The 2007-2008 season was supposed to be Milwaukee’s breakout year, but as the calendar neared 2008, we sat at 3-7 with the majority of our projected rotation gone from the program.

• No Avery Smith.

• No Roman Gentry.

• No Tim Flowers.

• No Torre Johnson.

Personally, I felt like a weight had been lifted off our program’s collective shoulders because we no longer had to worry about the remaining players leaving or making poor decisions. I knew this group would show up every day and focus on the process. I didn’t necessarily think we had anything special on the horizon, but it was refreshing to focus on what we had instead of what we might lose.

Style Change

Rob Jeter played for Bo Ryan at Platteville and coached with him through the early years of his Hall-of-Fame career at the University of Wisconsin. Bo Ryan was known for creating the Swing offense, which focuses on constant post isolations for every player on the floor. At its core, the offense is designed to draw fouls because so many possessions lead to deep paint touches. At its best, it exploits defenders who struggle with post defense and, due to its spacing, punishes teams that trap the post.

At Milwaukee, the Swing was adequate, but it never produced the numbers we typically saw from Wisconsin. In retrospect, part of the issue was that our bigs were less skilled than Wisconsin’s, meaning post entries didn’t generate the same advantages the Badgers enjoyed.

Assistant Coach Duffy Conroy introduced the “Get Series” to feature our shooters while limiting the touches of our less skilled, but defensively talented, forwards and centers.

The “Get Series” was essentially the Blocker-Mover motion, made famous by Dick and Tony Bennett. Duffy’s version included a “get guy” who was the primary option, with everyone on the floor screening for him at all times. The second option would only screen for the first but would receive screens from everyone else. The third option, often the point guard, was the safety valve who took open jumpers. The other two players were screeners only.

At the time, I was a true believer in the Swing, having only been around Bo Ryan coaches from high school through college. When fans criticized the offense or the slow pace, I’d hop on message boards—against Jeter’s orders—and explain what the offense was supposed to do. After my most detailed post ever, Jeter changed the style. I’m sure the two weren’t connected, but I felt foolish anyway. That seemed to be the theme of the 2007-2008 season for me.

The Streak

On December 19th, we hosted Central Michigan in front of a sparse crowd at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The “Get Series” gave Paige Paulsen a 22-point night, and a fierce defensive performance by Franklin, Skinner, and Swiggett secured our first win in a month. The feeling was euphoric because our expectations were so low. It was empowering to head into Christmas Break knowing we could win with the players we had, no longer dwelling on those we didn’t.

One of the most memorable road trips of the ‘07-08 season was a late December flight to Laramie, Wyoming, to face the Cowboys. We stepped off the plane into brutally cold temperatures. Winning in Wyoming seemed daunting, but practice was sharp, and our players were in their best shape of the season. Paulsen scored 28 as the first option in the “Get Series,” and we blew them out, scoring 80 points. The flight home felt like we had won the NCAA title. The entire program was riding high, suddenly excited about what we were capable of. We were the most optimistic 5-7 team in America.

Over Christmas break, we emphasized fundamentals. Practices turned into player development sessions for everyone in the program. I even got a lesson from Coach Jeter one day about my flying elbow during practice. The vibe around the program was positive, despite being ignored by most fans who had lived and died by the team just two years earlier.

The egos were gone. Players focused on doing what was needed to give us a chance to win. This invigorated the coaching staff, who could return to teaching.

The producers of The Rob Jeter Show on a local channel followed me around for a day and created a feature on me. What some players said in their interviews changed my perspective on myself and my potential. Charlie Swiggett said, “I think of him as a coach, actually.”

A coach.

That was my goal, but hearing a Division I player say that about me—when I was at the bottom of the program’s totem pole, working tirelessly to contribute—felt incredible. I was determined to prove them right.

Ricky Franklin scored 24 in a win over Wright State, extending our streak to three games. We picked up a fourth in a 55-53 rock fight against Detroit. We were down 14 with about five minutes left before a trapping frenzy by Deonte, Ricky, and Deion stopped the Titans from crossing halfcourt.

Detroit had the ball with 23 seconds left and the lead when Deion James stripped them, forcing a jump ball with the arrow in our favor. With time running down, Deion, stuck without a dribble, found Paige Paulsen an astounding 27 feet from the basket. Only Paige and I knew he practiced that exact shot daily. He took his normal motion and knocked down the game-winner.

The moment was so intense and dramatic that I just watched as the crowd at the Cell lost their minds. It was the first time something I contributed to led to a game-winner. The program was in a great spot, and I felt validated for all the work I was putting in. Leaving for campus at 7 a.m. and returning around midnight was leading to real success on the floor. This is how a coaching addiction begins.

We survived Detroit’s best and sat at .500, defying all odds and even our own expectations. It felt like the story of the year in college basketball, but in reality, only our small circle of players, coaches, managers, and fans was paying attention. That was enough to feel like kings.

Our fifth straight win was a 61-39 dismantling of Youngstown State, bringing us to 8-7. Our post defense was becoming elite, despite our undersized bigs. Roster changes increased our defensive activity, leaving only our grittiest players. Marcus Skinner and Jason Averkamp fought to front the post, while Ricky Franklin and Deion James sprinted from help positions to harass post players on the catch. It was a lethal combination, neutralizing every post threat in the Horizon League.

