Wisconsin basketball longtime assistant coach announces he’s leaving the program

Wisconsin basketball assistant coach Dean Oliver announced he was leaving the Badgers program on Wednesday night.

Oliver has been a mainstay on Greg Gard’s staff for the last seven years since joining the program after the 2017 season.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin basketball’s reported transfer portal visits and targets

“Today, I informed Coach Gard that I am moving on from the University of Wisconsin,” Oliver wrote in a post on X. “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.”

Oliver departs after helping lead Wisconsin through a rocky seven-year stretch of basketball. The stretch included multiple Big Ten regular-season titles (2020, 2022) and two years of missing the NCAA Tournament entirely (2018, 2023).

Related: An early look at the Wisconsin basketball roster entering 2024-25

This news comes after Wisconsin top assistant Joe Krabbenhoft was recently linked to a head coach opening. Krabbenhoft remains on staff at the moment, but 2024-25 could see a large-scale turnover under Gard on the coaching staff.

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Oliver’s departure has many assuming Iowa, his alma mater, could be the next destination. He played for the Hawkeyes from 1997-2001 before a brief NBA career and lengthy playing career oversees.

Gard, meanwhile, has work to do on the roster and now on the coaching staff as he and the program enter a pivotal 2024-25 season.