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Bo Ryan's success at Wisconsin has made him a fan favorite throughout the state. It's also made him one of the most hated coaches by most other fan bases (seriously, there's been some pretty bitter comments aimed at Ryan on our site, which have honestly been pretty mild compared to comments made elsewhere). Love him or hate him, there's at least one thing you have to respect about Ryan and that deals with the coach using his position to continuously raise money to help fight cancer.
Once again it's time for Ryan's annual #MakeBoPay event in Madison. The Shooting Down Cancer event, which takes place at the Kohl Center, has became a tradition for Bo and Kelly Ryan as they raise money to fight cancer. For every Wisconsin student that participates, the Ryan's will donate $1. They will also donate an additional $10 for every free throw made and $1,000 for every made half-court shot. The event will also provide an opportunity for students to meet Bo Ryan and the team.
The event is now in it's fourth year and will take place this Monday. In last year's event, the Ryan's ended up donating $53,555. However, thanks to several organizations matching their donations, the event raised over $276,000, a noticeable increase from $66,150 in 2013 and $41,279 in 2012. All in all the event has raised over $380,000 since it's inauguration.
While students will get their chance next week, Wisconsin's student-athletes got an early crack at rising money this week. All in all 299 student-athletes ended up raising $8,139, with seven made half-court shots during the event:
299 total student-athletes. 7 half-court shots. $8,139 raised. Thank you to our amazing student-athletes for making #MakeBoPay a success!
— Badgers Give Back (@BadgersGiveBack) October 7, 2015
Bo Ryan's Shooting Down Cancer event isn't the only event he's been involved with when it comes to raising money to help research and fight cancer. The coach has also been actively involved in the Wisconsin Coaches vs. Cancer gala, raising over $1.1 million for cancer research back in the spring.