On January 10, 2008, we secured our sixth straight win, coming back from nine points down in the final minutes to beat Valparaiso on the road, 71-69. Deion James was lights-out down the stretch, finishing with 20 points. Five Panthers scored nine points or more.

I wrote a big “6” on the board before the coaches arrived, and Deion said, “We don’t need that anymore, Justin. This is what we do.”

That was cool. Winning was becoming the expectation for a team that was once 3-7 and losing starters weekly. I walked across the floor to unplug the computer from the TV truck like I had conquered a kingdom. We were rolling and headed to Hinkle Fieldhouse to face the surging Butler Bulldogs on a Saturday afternoon.

A New Identity

The Indiana trip started well, but Butler took us to the woodshed at Hinkle. Still, we were optimistic about what we could achieve. We could dream again, based on the players we had and the effort they gave. It wasn’t unrealistic to envision big nights in the Horizon League tournament and a shot at an NCAA Tournament berth.

Dreaming about possibilities motivated everyone in the program to work longer hours and accomplish more. We had another big road game coming up, traveling I-43 to face the Green Bay Phoenix.

With the clock running down and a two-point lead, Marcus Skinner tipped an offensive rebound to Charlie Swiggett, who threw the ball off Ryan Tillema for a new shot clock. The Phoenix had to foul, and we walked away with a 65-61 win. The victory brought us to 10-8 overall and 5-3 at the halfway point of the Horizon League season.

Entering the second half of the year, we had forged a new identity behind the players left after the first semester’s mass exodus.

• #25 Paige Paulsen was red-hot from three, played smart, and rarely fouled.

• #2 Deonte Roberts was our key drive-and-kick player and best perimeter defender.

• #12 Al Hanson was a clutch shooter and the only player with experience from the 2005-2006 NCAA Tournament runs.

• #24 Marcus Skinner was pure effort, touching every rebound on both ends.

• #5 Ricky Franklin was a wildcard off the floor but hit big shots and used his athleticism for extra possessions.

• #4 Deion James provided leadership and a sweet three-point stroke, with his biggest shots coming in 2008-09.

• #1 Charlie Swiggett brought guard-version Marcus Skinner energy.

• #22 Kaylan Anderson was a defensive-first Swiss Army knife, guarding multiple positions.

• #23 Anthony Hill was unpolished as a freshman but showed potential to become one of Milwaukee’s best post players. He did exactly that.

• #52 Jason Averkamp went from walk-on to “Big Fundamental,” earning a rotation spot.

It was impossible not to love this team and be proud of their accomplishments.

The season’s high point came in late January when we handled Youngstown State at home and upset red-hot Cleveland State, then first in the Horizon League. For the first time in two years, the U.S. Cellular Arena rocked with nearly 4,000 fans in the ancient downtown building.

The cast of leftovers had won nine of their last ten games.

The Magic Fades

As we prepared for a road trip to Detroit and Wright State, we were 12-8 overall and 7-3 in conference. After beating Cleveland State, many of us eyed Butler for the regular season title and a Horizon League championship at home.

That excitement felt dulled for me because I had watched Detroit fight everyone in the league. They were 0-9 in Horizon League play, but I knew they’d get someone soon. I prayed it wasn’t us.

It was.

With about 5:00 left, I pleaded with the guys in the huddle to play harder. For some reason, the magic was gone. Detroit secured their first league win, 72-61.

We lost our edge after a second straight loss, a 53-51 setback to Wright State.

Butler came to town on a Tuesday night in February, offering a chance to make the weekend look like a fluke and re-enter the top-two seed conversation. The Bulldogs were ranked #9 nationally, but we jumped to a 15-3 lead. With 2:55 left, we led by six. We lost the lead, but Ricky Franklin’s buzzer-beater forced overtime. Butler ran away in the extra period, extending our losing streak to three.

We broke the streak by sweeping Green Bay on February 16, but road woes continued with losses to Cleveland State and Bradley in the ESPNU BracketBuster game. We were 8-7 in conference with three home games left against Valparaiso, Loyola, and UIC.

Valparaiso got us on February 25, and Marcus Skinner suffered a high ankle sprain that plagued him for the season. Paige Paulsen missed most of the game with a poked eye. Walk-on star Jason Averkamp scored a spirited 21 points to keep it close, but we couldn’t close out.

Our final win came on February 28 in a 68-53 victory over Loyola. Before the game, Coach Jeter delivered an inspiring “Last Stand” speech, expressing pride in the team’s accomplishments. Despite our late-season struggles, the six straight wins and nine-of-ten stretch with a group of bench players and castaways was unforgettable.

We lost Senior Night on March 1 to UIC, but the story was unique. The whistles went against us, with a 26-14 foul count. UIC won 63-55, thanks to a 39-16 free-throw attempt advantage. The Milwaukee crowd didn’t stay quiet. Former MLB umpire and Horizon League official Bruce Benedict became a legend, ejecting protesting fans. When the band played the Imperial Death March from Star Wars, he tossed them too. The scene was surreal: play started, a whistle blew, fans protested, fans were removed, and play continued. UIC didn’t make a field goal in the final 7:39 but didn’t need to, with fouls called nearly every possession in the last ten minutes.

We never saw Bruce Benedict again.

We faced Loyola again in the Horizon League tournament’s first round on March 4 at U.S. Cellular Arena. Despite injuries, starting at 0-0 felt promising. A win would set up a rematch with UIC at Hinkle Fieldhouse, which we liked our chances in.

