NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Vols with head coaching hires from the year 2005

8. Rob Jeter (Milwaukee)

Milwaukee was becoming one of the better mid-major programs in the nation since the turn of the century. The Panthers had seen Wisconsin snatch Bo Ryan before Tennessee sunk their teeth into Bruce Pearl, fresh off a surprise Sweet Sixteen run. A new voice was needed to lead Milwaukee and one who could live up to the work of his two predecessors.

Rob Jeter wasn’t like either of those two coaches; he wasn’t a champion head coach. He had spent much of his career playing and working under Bo Ryan, following him from Platteville to Milwaukee to Madison, with a brief stint at Marquette in the middle. Very familiar with the state of Wisconsin, Jeter was seen as a solid hire to continue the program’s momentum.

Simply put, the Panthers didn’t remain a top-level mid-major, but Jeter still did solid work for the next eleven years. Milwaukee won an NCAA Tournament game in 2006 and was back again in the Big Dance in 2014. Between then, the nation watched Butler rise to the national stage, though the Panthers were still a very solid program. Jeter was let go in 2016, though things haven’t improved since his departure, but perhaps Patrick Baldwin Jr. can change that?