The Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team is an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

college basketball team competing in the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

for the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

. They play their home games at

UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena The UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (originally the Milwaukee Arena and formerly MECCA Arena and U.S. Cellular Arena) is an indoor arena located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The arena, which seats as many as 12,700 people and offers of floor space, is ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 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 enroute 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 The University of Wisconsin System is a state public university system in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher-education systems in the country, enrolling more than 160,000 students each year and employing approx ...

, 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 Cleveland State University (CSU) is a Public university, public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school th ...

. 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 NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

and

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

) to the University Division (now

) in 1973. The team moved again to

in 1980. Between 1985 and 1987, Milwaukee competed in the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

. 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

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 The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

2002–2005: Bruce Pearl era

After Bo Ryan's departure, Milwaukee would hire

Bruce Pearl Bruce Alan Pearl (born March 18, 1960) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team, where he is the school's all time leader in wins. He previously served in the same position ...

, 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 The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level ...

appearance in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

under Pearl, followed by a Sweet Sixteen appearance in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and a second-round appearance in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. 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

, and

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 Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

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 Northern Kentucky is an urban area in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky consisting of the southern part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The three main counties of the area are Boone County, Kentucky, Boone, Kent ...

in the championship game on March 7. After this one lone season, Jordan accepted the head coaching job at

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

. 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 The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

, 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

. Milwaukee accepted an invite to the 2023 College Basketball Invitational, their first postseason appearance since the 2014 NCAA tournament. The Panthers defeated

Stetson Stetson is an American brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, particularly in Scouting. John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous ...

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.

Milwaukee wins vs. the AP Top 25

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament four times. Their combined record is 3–4.

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 3–2.

NCAA Division III Tournament results

The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Division III tournament one time. Their record is 1–1.

NIT results

The Panthers have appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) two times. Their combined record is 1–2.

CBI results

The Panthers have appeared in the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

History

1965–1998: Becoming the Panthers; up to Division I

1999–2001: Bo Ryan era

2002–2005: Bruce Pearl era

2006–2015: Rob Jeter era

2016–2021: LaVall Jordan and Pat Baldwin eras

2022–Present: Bart Lundy era

Milwaukee wins vs. the AP Top 25

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results

NCAA Division II Tournament results

NCAA Division III Tournament results

NIT results

CBI results

Conferences

Home arenas

Milwaukee–Green Bay rivalry records

Players in the NBA draft

See also

References

External links