Marcus was still hampered by his ankle sprain but played. Our season ended abruptly when Milwaukee-native JR Blount scored 23, torching our ball-screen defense in Loyola’s 57-51 win. The loss shocked everyone involved with or cheering for the Panthers.

Final Journal Entry

August 2, 2008
Dubuque, Iowa

From my new room in Dubuque, I figured my final reflection would be fitting here. It’s been almost a year since this journal began. I’m overwhelmed with pride for achieving a major life goal. A month ago, I was named Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Clarke College. Ironically, I’m living with former Milwaukee Panther legend Justin Lettenberger, a graduate assistant at the University of Dubuque.

I hope that in 20, 30, or 50 years, the ‘08 Milwaukee Panthers remain vivid in my mind. Those ten players embodied a rare passion. They taught me that character and grit are the only attributes that matter.

Deion James’ performance at Valparaiso for our sixth straight win—nobody outworked him, and he was perfect that night.

Jason Averkamp at Wyoming—an undersized, underappreciated walk-on grabbing offensive rebounds in limited minutes.

Paige Paulsen against Cleveland State at home—he couldn’t buy a bucket but won us a crucial game with effort on both ends.

Without the late-season injuries, who knows how great the story could have been. But the six straight wins and nine of ten when nobody thought we could win one will always be special.

I don’t know if I’ll return to Division I’s bright lights, but I’m doing everything to get there in a bigger role. Coach Jeter always said, “Begin with the end in mind.” For me, that’s the Kohl Center in Madison, the Big East tournament in New York, or a shiny new on-campus arena at Milwaukee.

It’s not about money or fame—it’s about love for the game. Today, I close a vital chapter: four years in Milwaukee. What an incredible experience. Brewer games, the Third Ward, the student section.

Then, there was basketball. Beating Green Bay twice in the Resch Center. The incredible shadows on the floor and bright blue seats at Hinkle. Wiping dust off the walls at the brand-new McLeod Center in Cedar Falls. It’s amazing that this was my life.

I entered fall of 2007 as the administrative assistant for men’s basketball at UW-Milwaukee. Officially, I had gone from Klotsche Center employee and student section leader, to head manager, to a volunteer member of the coaching staff in 15 months. My work ethic was helping me gain opportunities but I had a lot to learn about… well, everything… really.

After a 9-22 season in Coach Jeter’s second year, enthusiasm spiked with the arrival of Oklahoma State transfer Torre Johnson and Simeon High School stars Tim Flowers and Kevin Johnson, both teammates of Derrick Rose. Avery Smith, Paige Paulsen and Marcus Skinner were all returning with a lot of experience. Deion James and Joe Allen were eligible after sitting out due to transfer rules. For some reason, I picked us as conference champions again. Ever, the optimist.

I was in a unique situation because I was friends with some of the older players, the guys who ran the student section and almost all of the alumni season tickets holders, but working for the coaching staff. I never talked about it with the staff, but getting pulled in so many different directions was a challenge and my maturity level was not ready to handle it.

Panther Madness went from being a big event at the US Cellular Arena downtown to a relatively small event at the Klotsche Center with only one side of bleachers down. In the layup line, we took our first casualty of the year as Joe Allen tore his ACL while dunking. Joe was a former military man who played D2 before transferring back home to play at UWM. Allen would’ve been a huge piece for us. He was a strong 6-6 forward who took up a ton of space and rebounded like a maniac.

In our “secret scrimmage” in late October against IUPUI, George Hill created our second casualty of the fall by just flat-out kicking our tails. Hill would go on to be a NBA star while our best returning player, Avery Smith, walked away from the program after an argument with Coach Jeter in the huddle.

Personally, I had a moment to learn from as well as I got defensive sticking up for my clock-working skills as Coach Jeter accused me of not starting the clock in time for IUPUI to get off a game-winning shot. The game didn’t count but I certainly understand now why the coaches were upset. Later while getting flack from a few coaches and players for the clock issue, I said “It takes three people to do what I do.” Duffy Conroy started to make the motion of taking notes as he looked at me with his head tilted down.

Point taken.

A few weeks earlier, when I was talking to the Citadel about a graduate assistant position, Duffy called me into his office and told me to close the door. “Justin, you work extremely hard and I think you’re going to be really good at the Citadel. But you’ve… got… to change one thing.”

I was curious and confused. What could he be talking about? My baggy shorts? My long sideburns? My comments under my breath during games that were sometimes so ridiculous that it made Boudreau laugh?

I once yelled out “oh give him a ballet outfit and a tuto too” as a player spun through the lane and laid it in without a travel call. Not my proudest memory.

“You’ve got to start walking faster. You walk soooooo slow. If you go down to a military institution, you’ve GOT to walk with a purpose. You can’t be like one of our guys. You have to walk like a coach.”

At first, I was taken aback because of my standard high level of pride at the time. But I started to think about it on the bus home that night. If I wanted to be a coach without having any real playing experience, I better do everything intensely. The hustle I gained in all facets of my life could be attributed back to that conversation with Duffy Conroy. And interestingly, I’ve had the exact same conversation with players I’ve coached since.

Being proud or defensive kills opportunities like nothing else can. I had a lot of excuses at the time and because of that, I thought I actually had a reason to use them. I was living in a condemned house, bussing to and from Marquette every day, working all day and night for free. I was an assistant video coordinator, an assistant director of operations, an assistant academic advisor, an assistant to the assistants and still the head manager. I had a lot going on but none of that mattered. I had an opportunity that was literally once in a lifetime. Panther point guard and current D1 assistant Al Hanson told me one day, “You just get rattled, man.”

