Wisconsin assistant coach Dean Oliver announces he is stepping down

Wisconsin assistant men’s basketball coach Dean Oliver announced on Wednesday that he’ll be leaving Greg Gard’s staff.

Oliver has been on the Badgers staff since the 2017 season, and has been a part of two Big Ten regular season championships coaching staffs in Madison. He has since released a statement on his leave, but did not reveal his next move.

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“Today, I informed Coach Gard that I am moving on from the University of Wisconsin,” Oliver wrote on social media. “It was an honor and a privilege to have coached here, and while I am excited to take the next step in my career, I know that my experiences as a Badger will stay with me forever. Most of all, a huge thank you to all the incredible student- athletes, coaches, and other staff that helped make my time here such a great experience.”

Before Wisconsin, Oliver began his coaching career in 2011 at North Dakota before moving on to Illinois State in 2014. He stayed at both positions for four years. Before that, he was an All-Big Ten guard at Iowa from 1997-2001. He went undrafted in the 2001 NBA Draft and after a short stint with the Golden State Warriors, he played in the then D-League before going international until his coaching career began.

“I have been impressed with him over the years and after getting to know him better through this process, it became easy to see why he has been so successful in the past as a player and most recently as a coach,” Wisconsin headman Greg Gard said back in 2017 when he hired Oliver. “Everyone I talked to about Dean had the utmost respect for his leadership, teaching abilities and passion for helping student-athletes.

“He has a tremendous reputation for building relationships, has great rapport with players and excels in player development, particularly with guards. It’s rare to find a coach with his combination of professional playing experience and coaching ability and I have no doubt he is the right fit for our program.”

A seven-season stint on Gard’s staff sums up whether or not Oliver was a good fit in Madison. While he moves forward in his career — Wisconsin will always be the first break of his career. He’ll look to apply the experiences gained from coaching the Badgers to his next job in the basketball coaching space.