Different Rebuilds but Similar Challenges For UWM, Wisconsin Men’s Basketball Teams

×

Expand

Photo: mkepanthers.com

UWM Panthers Vin Baker Jr. Feb. 2022

Vin Baker Jr.

UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison’s men’s basketball teams both ended their seasons in defeat.

Those losses occurred just a few blocks apart. The Panthers fell to the University of Illinois at Chicago in a first round Horizon League Tournament game at Panther Arena. A few weeks later, the Badgers—playing a bonafide home game at Fiserv Forum—were bested by Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The two programs are traveling down divergent paths, but both enter the off-season facing significant turnover. Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis and UWM’s Patrick Baldwin Jr. are each projected to be first round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Wisconsin will also be without the graduating Brad Davison, while UWM faces the graduation of team leader Josh Thomas plus departure of four key players in the transfer portal. DeAndre Gholston—the Panthers’ leading scorer—plus, starting guard Jordan Lathon, big man Joey St Pierre and Senegalese center Samba Kane all seek to finish their college careers elsewhere.

On the sidelines, Milwaukee head coach Patrick Baldwin received his pink slip less than 24 hours after his team’s early conference tourney exit—the result of five losing seasons and a 57-92 record at the helm.

Following underwhelming postseason showings and eventful off-seasons, how will Wisconsin and UWM manage their respective rebuilds and can they rebound entering the 2022/23 campaign?

Another Rebuild for Milwaukee

It seems like ages ago, but in the early 2000s, UWM boasted one of the best mid-major basketball programs in the country. Bruce Pearl and then Rob Jeter led the Panthers to three NCAA Tournament appearances—including a Sweet 16 berth in 2004/05.

Over the next decade, UWM made the tourney once (2013/14), losing to two-seed Villanova in the first round. The Panthers were no slouches during this stretch. They only had three losing seasons in Horizon League play and retained an overall record above .500. Yet the presence of conference juggernaut Butler prevented any excursions into March.

In 2015/16, UWM finished 20-13 (10-8 in HL play), falling in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. The UWM administration had seen enough; after 11 solid seasons, head coach Rob Jeter was fired.

Successor LaVall Jordan lasted one season, guiding the Panthers to a last-place finish then departing to assume the helm at Butler.

Enter Pat Baldwin, a long-time assistant with Northwestern. “Our main goal and focus is to compete and win championships,” Baldwin said after getting signing a five-year contract with the Panthers in 2017.

His tenure was marked by mediocrity, but, more worryingly, was defined by an inability to maintain roster stability. While recent changes to transfer rules have hampered the ability of mid-majors to keep their best players, Baldwin had an especially difficult time establishing the continuity necessary for success.

Milwaukee’s top three scorers from 17/18 transferred after the season, including all-conference honoree Jeremiah Bell. Baldwin continued to bring in talent, yet players left just as quickly.

Illinois transfer Te’Jon Lucas twice made the All-Horizon League Team before transferring to BYU in 2021. This offseason, UWM lost DeAndre Gholston—a 15.3 PPG scorer in his two seasons as a Panther—to Missouri, and Patrick Baldwin Jr., the former coach’s son, who is likely going pro.

Baldwin Jr., the oft-injured five-star recruit from Sussex, missed 20 games his freshman season, and flashes of his promise—including 20 points on 6-6 three-point shooting in a win against Robert Morris—were far too infrequent as the team finished 10-22 overall.

Baldwin Jr.’s commitment to Milwaukee was an eye-opener given his prominent status, but he will go down as another talented player to leave UWM without a post-season appearance.

Fresh Start

The Panthers will hope for a fresh start under new coach Bart Lundy, who took over the team on March 19.

Lundy offers a diverse resume. The 50-year-old boasts two stints (totaling 14 years) as head coach at Queens University of Charlotte (North Carolina)—including a pair of Final Fours; six years coaching at tiny High Point University (also in North Carolina), where he led the Panthers to their first winning season as a D1 program and an overall record above .500. Lundy also spent three years as Director of Basketball Operations at Marquette during the Buzz Williams years.

“I think you guys have seen it with Bruce Pearl,” Lundy said at his introductory press conference. “Not saying that I am Bruce Pearl by any means, but they've been to a Sweet 16, and they know what it tastes like and looks like. I think you can get guys who can be pros here. You have got to get good players, so I don't think there is a ceiling that has been touched for a while.”

Getting talent to Milwaukee has never been the issue, the challenge for Lundy now becomes whether he can build a sustainable winning program.

Wisconsin Replaces a Superstar

On March 31, Johnny Davis made official what most Badger fans had been expecting for months: he was forgoing his college eligibility and entering the NBA Draft.

Per ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft, Johnny Davis is projected to be the seventh overall pick. This would be the second-highest draft slot for a UW player behind only Devin Harris, who was the fifth pick in 2004.

Davis averaged 19.7 PPG and 8.2 RPG this season en route to Big Ten Player of the Year and Lute Olson National Player of the Year honors.

Add in the departure of super-senior/team leader/second-leading scorer Brad Davison, plus the loss of reserve big men Chris Vogt (graduating) and Ben Carlson (transferring), and coach Greg Gard is looking his own rebuild.

Unless Tyler Wahl becomes a more consistent scoring punch or Chucky Hepburn makes another big stride his sophomore year, it is increasingly likely that UW will be without a go-to scorer next season.

Unlike their Horizon League neighbors to the east, Wisconsin rarely procures transfers, instead choosing to develop its recruited talent. Gard signed a pair of transfers following the 2020/21 campaign, but Micah Potter is the only big-impact transfer in recent memory.

While the transfer portal has impaired UW-Milwaukee, a prominent school like Wisconsin can profit from the saturated market of collegiate talent.

Among the biggest names available is Illinois State star Antonio Reeves, a Second Team All-Conference honoree in the Missouri Valley who averaged 20.1 PPG. At 6-6, Reeves offers comparable size to Johnny Davis and although he is a weaker defender, Reeves put better shooting numbers from all areas of the floor.

Another possibility is Wright State transfer Grant Basile, a 6-9 Pewaukee native who can offer the interior scoring punch (18.4 PPG, 8.5 RPG) Wisconsin so sorely lacked this year. Both Basile and Reeves have one more season of eligibility plus the choice to play another using their COVID years.

Wisconsin’s overreliance on Johnny Davis was evident in March—Davis took one third of the Badgers' field goals, and when he struggled, so did the UW offense. There was no Plan B, no secondary scorer to take the pressure off the star wing from La Crosse.

Instead of corralling a big-time scorer, perhaps coach Gard’s best course of action is to build a more balanced offensive attack.

The Badgers’ last second weekend run in the NCAA Tournament was a Sweet 16 appearance in 2017. That team had three go-to scorers—Bronson Koenig in the backcourt, Nigel Hayes on the wing, and Ethan Happ in the paint. The 16/17 squad also had three regulars who shot 39% or better from three.

This year’s side lacked that harmony. Davis and Davison, while high-volume scorers, were largely inefficient (combined 40.8% from the field). Big man Tyler Wahl came in late strong mid-season but was not offer a consistent threat.

The most damning offensive stats though were three-point percentage and assist rate: as the Badgers ranked 300th or worse among D1 programs in both categories (out of 358 schools). Those are not issues that will be rectified by bringing in a high-volume scorer from the transfer portal.

Thanks to the emergence of Johnny Davis, a rebuilding Wisconsin team that was predicted to finish 10th in the Big Ten preseason poll earned a share of the regular season Big Ten title. The Badgers once again face a roster overhauled, and the decisions Greg Gard makes in the coming months will affect the program for years to come.