My entire life at the time was a job interview. I’m not sure I fully understood that at the time and I certainly think it affected my career going forward. These were lessons that stuck with me and helped me in the future. In my journal, I documented a slump I went through in late October that lasted about three days. Small mistakes and defensive outbursts really set me back. I wrote in my journal about my mistakes but wrote a lot more about how much I hated my responses to being called out. I was growing up.

“I’m curious to see how these setbacks affect my future. I really hope I don’t look back at this journal and curse myself for my missed opportunities,” I wrote.

Much like the year before, UW-Parkside gave us absolutely all we could handle in the annual exhibition game. But this time, we snuck away with an 86-83 win over the pesky Rangers. Six-foot-five freshman center Tim Flowers scored 17 points in his first collegiate action, making everyone involved with the program extremely excited about the pieces we had.

After a 25-point win over Upper Iowa in our first regular season game, we hopped on a plane to Muncie, Indiana to take on Ball State. We took three separate private jets at the time and our plane full of coaches was not on the ground when we arrived. A few players joked that I was the highest ranking coach on the ground if Jeter’s plane didn’t make it. It made it, but apparently it hit an issue in the air that I don’t fully recall. It was a few minutes behind and the coaches were laughing nervously as they left the plane. That, I remember clearly.

The Ball State trip was where I learned the value of a junior college experience. Two of our key players had issues with their shorts where the drawstring came all the way out. In 2007, if you didn’t have a drawstring on your shorts, you might as well go out there in your underwear. Everyone was wearing insanely baggy shorts at the time and the drawstring was the most important piece of the entire uniform.

Chad Boudreau was an assistant at Indian Hills, a powerhouse junior college in Iowa, for seven years. He grabbed the shorts, the string, and popped off the cap of a pen, and fixed a pair within about 30 seconds. He stuck the end of the drawstring inside the pen cap, closed the pen as tight as he could, and pushed the pen through the shorts with his thumb. I was amazed at how rudimentary this was and how easily Boudreau completed the task. I went to work on the next pair and became the go-to guy for any shorts-related issues from then on. I still use this method to this day.

The Ball State game was also memorable. The Cardinals led by 15 into the locker room and a surprisingly calm Rob Jeter came in and talked about what was going to change and how we were going to walk out with a victory. It was a different vibe from Jeter than we were used to from the year before and it worked. Down four points with 20 seconds left, Paige Paulsen pulled up from three from the right wing and hit it while being fouled. This wasn’t the last time Paulsen would hit a clutch three late in a game but this one brought us to 2-0 on the season as we pulled away in overtime.

We had a blast on the plane rides home but lost to Northern Iowa on our home floor a few days later to drop to 2-1 on the year. We had serious lapses in effort that would plague us when the schedule got harder. We got one more dose of optimism though with a 89-80 win over South Dakota State where Paulsen netted 29 and Torre Johnson added 22. Again, we went into the locker room down 10 and Coach Jeter went ballistic at first. Eventually, he got inspirational.

“You all have two eyes, two arms, to legs and a brain. It’s what you do with those common tools that make you who you are.” I wrote down that quote from Jeter but I would’ve remembered it without reading it. He has a gift for memorable quotes.

Paulsen lost a shoe and played two defensive possessions galloping with one but, for some reason, he was still passed the ball in transition and he took it to the rim and was fouled. We had lapses in effort from time-to-time but it was clear who was here to win.

We hosted Drake at 3-1 with a great opportunity to go into our crosstown clash with Marquette on a high. Unfortunately our lapses in effort led to a 80-59 bludgeoning by the Bulldogs on our home floor. The next day, our star freshman, Tim Flowers, skipped morning film and evening practice. After an impressive start to the year, Tim was showing some red flags. It wasn’t going to take him long to become one the year’s casualties. His highschool teammate, Kevin Johnson, was moving right along with him. While they watched their buddy Derrick Rose shine for Memphis, they were on their way out the door at Milwaukee.

On November 30th, 2007, we finally got the UWM vs. Marquette game that Panther fans had clamored for. We were coming off some very disappointing losses to Drake and Sam Houston State. We were also reeling from the issues in our own locker room with our two promising freshmen (who were also bragging about taking Derrick Rose’s ACT every chance they got.) I wasn’t very optimistic and living on Marquette’s campus wasn’t ideal. Especially when I couldn’t hold my tongue when my Marquette friends talked about how excited they were to kick our tails at the Bradley Center.

One night the previous summer, I was in bed listening to Armen, Paul and Elijah talk in the living room in hushed tones about how Milwaukee really doesn’t have any weapons that worried them. I swung open the door and went down the roster and how Marquette’s little guards couldn’t guard our strong ones. To this day my Marquette buddies randomly break down into, “But who’s guarding Charlie Swiggett?” when they feel like mocking me. Yep, I said that. Very confidently, I might add.

If you’re wondering, Charlie Swiggett went scoreless in the Marquette game.

