It has been interesting and mostly fun (if not always easy) to watch this Milwaukee Panther Basketball program rebuild itself back to prominence over time.... (since 2006).
Kaylon Williams led this Panther team at the point like a true pro last season.
It’s pretty amazing to realize that UWM has had the same coach in place since April of 2005. Our program boasts the most stability at the head coaching spot in all of the (increasingly relevant) Horizon League.
To have an established "Jeter" system and a team assembled with recruits who are taylor-made for that system is an invaluable status to have and one that few coaches with less than at least 3 years under their belt can take comfort in.
For Jeter, will this seventh season at Milwaukee be Lucky #7? There is little doubt that Coach Jeter has built this program into a perennial Horizon League contender. But for many fans, especially those fans spoiled by the unprecedented run of success under Bruce Pearl’s four-year reign in Milwaukee, anything short of an NCAA Birth is a failure.
We have all heard the chorus of detractors pine for the good ol’ days and dismiss even last year’s regular season Horizon League Title and NIT appearance as all well and good, but hardly anything to be proud of...
This all being said, while I’m quick to trumpet the many successes that have built this team into what it is today, I am as disappointed as the next die-hard Panther fan that we have been MIA in March from the Big Dance since Jeter’s '05-'06 inaugural season.
Remember this? (ironically, a bigger Milwaukee student section than in 2005). Let's do it again.
- Coach Jeter is 101-89 (.532) in 6 seasons with Milwaukee, not mentioning the 2006 NCCA 2nd Rd. Run
- Just 1 losing conference season record ('06-'07)
- Defeated ranked opponent (Butler) on our home floor
- '10-'11 Horizon League Regular Season Champions
- 2011 NIT Participant
Wins and losses are etched into the collegiate basketball record. While not gangbusters on the winning front (30 wins would be nice though!), the program's trend is absolutely on the upswing. Numbers don’t lie.
Milwaukee will have at least three chances to chalk up some huge upsets (@ Michigan State, vs. Wisconsin, and @ Marquette). And with the way Brad Stevens seems to be able to take any group of Bulldogs deep into the Tournament, we will also have more chances to once and twice and three times again topple what has become not just a flash-in-the-pan, but the bona-fide face of the new reality in college basketball.
Milwaukee will have at least three chances to chalk up some huge upsets (@ Michigan State, vs. Wisconsin, and @ Marquette). And with the way Brad Stevens seems to be able to take any group of Bulldogs deep into the Tournament, we will also have more chances to once and twice and three times again topple what has become not just a flash-in-the-pan, but the bona-fide face of the new reality in college basketball.
Payback for
their devastating NCAA Invite door-slam last March will be a sweet thing
to achieve- if everything pans out to it’s full potential. A 2-bid Horizon is something that all Horizon League fans would welcome... let's just hope that Milwaukee is one of those teams.
Milwaukee junior shooting guard Ja'Rob McCallum will be key to '11-'12 success
On a more uncomfortable note, most
Panther fans by now have heard about Kaylon Williams' unfortunate DUI incident a
couple of months ago. While we await the final verdict, we have to remain hopeful that Kaylon can right his
ship and get back to doing what he did best- man our point.
Ricky Franklin got a second chance and he
ran with it. If anything, this situation is a
teachable lesson to others on the team (one or more of whom may very well have also
gotten behind the wheel of a car over .08 in their lifetime) as well as a wakeup call
to K-Dub to turn his life in a more purposeful direction and never again get
involved in a situation like that.
Kelm is no freshman anymore. Expect status from this Panther forward.
But back to the team and what is for sure. With a roster heavy on forwards and light on guards, one
might think the team could be looking at 2-guard lineups and much
more action in the post than in years past. That may be true- James
Haarsma is a proven D-I Beast of the Paint and JuCo transfer Demetrius Harris
could be a player in that same vein.
But with the tremendous outside shooting abilities of other bigs like Tony Meier and Kyle Kelm, don’t expect the Panthers to shy away from their long-standing reliance on perimeter shooting. The inside-outside game that has worked so well for us under Jeter is very much intact. With a solid block game, and the shooters we have returning and making their debut (Paris Gulley, Evan Richard, Shaq Boga, etc.), we might just witness a '04-'-05-type season unfold here in '11-'12.
Ja’Rob McCallum and Lonnie Boga (I think earlier fan talk of Lonnie redshirting this season may be scuttled by the fact we are now going to need all the guards we can play), along with newcomers Paris Gully and Evan Richards should have no problem with the catch and shoots. Milwaukee's perimeter shooting should be a very strong suit, once again.
But with the tremendous outside shooting abilities of other bigs like Tony Meier and Kyle Kelm, don’t expect the Panthers to shy away from their long-standing reliance on perimeter shooting. The inside-outside game that has worked so well for us under Jeter is very much intact. With a solid block game, and the shooters we have returning and making their debut (Paris Gulley, Evan Richard, Shaq Boga, etc.), we might just witness a '04-'-05-type season unfold here in '11-'12.
Ja’Rob McCallum and Lonnie Boga (I think earlier fan talk of Lonnie redshirting this season may be scuttled by the fact we are now going to need all the guards we can play), along with newcomers Paris Gully and Evan Richards should have no problem with the catch and shoots. Milwaukee's perimeter shooting should be a very strong suit, once again.
I have a hard time believing redshirt rumors- Boga is ready for WAR.
I can't end this post without mentioning the turnover that has gone on within the Milwaukee coaching staff. Brian Bidlingmeyer and Dejan Matic have left the program. Those two put their heart and soul into this program in the time they worked here and we can't easily dismiss or forget that painstaking work. This program would not be where it is without their work here at Milwaukee.
But obviously either themselves, or someone else decided it was time for a change. Bid wound up as assistant at Western Kentucky and Dejan is an assistant at Olney Central Community College in Illinois (former JuCo home of Panther great Boo Davis). But on a positive tip, into their place, step none other than former Panther Sweet 16 point guard Chris Hill and Panther alum and former dead-eye shooting guard Tone Boyle.
That is all of the News of your Milwaukee Panthers that I can report at this time. There is a lot of time between now and the season opener ('11-'12 Horizon League Predictions and Schedule Rundown are coming soon).
T-Mei is bound to rake from the perimeter yet again in this, his senior season.
Until then, watch these Brewers go deep into the postseason.. anything less than an NLCS appearence should be considered a failure. And don't easily overlook this season's Milwaukee Panthers! 'Lest you get a rude awaking... This team is built for the long-run. Don't sleep on this team- if you do, you'll kick yourself for missing what I think will be the best Panther Hoops season in a over a half decade. Again I cannot stress enough- Don't. Sleep.
GO PANTHERS!!!!
