The Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Horizon League for the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They play their home games at UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and are currently coached by Bart Lundy. The Panthers have made four NCAA Tournament tournament appearances, most recently in 2014.
History
UWM's predecessor institutions (Milwaukee Normal School, Milwaukee State Teachers College and Milwaukee State College) have competed in basketball since the 19th century as the Milwaukee Normals (1896–1927) and Milwaukee State Green Gulls (1927–1956).
Milwaukee State's only undefeated season came in 1940 under head coach Guy Penwell as the Green Gulls finished the year 16–0 en route to their third Wisconsin State Conference championship.
The team competed under the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee name for the first time for the 1956–57 season. In honor of joining the University of Wisconsin System, they sported the cardinal red and white colors and adopted "Cardinals" as their nickname. Three years later, the Cardinals made their first post-season appearance in the 1960 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament.
1965–1998: Becoming the Panthers; up to Division I Seeking to establish their own identity, Milwaukee adopted the colors of black and gold on September 1, 1965, and became known as the Panthers. They also left the Wisconsin State College Conference (now the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), of which they had been members since 1913, to form a conference with other urban public universities in the Great Lakes region such as Illinois-Chicago and Cleveland State. Such plans for a new conference never materialized, and the Panthers remained independent even as they moved from the NCAA College Division (now NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III) to the University Division (now NCAA Division I) in 1973.
The team moved again to NCAA Division III in 1980. Between 1985 and 1987, Milwaukee competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 1987, the program moved to NCAA Division II where it won its regional in the 1989 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament, advancing to the contest's Elite Eight. Since 1990, Milwaukee Men's Basketball has competed in NCAA Division I. They played in the Mid-Continent Conference for one year in 1993–94 before joining the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, which became the Horizon League in 1999 and has been the Panthers' home ever since.
1999–2001: Bo Ryan era In 1999, the Panthers hired Bo Ryan, a highly successful Division III coach at UW–Plattville, as the team's new head coach. Under Ryan, the Panthers had their first consecutive winning seasons since 1993, and Ryan was also instrumental in bringing wider attention and fan enthusiasm to the program. After just two seasons, Ryan left to become the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers.
2002–2005: Bruce Pearl era After Bo Ryan's departure, Milwaukee would hire Bruce Pearl, a successful Division II coach at Southern Indiana, as head coach. Milwaukee reached new heights of success during the mid-2000s, making its first NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearance in 2003 under Pearl, followed by a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2005 and a second-round appearance in 2006. Pearl left to become the head coach at Tennessee after 2005 and the school hired Rob Jeter, a former assistant under Bo Ryan. The Panthers won three straight regular-season Horizon League championships from 2004 to 2006 as well as the Horizon League tournament championship in 2003, 2005, and 2006.
2006–2015: Rob Jeter era The Panthers' most recent Horizon League regular season championship came in 2011, where they'd host the Horizon League Championship game, but lost to Butler. In 2014, the Panthers won the Horizon League tournament, making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006. Just a few weeks later, UWM was handed a one-year postseason ban due to a low Academic Progress Rate. Under Jeter, while the Panthers were mostly competitive, they were unable to stay consistently on top in the Horizon League standings.
On March 17, 2016, Milwaukee fired Rob Jeter after 11 seasons with the Panthers.
2016–2021: LaVall Jordan and Pat Baldwin eras On April 7, 2016, Milwaukee announced that Michigan assistant coach LaVall Jordan would be the new head coach.
Less than one year later, on March 3, 2017, the Panthers made history by being the first No. 10 seed to win a game in the Horizon League Tournament. They went on to place second overall in the tournament, losing to Northern Kentucky in the championship game on March 7. After this one lone season, Jordan accepted the head coaching job at Butler. On June 20, Milwaukee hired Northwestern assistant coach Pat Baldwin as their new head coach.
In 2021, the Panthers made national news when they were able to successfully recruit Baldwin's son Patrick Baldwin Jr., who was rated by ESPN as the number four rated recruit in the country, becoming the highest rated player to commit to a Horizon League school. Baldwin Jr. struggled with injury in his freshman season, and the Panthers finished the season 10–22. On March 2, 2022, Pat Baldwin was fired as head coach after five straight losing seasons. Patrick Baldwin Jr. declared for the 2022 NBA draft, where he was selected 28th overall by the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first player in program history to be selected in the first round.