I walked onto the floor at the Bradley Center and sat down on our bench while I waited for our guys who were getting ready in the locker room. In front of me was Buzz Williams, the Marquette assistant who gave up his head D1 job at New Orleans to join Tom Crean’s staff. I was enamored with energy and how clearly he relayed his expectations to the freshman he was working with alone in the empty arena. I had a feeling I’d be seeing more from him in the future. He would eventually become one of my biggest role models in coaching. Buzz started as a junior college manager that turned into a very successful Division I head coach.

The atmosphere at the Milwaukee-Marquette game was fantastic. The younger fans took this game very seriously because of how much smack was talked online and in the neighborhood bars about which program was better from 2004-2006.

One thing I remember distinctly is how bright everything was. The lighting in major arenas is different than anywhere else. It’s like being on a stage when you’re on the court or the bench. The fans added to the brightness because both fanbases prominently wear gold.

Midway through the first half, our freshman center Anthony Hill, took a shot from midrange that literally cleared the backboard like it was a football goal post. I swear I heard 15,000 different people laugh at the same time. The cool thing about that memory is that Anthony Hill ended his career as one of the best Milwaukee Panthers ever and played many years overseas as a pro.

Torre Johnson was putting on an offensive clinic but we couldn’t keep Marquette’s guards honed in with our 2-3 zone. We had it 35-30 for a bit but Marquette went on a 13-0 run into the locker room. The second half was just a Marquette party. We were dismantled and Tom Crean never called off the dogs. The place went nuts when Marquette scored its 100th point and we lost 100-65. I was extremely annoyed by how Crean left his guys in to score 100 and how the place was so invested in embarrassing us.

That was just the beginning of an absolutely hilariously bad night for me. I was helping Chip record games at the time and was in charge of hooking our computer up to the TV feed. Of course, the game never recorded on our computer. So now, I had to run back to school the next day. I didn’t make a comment about it but that would mean I’d have to get up as soon as the busses started running, ride it 45 minutes back to the east side and upload and send the film before we started practice the next morning.

Naturally, it got worse. We crossed the river as a group of jovial Marquette fans and defeated Milwaukee fans and landed at Sullivans, a popular spot on Water Street for students from Marquette, UWM and MSOE. Because it was a road game, our normal athletic department and ticket office workers had a chance to let their hair down during the game. It must have gotten pretty rowdy because one of them threw up all over me as I was still wearing my suit and tie from the game. I had been at the bar for about five minutes at the time.

A friend drove me back to change and I couldn’t even be mad about the events of the night anymore. It was a comedy of errors. Members of the Milwaukee program and fans had wanted a chance at Marquette for years. We got it and lost by 35 while giving up 100 points. Then, our technology didn’t work. Then, I got puked on. The icing on the cake was later that night at Caffrey’s the famous bar on Marquette’s campus. Some of my old friends from Marquette couldn’t even stop themselves from ripping into me. Katie Shay laughed and pointed in my face over the big Marquette win. I couldn’t blame her. I felt like I deserved it. Katie was not the type to taunt but she let me have it. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

The most popular I ever felt to that point in my life was being the UWM manager on Marquette’s campus after they trounced us.

Looking back, nothing has been better for me than the humbling I’ve taken in my life. Bigger things would humble me in coming years but this was a nice start. Every time I see a kid taunt during a game or spout off on social media, I know what feeling is probably coming for them.

Horizon League play started a few days later with two games against our rivals from Chicago, UIC and Loyola. There was some optimism on the surface about what we’d be able to do against our own conference after taking on the schedule we had to that point, but UIC scored 91 points and sent us to 3-5 on the year.

Two days later, we had a late lead at Loyola because of the efforts of Marcus Skinner on the offensive glass. With 30 seconds to go, we led by four. Milwaukee native and Loyola star JR Blout cut the lead to 2 and Ricky Franklin was called for a charge. The Ramblers took a shot for the win late and Roman Gentry missed a box out. The Ramblers tied the game and cruised in overtime. Roman announced he was transferring a few days later. I wasn’t sure if this was the reason, but the staff had me put the DVD in as soon as we got to the bus. The entire bus watched and many of the coaches yelled “Roman” as they saw Tracy Robinson go right past him with no box out to tie the game.

On December 15th, we hosted Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers. Bo coached Rob Jeter and my high school coach in college. His influence is so big on basketball in the state of Wisconsin that I named my son after him. I’ve never had a chance to sit down with Bo alone for an extended period of time but I’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few short conversations with him. His ability to remember details blew me away. After meeting me one time, he remembered that I was Ron Einerson’s great nephew. Some coaches are remembered for what they do on the floor and some are remembered for how they make people feel about themselves. Bo is one of the few I know that’ll be remembered for both.

The Badgers matched our slow pace of the time and beat us 61-39 in front of a big crowd at US Cellular Arena. We didn’t play poorly, we just couldn’t match the Big Ten firepower in front of us. We were 3-7.

The next morning I was rummaging around the offices when Coach Jeter called me into his office. This was a rare case since I spent less time working for him directly than anyone on the staff. He was laying on his back on the couch and staring up at the ceiling. He asked, “Justin, what are you learning from all this.”

“I’m learning that you have to recruit discipline, work ethic, and character because it’s almost impossible to teach.”

We chatted for a few minutes and I really appreciated him taking a moment to check in with me. Now, as a head coach myself, albeit at a much lower level, I can certainly see how humbling losing streaks can be. These are always great times to make sure to put your arms around everyone in the program and thank them for their service.

We were at rock bottom. We had to be, right?

Nope. Not yet.

