| Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball | |||||||||
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 | |||||||||
| University | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | ||||||||
| Head coach | Bart Lundy (4th season) | ||||||||
| Conference | Horizon League | ||||||||
| Location | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | ||||||||
| Arena | UWM Panther Arena (capacity: 10,783) | ||||||||
| Nickname | Panthers | ||||||||
| Colors | Black and gold[1] | ||||||||
| Uniforms | |||||||||
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| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | |||||||||
| 1989* | |||||||||
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| Conference tournament champions | |||||||||
| Horizon League 2003, 2005, 2006, 2014 | |||||||||
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* NCAA Division II | |||||||||
TheMilwaukee Panthers men's basketball team is anNCAA Division I college basketball team competing in theHorizon League for theUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They play their home games atUW–Milwaukee Panther Arena inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, and are currently coached byBart Lundy.[2] The Panthers have made fourNCAA Tournament tournament appearances, most recently in 2014.
UWM's predecessor institutions (Milwaukee Normal School, Milwaukee State Teachers College and Milwaukee State College) have competed in basketball since the 19th century as theMilwaukee Normals (1896–1927) andMilwaukee 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 enroute to their thirdWisconsin 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 theUniversity 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 the1960 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament.
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 asIllinois-Chicago andCleveland State. Such plans for a new conference never materialized, and the Panthers remained independent even as they moved from the NCAA College Division (nowNCAA Division II andNCAA Division III) to the University Division (nowNCAA Division I) in 1973.
The team moved again toNCAA Division III in 1980. Between 1985 and 1987, Milwaukee competed in theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 1987, the program moved to NCAA Division II where it won its regional in the1989 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 theMid-Continent Conference for one year in 1993–94 before joining the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, which became theHorizon League in 1999 and has been the Panthers' home ever since.
In 1999, the Panthers hiredBo 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 theWisconsin Badgers.
After Bo Ryan's departure, Milwaukee would hireBruce Pearl, a successful Division II coach at Southern Indiana, as head coach. Milwaukee reached new heights of success during the mid-2000s, making its firstNCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearance in2003 under Pearl, followed by a Sweet Sixteen appearance in2005 and a second-round appearance in2006. Pearl left to become the head coach at Tennessee after 2005 and the school hiredRob Jeter, a former assistant under Bo Ryan.[3] The Panthers won three straight regular-season Horizon League championships from 2004 to 2006 as well as theHorizon League tournament championship in2003,2005, and2006.
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 firstNCAA tournament appearance since 2006. Just a few weeks later, UWM was handed a one-year postseason ban due to a low Academic Progress Rate.[4] 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.[5]
On April 7, 2016, Milwaukee announced thatMichigan assistant coachLaVall Jordan would be the new head coach.[6]
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 toNorthern Kentucky in the championship game on March 7.[7] After this one lone season, Jordan accepted the head coaching job atButler. On June 20, Milwaukee hiredNorthwestern assistant coachPat Baldwin as their new head coach.[8]
In 2021, the Panthers made national news when they were able to successfully recruit Baldwin's sonPatrick 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.[9] 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.[10] Patrick Baldwin Jr. declared for the2022 NBA draft, where he was selected 28th overall by theGolden State Warriors, becoming the first player in program history to be selected in the first round.[11]
On March 18, 2022, the Panthers hiredBart Lundy, a successful Division II coach atQueens (NC), as the team's next head coach.[12] 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 theconference tournament toCleveland State. Milwaukee accepted an invite to the2023 College Basketball Invitational, their first postseason appearance since the 2014 NCAA tournament. The Panthers defeatedStetson in overtime in the first round, marking their first postseason tournament victory since 2006, before losing to eventual championsCharlotte 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 theHorizon 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 toUCF 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.
| Year | Opponent | Date | Score | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-05 | #21 Alabama #14 Boston College | 3-17-05 3-19-05 | W 83-73 W 83-75 | Neutral Neutral |
| 2005-06 | #24 Oklahoma | 3-16-06 | W 82-74 | Neutral |
| 2008-09 | #21 Butler | 3-18-09 | W 63-60 | Home |
The Panthers have appeared in theNCAA Division I tournament four times. Their combined record is 3–4.
| Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | #12 | First round | #5 Notre Dame | L 69–70 |
| 2005 | #12 | First round Second Round Sweet Sixteen | #5 Alabama #4 Boston College #1 Illinois | W 83–73 W 83–75 L 63–77 |
| 2006 | #11 | First round Second Round | #6 Oklahoma #3 Florida | W 82–74 L 60–82 |
| 2014 | #15 | First round | #2 Villanova | L 53–73 |
The Panthers have appeared in theNCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 3–2.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | Lincoln (MO) Augustana (IL) | L 92–100 W 109–82 |
| 1989 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | Augustana (SD) Northern Colorado Southeast Missouri State | W 99–95 W 89–88OT L 84–93 |
The Panthers have appeared in theNCAA Division III tournament one time. Their record is 1–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd Place | Augustana (IL) Beloit | L 63–70 W 75–73 |
The Panthers have appeared in theNational Invitation Tournament (NIT) two times. Their combined record is 1–2.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Opening Round First round | Rice Boise State | W 91–53 L 70–73 |
| 2011 | First round | Northwestern | L 61–70 |
The Panthers have appeared in theCollege Basketball Invitational (CBI) two times. Their record is 1–2.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | First round | TCU | L 73–83 |
| 2023 | First round Quarterfinals | #6 Stetson #3 Charlotte | W 87–83OT L 65–76 |
| Years | Conference | Win–loss record | Win–loss pct. | 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[a] | 7–11 | .388 | 1 |
| 1994–present | Horizon League[b] | 227–237 | .489 | 30 |
| Years | Arena |
|---|---|
| 1956–1977 | Baker Fieldhouse |
| 1977–1992 1998–2003 2012–present | J. Martin Klotsche Center |
| 1992–1998 | The Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena (The MECCA) |
| 2003–2012 | U.S. Cellular Arena |
| 2013–present | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena |
| Milwaukee victories | Green Bay victories | Tie games |
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| 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 |
Basketball Media Guide (history)
