www.jsonline.com/sports/coll/mar05/312893.aspHigh times at UWM
Future looks bright for ascending program
By DAN MANOYAN
dmanoyan@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 25, 2005
Bruce Pearl has steadfastly maintained for the past two weeks that it would take a blockbuster deal to pry him away from the UW-Milwaukee basketball coaching job.
Pearl talked about loyalty and putting down roots in a community, but perhaps the most persuasive argument for him staying in Milwaukee would be the state of the UWM program. It is strong and appears to be growing stronger.
After the Panthers beat Detroit in the Horizon League title game, Pearl proclaimed his team the strongest in UWM basketball history. Since that time, the Panthers beat a fifth-seeded team in Alabama and a fourth-seeded team in Boston College, establishing themselves as destiny's darlings before a national audience.
It took a strong effort by Illinois, the nation's top-ranked team, to oust the Panthers from the NCAA's Sweet 16, 77-63, Thursday night in Rosemont, Ill. Still, the Panthers finished their season at 26-6, posting a UWM record for victories.
In so doing, Pearl, who brings enthusiasm, salesmanship and knowledge of the game, has made himself a hot commodity in the coaching ranks. He met with officials from the University of Tennessee on Friday in Chicago regarding that school's head coaching vacancy.
But should Pearl return to UWM for a fifth season, it is very possible that the Panthers could continue their upward mobility under him. Next season, the squad will return four of five starters, including Joah Tucker, who was the most valuable player of the Horizon League tournament and turned heads during the Panthers' NCAA tournament drive.
"We bring back a lot of guys," Pearl said. "We'll have a ton of seniors, six seniors."
The biggest task for the Panthers, by far, will be replacing Ed McCants. McCants, who recently received an invitation to the National Basketball Association's Portsmouth tryout camp and was the Horizon League's regular-season MVP, will graduate and take with him his 17.5 points per game.
The most likely candidate to replace McCants' perimeter game is Boo Davis, who will be a senior next season. The junior college transfer showed flashes this season but was inconsistent in averaging 10.3 points per game.
Another player who could pick up the slack on the perimeter is Derrick Wimmer, a former Whitefish Bay Dominican teammate of Wisconsin's Ray Nixon. Wimmer transferred to UWM after one season at Chicago State and caught Pearl's eye with his shooting ability when he scored 19 against the Panthers as a freshman at Chicago State in 2002-'03.
The Panthers are also high on 6-foot-3 James Douglas of Detroit, an incoming junior-college transfer. He is ranked the 43rd best junior-college player in the country by Hoop Scoop Online and averaged 7.2 points per game in league play as a redshirt freshman at Eastern Michigan.
The point guard position appears to be in good hands with Chris Hill, who will be in his second full season as a starter next year. Hill averaged eight points and 3.1 assists per game, was able to handle pressure and played some of his best basketball when games were on the line.
His backup probably will be former Wauwatosa East star Allan Hanson. Hanson took his lumps as a freshman at times this season but only seems to be lacking in game experience.
The Panthers can only be better in the frontcourt. Their biggest loss will be James Wright, who brought defensive presence and rebounding to the table, but wasn't a huge offensive threat.
Rob Sanders, who missed most of his senior season because of recurring shoulder problems, also graduates.
But Tucker returns as perhaps the top mid-major player in the country next season. He has been nothing short of phenomenal in the post-season, averaging 25.3 points per game in the NCAA tournament, including a personal-high 32 against Illinois.
Also joining Tucker in the frontcourt will be Adrian Tigert, who had a consistent season for the Panthers. He was 11 for 11 from the field in the Panthers' first two tournament games before going 1 for 4 against Illinois.
UWM also is expecting larger contributions from Mark Pancratz, Jason McCoy and Derrick Ford, all of whom saw considerable playing time off the bench this season. McCoy especially came on strong late in the season, using his athleticism and long wingspan to become a force on the Panthers' press.
A player to watch could be mountainous 6-10, 260-pound post player Walt Waters, who like Douglas is a transfer from Detroit's Schoolcraft Junior College. Waters is already enrolled at UWM and practiced with the squad in the second semester.
A lefty, Waters has good hands and could be the true post player Pearl has been looking for since coming to UWM four years ago.
The Panthers are also high on 6-8 power forward Ryan Childress, of Cincinnati Moeller High School. He will be a freshman next season.
"Depending on what we do in the off-season, how hard we work and how we can be able to help in recruiting," Pearl said, "this is something we want to do on an annual basis and get to the post-season."