While out on the town a couple of nights later, Torre Johnson punched a girl in the face and spent the night in jail. He was immediately removed from the program. Roman Gentry transferred. Tim Flowers and Kevin Johnson were let go. We never fully recovered from Avery Smith walking away from the program in October. We also lost Joe Allen to an ACL tear in October.

We were down to 12 eligible players.

Ricky Franklin, sophomore guard

Charlie Swiggett, sophomore guard

Deonte Roberts, freshman guard

Marcus Skinner, senior center

Paige Paulsen, senior forward

Allan Hansen, senior guard

Kaylan Anderson, sophomore wing

Deion James, junior guard

Anthony Hill, freshman center

Jason Averkamp, sophomore walk-on forward

Brad Carroll, redshirt freshman

The day we heard about Torre, I don’t know how many of us thought we’d win another game. I know it didn’t feel like things were going to go well as we flipped the calendar to 2008. But, without any warning, something clicked. And for the next two months, I was taught the most important and impactful lesson I’ve ever been taught in my career.

As basketball ended, the coaches and returning players focused their attention on the 2007-08 season, and I found myself needing a job. I was told there was a chance I’d get a stipend for my manager duties, but that never happened. It was disappointing, but in a lot of ways, I was just thankful to be awakened by being a part of the program I loved. I still had a decent amount of money from caddying the year before, and a friend from school told me about a restaurant opening on the riverfront in the newly bustling Third Ward. It was on the corner of Water and Buffalo.

It was called the Water Buffalo.

The Third Ward is a fascinating piece of Milwaukee history. It lies south of downtown Milwaukee between Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. Some of the buildings have been up since 1875 when the Ward was developed. The rest of them have been up since the reconstruction of the Ward after the 1892 fire that left 2,000 people homeless and took out 16 city blocks.

In the early 2000s, the Ward was starting to develop into an upscale neighborhood with trendy shops and restaurants. Instead of tearing down the long-empty buildings and taking advantage of prime real estate, developers elected to lean into the history of the area and turned all of the old factory buildings into something new. The light fixtures made it look like the streets of yesteryear.

Somehow, after three years of living in Milwaukee, I’d never been to the Third Ward, unless you count the Summerfest grounds that lie on the lakeshore and host one of the biggest music festivals in the world every summer.

At Water Buffalo, I was a server’s assistant, food expo, and bar back at what ended up being the hottest new restaurant in the city. There was immediately something different about me. Admittedly, I wasn’t the biggest hustler or grinder as a caddie at Whistling Straits, tour guide at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, or sportswriter at the Cedarburg Newsgraphic. I did what needed to be done, but I didn’t exactly walk with purpose or wow anyone with my attention to detail or intensity. There were a couple of reasons that changed. First, I was inspired to make as much money as I could to support my basketball coaching habit. I didn’t know if I was going to be a high school assistant, back at Milwaukee or somewhere else in 2007-08, but I was committed to the dream of spending the winter helping a program.

Our first manager at the Water Buffalo was a raging cokehead. Not only was it obvious, he seemed to flaunt his own personality flaws. The guy was absolutely unhinged, and this led to an incredibly challenging but entertaining spring at Water Buffalo. He hired twice as many people as he needed when the restaurant opened in April and fired half of them by May. If you did something wrong, he’d make you do pushups in front of everyone. One of my coworkers was told to jump in the chilly river at one point. He did so without complaint to the roaring applause of the customers dining on the riverwalk. He even got to go home for a little while that day. To change, of course.

I was lucky enough to make the cut, probably because hours really didn’t matter to me, and I took pride in sweat equity after my year with Milwaukee Basketball. On weekends, I was showing up at Water Buffalo at 1pm and punching out at 3am after cleaning the bar area. Then, I had to head back through downtown Milwaukee on foot back to Marquette. The first manager didn’t last long, and a sense of normalcy started to set in during the summer. The hours changed too. Because patrons normally left the restaurant around 10, hours became much more manageable.

The best part about the Water Buffalo job was the walk. I’d pop in my headphones, turn on my iPod, and walk east through Marquette’s beautiful campus. I used to walk by the basketball offices and dream of being the head coach there someday. This was a dream I’d never tell my newly graduated Marquette friends, obviously. I walked past the Straz dorm, where I was convinced five years before that Milwaukee was where I needed to be, not Madison. I’d walk down the hill into the business district of downtown. I’d walk down Wisconsin Avenue and think to myself, “I’m going to miss this someday.”

I was right. I still take this walk every time I can.

I’d veer south onto the riverwalk and dream of an entire future in basketball as I stared at the famous Allen Bradley clock. Legendary Bucks radio announcer Ted Davis always announced the time by referencing the Allen Bradley clock. In my mind, everything around me was serendipitously inspiring me to pursue basketball as a career.

Then, I walked down the steps off the riverwalk and into the Water Buffalo and earned the money needed to feed all these dreams I had.

I graduated in May of 2007 and transferred my time studying for classes into studying basketball. I devoured books on the game. My favorite was Phil Jackson’s “Sacred Hoops,” but I bought or acquired at least a dozen schematic or training-related books to broaden my knowledge. It was the same with videos, I had a lot of access to coaching or training videos through our coaching staff. If I didn’t go into work until the afternoon, I’d typically read basketball, watch basketball, then play basketball before hoofing it to the Third Ward. My Marquette and UWM friends came together in the summer when I developed a Wells Street outdoor basketball league that played on the Marquette court across from the condemned house. For some reason, we even kept stats.