2022–Present: Bart Lundy era On March 18, 2022, the Panthers hired Bart Lundy, a successful Division II coach at Queens (NC), as the team's next head coach. In Lundy's first season, the Panthers won 20 regular season games for the first time since 2004–05, finishing second in the Horizon League before losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament to Cleveland State. Milwaukee accepted an invite to the 2023 College Basketball Invitational, their first postseason appearance since the 2014 NCAA tournament. The Panthers defeated Stetson in overtime in the first round, marking their first postseason tournament victory since 2006, before losing to eventual champions Charlotte in the quarterfinals.
In 2023–24, despite high hopes, the Panthers struggled through much of the season, mainly due to injuries to key players. The team still rallied to advance to the Horizon League Championship game before losing to Oakland, finishing with a record of 20–15, which was also the first time since 2006 that the Panthers had consecutive 20-win seasons. Lundy also became the first coach in the program's history to have 20-win seasons in each of his first two seasons coaching the team. The Panthers continued to have regular-season success in 2024–25, winning 21 games, helped primarily by two transfers: guard Themus Fulks and forward Jermichael Stillwell, the latter earning national player of the week honors during the season. Lundy's record of consecutive 20-win seasons continued, but the Panthers lost in their first Horizon League conference tournament game, once again to Oakland, to finish 21–11. Fulks and Stillwell would transfer to UCF after the season.
The Panthers had high expectations going into 2025–26, predicted to finish first in the Horizon League, but the team was hit hard by season-ending injuries to three of their projected five starters: John Lovelace Jr., Seth Hubbard, and Danilio Jovanovich. Forced to play most of their bench, including two true freshmen in Stevie Elam and Josh Dixon, the Panthers would suffer their first losing season in the Lundy era, going 12–20.
Milwaukee wins vs. the AP Top 25
2004-05#21 Alabama#14 Boston CollegeMarch 17, 2005March 19, 2005W 83–73W 83–75Neutral (Cleveland, OH)Neutral (Cleveland, OH)2005-06#24 Oklahoma March 16, 2006W 82–74Neutral (Jacksonville, FL)2008-09#21 Butler March 18, 2009W 63–60Home
Postseason
NCAA Division I Tournament results The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament four times. Their combined record is 3–4.
2003 #12 First round #5 Notre Dame L 69–70 2005 #12 First roundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #5 Alabama#4 Boston College#1 Illinois W 83–73W 83–75L 63–77 2006 #11 First roundSecond Round #6 Oklahoma#3 Florida W 82–74L 60–82 2014 #15 First round #2 Villanova L 53–73
NCAA Division II Tournament results The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 3–2.
1960 Regional semifinalsRegional 3rd-place game Lincoln (MO)Augustana (IL) L 92–100W 109–82 1989 Regional semifinalsRegional FinalsElite Eight Augustana (SD)Northern ColoradoSoutheast Missouri State W 99–95W 89–88 OTL 84–93
NCAA Division III Tournament results The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division III tournament one time. Their record is 1–1.
1982 Regional semifinalsRegional 3rd Place Augustana (IL)Beloit L 63–70W 75–73
NIT results The Panthers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) two times. Their combined record is 1–2.
2004 Opening RoundFirst round RiceBoise State W 91–53L 70–73 2011 First round Northwestern L 61–70
CBI results The Panthers have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) two times. Their record is 1–2.
2012 First round TCU L 73–83 2023 First roundQuarterfinals #6 Stetson#3 Charlotte W 87–83 OTL 65–76
Conferences Years Conference Win–lossrecord Win–losspct. Seasons 1896–1913 Independent N/A N/A 17 1913–1964 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) N/A N/A 51 1964–1973 NCAA College Division Independent 412–346 .544 9 1973–1980 NCAA Division I Independent 7 1980–1985 NCAA Division III Independent 5 1985–1987 NAIA Independent 2 1987–1990 NCAA Division II Independent 3 1990–1993 NCAA Division I Independent 3 1993–1994 Mid-Continent Conference 7–11 .388 1 1994–present Horizon League 227–237 30
Notes
Home arenas YearsArena1956–1977 Baker Fieldhouse1977–19921998–20032012–present J. Martin Klotsche Center1992–1998 The Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena (The MECCA)2003–2012 U.S. Cellular Arena2013–present UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
Milwaukee–Green Bay rivalry records
Players in the NBA draft Year Player Round # Pick # Overall # Team 1961 Ron Debillous 10th 1 84 New York Knicks 1971 Vance Tyree 16th 1 225 Cleveland Cavaliers 1977 Larry Pikes 8th 3 154 Milwaukee Bucks 1991 Von McDade 2nd 26 53 New Jersey Nets 2022 Patrick Baldwin Jr. 1st 28 28 Golden State Warriors
See also List of Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball seasons
References Basketball Media Guide (history)
External links