just the perseverance and resilience that we didn’t have back in late 2025 or early 2026, but they’ve grown immensely.”