On days that I went in to the basketball offices, any day that I wasn’t scheduled at Water Buffalo, Coach Conroy had me read books and type them into summaries to give to the guys. I also helped Chip and Ronnie prepare for alumni events and the golf outing. When it was time for Rob Jeter Basketball Camps, I helped Coach Conroy with anything he needed to make them run smoothly.

As summer approached, I was introduced to Phil Jabour, who ran the video coordination department for the Houston Rockets. Phil was a former Division I manager at Arizona State and had worked his way into a full-time job in the NBA. This was becoming a regular occurrence as the NBA and Division I athletics began to see former college managers in big roles. Scott Drew, Tom Crean, Buzz Williams, and Bruce Pearl were doing pretty well despite starting without college playing careers. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra started in the Miami Heat film room before rising to head coach and eventual NBA Champion.

I was offered a $5,000 a year stipend to work in the video coordination department for the Rockets. I often think about how I responded to this because it was a hinge point for the rest of my career. As much as I wanted to go to Texas to chase a dream, I felt called back to Milwaukee. Unlike the uncertain situation in Houston, I had a stable situation in my condemned schoolhouse. Once fall started, I’d go back to Milwaukee full-time even though I had graduated. The staff referred to me as an Administrative Assistant, which sounded cool enough to get me back as a volunteer in 2007-2008. I passed on the only NBA opportunity I’d ever get. Later, I found that the head manager at our rival UWGB ended up taking that opportunity in Houston and working in the NBA and NCAA for years to come.

Two other opportunities popped up late in the summer that almost guided me on a very different path. Coach Boudreau, who I’m convinced knows absolutely everyone who’s ever worked in college basketball, was contacted by an assistant at Eastern Illinois. After talking with them for a week, I was waiting on confirmation that I was going to be named Director of Basketball Operations at the Ohio Valley Conference school. However, they were going through a change with their athletic director, and nobody was able to make the hire official. I got word that the deal fell through as I was sitting on the steps above the riverwalk on a break from work. That one stung, but I was excited about all of the conversations I was having about my future.

The second one was at the Citadel, where Duffy Conroy’s brother Ed was the head coach. The Citadel is a Division I military school in South Carolina, and I would’ve been a graduate assistant for men’s basketball while I worked towards a masters degree in military history. This would’ve been the absolute dream scenario for me. Most college basketball coaches have masters degrees, but getting an opportunity to do it at The Citadel while studying my favorite subject would’ve been hard to top. However, the timing of this popping up was unfortunate. Someone dropped out of the position right as school was starting, and I was already about a week and a half behind when my dialogue with The Citadel began. By the time I’d get down there and get into classes, a quarter of the semester would’ve been over. Again, I learned that the deal fell through as I sat on the steps below the riverwalk.

Those riverwalk steps were where I told the NBA “no” and was told “no” by two Division I programs. I was in my first year of working (as a volunteer) in college athletics, and I already had the only three conversations I’d ever have about jobs in the NBA or NCAA D1.

The summer of 2007 was the wildest time of my life. I was living with my Marquette buddies in a condemned house. I just graduated. I had no idea where I was going to be when summer ended. I didn’t think much about any of that. I had faith that my hard work and obsession with basketball was going to pay off.

On top of that, my friend Armen’s car was a drop-top Sebring and Milwaukee summer weather is typically perfect. That car probably put on 20,000 miles with Elijah, Paul and I cruising around Milwaukee that summer. The Brewers were on their way to their first winning season in 15 years and tickets were between $1 and $5 a night. I had no real impact on the world yet, but I was enjoying every moment and optimistic about what was next. The fall workouts for the 2007-08 season were about to begin, and the Milwaukee Panthers were about to be one heck of a story.

It just wasn’t the story anyone involved with the program was expecting.

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A Series of Gifts

On February 4th, 2006 I turned 22 years old and received a gift from a friend that would change my life. It was a 496 page behemoth of over 100 articles by successful basketball coaches edited by Jerry Krause. I had received meaningful gifts before. A few different times, I was given guitars by family members. By the time I was 22, my brief music “career” was all but ended and a new career was about to begin.

Going into the spring semester of what was supposed to be my senior year at UW-Milwaukee, I realized that I no longer wanted to be a sports writer. I was finishing up my second professional job as a writer in the field and was finding very little joy in the late nights at the office editing articles about the event I attended a few hours before. I realized that the best part of those nights covering high school events was the atmosphere, the community and the people. I was captivated and intimidated by the coaches I interviewed. Being around some great coaches in my life from inside my family and at my high school, I saw first-hand the impact that they had on individuals and the entire community as a whole. I met with my advisor and after a few minutes of looking at my transcript she asked, “Why aren’t you a history major? You’ve taken every World War I and II class. You could graduate in five years with a history degree.”

And just like that, I saw a new dream for myself. Instead of writing about the games, I would do what my Uncle Ron Einerson did… coach the games. With four semesters to go, I switched my major and committed to learning everything about basketball that I could. I worked at the front desk of the Klotsche Center, the home of the Milwaukee Panthers athletic offices and had a great relationship with the new coaching staff. Rob Jeter just finished his first year as head coach and the Panthers finished 23-9 and knocked off Oklahoma to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Ironically, Rob played with my high school coach in college at UW-Platteville for Hall-of-Fame coach Bo Ryan.

