Germantown coach played for Bo Ryan, now cheers on son

GERMANTOWN (WITI) -- Germantown boys basketball coach Steve Showalter is one of the Badgers biggest fans. His son is on the men's basketball team playing in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four this Saturday, April 5th.

Showalter has another connection to the Badgers -- he was a member of Coach Bo Ryan's first recruiting class at UW-Platteville in the mid 80's. During his senior year, Showalter, Coach Ryan and the Pioneers nabbed a conference championship.

Now, nearly 30 years later, Showalter's son, Zach, is a red shirt sophomore for Coach Ryan.

"Here he gets to celebrate with these kids and yet he is one of those guys and it's almost like a dream come true to me," said Showalter.

Coach Ryan and Showalter have remained close over the years and the two had a chance to talk after Tuesday's practice in Madison.

"I just wanted him to know that I was proud of him and we started out together, kind of, 30 years ago and he's still going strong and so am I. That's a cool thing," said Showalter.

Coach Showalter is heading to Texas on Thursday with the hopes of being part of another championship team.