UW-Milwaukee Basketball: What is new head coach Patrick Baldwin walking into?
New head coach Patrick Baldwin looks to bring stability to UW-Milwaukee, who struggled last season and then lost head coach LaVall Jordan to Butler.
Eight days after beginning its search for a head coach, UW-Milwaukee has found its man in Northwestern assistant Patrick Baldwin. Baldwin will be formally introduced during a news conference on June 22. According to Jeff Goodman of ESPN, Baldwin’s deal is for five years.
With Milwaukee’s job now filled, there are no more NCAA men’s head coaching vacancies. In total, 46 programs have changed head coaches.
Baldwin becomes the seventh Panther head coach since the program moved to Division I in 1990 and their third coaching change in the last three years. Baldwin replaces LaVall Jordan, who left after just one season for Butler. Jordan had replaced longtime coach Rob Jeter in March of 2016.
Baldwin, who played at Northwestern in the early 1990s, started his coaching career at Division II Lincoln University in 2001. He then moved to Wisconsin-Green Bay (2002-04) as an assistant coach before landing in Loyola-Chicago for a seven year run. Following a two stint at Missouri State, he has spent the previous four seasons at Northwestern.
Milwaukee struggled last year under Jordan going 11-24, and finished 10th in the Horizon League with a 4-14 record. The Panthers did reach the Horizon League title game, falling to Northern Kentucky 59-53. The Panthers biggest issues were scoring and rebounding. They ranked 300+ in the nation in both categories.
Milwaukee returns seven of the nine players in its regular rotation from the 2016-17 season. The Panthers also get 6’9″ redshirt senior forward Alex Prahl back. Prahl appeared in six games before suffering a season ending hand injury.
Junior guard Brock Stull leads all returnees. Stull Is coming off a breakout season, producing team-highs with 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. He reached double figures 22 times, which includes scoring 20 or more points six times. He also shot 43.9% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc.
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The Panthers will have at least three incoming freshmen. All three freshmen are two-star guards. The three guards are 6’3″ point guard Dylan Anderson, 6’2″ shooting guard Caleb Nero, and 6’5″ wing Carson Newsome. Milwaukee also has an open offer to two-star power forward Simeon Kirkland (Ocala, Fla.), and an open spot left.
Milwaukee has made four D-I NCAA Tournament appearances overall, compiling a 3-4 record. The Panthers was last in the “Big Dance” in 2014.