One spring day, while checking in students to go into the athletic facilities, then video coordinator Chip Mackenzie stopped by as I was reading the “Coaching Basketball” book I got for my birthday. Chip knew that I was heavily involved in everything Panther athletics and helped organize events and the student section for basketball and soccer games. What he didn’t know was that my last name was Einerson. He asked if I wanted to get into coaching and I said “absolutely, my Uncle Ron was a coach.”

“Ron who,” Chip asked.

“Einerson, he’s my great Uncle.”

“RON EINERSON IS YOUR UNCLE!”

“Well, great Uncle. He’s my grandpas brother.”

Chip’s focus changed from helping me raise student interest in the upcoming events to becoming an official member of the program as a manager. Coach Jeter came by to chat about Coach Gallagher, and he and Chip offered me a chance to be a part of the program under one condition.

I needed to get off the message boards.

And that made sense, I was a very prominent member of uwmfreak.proboards5.com. That may not mean much to those who aren’t Milwaukee Panthers basketball fans, alumni or Horizon League people, but it was a problem if I was going to be a part of the program and experience the ups and downs of Division I college athletics.

I had a lot to think about. I was carpooling to caddy at Whistling Straits an hour north of Milwaukee three days a week, my lease agreement was about to expire on my apartment just off campus and I didn’t own a functional car anymore since the engine blew the previous winter. I was looking at new places to live when a good friend from my hometown offered a great opportunity.

On the corner of 18th & Wells just off of Marquette’s campus, there was house that we had affectionately named “the Mansion.” Elijah lived there for a year with a crowd of his buddies from Marquette but the owner of that house also had an old building connected to it that he used for storage. Elijah and his longtime roommate Paul agreed to help the landlord by taking care of all the yardwork and snow removal from all of the houses he owned on the entire block if they could inhabit the old dusty schoolhouse that nobody knew was livable.

Well, there was a reason nobody knew it was livable. It really wasn’t. We weren’t allowed to use the front door and were required to enter the schoolhouse in the back alley where nobody would see us and even if they did, we were just the grounds crew for the city block. We were also instructed to keep the first floor empty and dusty so nobody would suspect that we were living there.

Yeah, like Fight Club. It looked exactly like Fight Club.

So we set up camp on the second and third floor and (for a summer) had access to an incredible roof to watch over Marquette. The landlord fixed up the plumbing and electricity and Elijah, Paul and three more of us moved in just in time for summer. We covered the holes in the walls with every sports poster we could find. It was an incredible place to spend our first summer. The kitchen was really just a hallway and the bathroom had a sheet, not a door, but we were happy. 22 year olds in Milwaukee aren’t going to be home much anyway, especially not in summer. We all had jobs, the Brewers played 81 home games and the Summerfest grounds were hosting different festivals every weekend.

I realized immediately that a door had opened for me. I no longer needed to make the $400-500 per month to pay my rent. My rent was free. My utilities were free. I just had to make as much money as possible over the summer and live on it during the school year. I could join the managing staff at UWM and learn everything I could about coaching.

As summer ended and I started my 5th year as a student at Milwaukee, my plan was to hop on the bus at Marquette early in the morning, stop in the basketball offices throughout the day to help with anything I could and soak up every drop of knowledge I could from Rob Jeter’s staff at Milwaukee before hopping on the bus later at night back to our Condemned Schoolhouse. I had no idea what the future held, but I took every step with purpose.

Back then, team basketball workouts were heavily limited and the majority of time we spent together in fall was some sort of conditioning. Today, this is very similar to how a high school program looks in fall.

Once a week, we’d take to the soccer field for sprints. The soccer field is one of the coolest part of the Milwaukee campus. Engelmann Stadium is tucked between five different department buildings and is surrounded by trees where there aren’t buildings. As we got deeper into fall, the setting got spectacular and intensity ramped up as the trees changed colors and weather got colder. Basketball is a winter sport and when that weather changes, it’s go time.

At the end of the week, we did indoor plyometric workouts at the Klotsche Center. This was always spirited because we were headed into a weekend. The music blared, schools squeaked and leaders clapped and yelled for the younger guys to push themselves and finish strong.

By far, the most memorable and impactful experience for our team in fall was “The Hill.” Across from Bradford Beach was the biggest challenge of fall conditioning. A 80-yard flat stretch of grass led to a sharply inclined hill with running paths worn into the grass. While I couldn’t tell you the details of how long that hill was or how sharp the incline was, I know it was the ultimate separator of who was going to help our team and who wasn’t. I remember being shocked at how stocky Jason Averkamp, a walk-on, competed with some of the best and most athletic guys in the program. I had a feeling he was a little better than people thought he was. Redshirt junior transfer Deion James was another one that stuck out. He starred at Milwaukee Vincent before going the juco route and ended up at Tulsa. He didn’t have some of the hype that our other transfers had, but he completed his tail off and was a great teammate, always clapping and yelling for other guys to push.

As fall began, the weather was still hot (by Milwaukee standards) and all we really found out was who spent their summer working and who didn’t. Ten completed hills was the expectation. Every week, it was bumped up. By the time we got into mid-October, the lake breeze started to get that winter bite and each player had to run 20 hills to qualify for a practice jersey. The mile-long van rides from campus to the hill were dead silent. Players hated the anticipation. It fired me up. It reminded me of the Tryout scene in Rudy where everyone is vying for a rare walk-on spot at Notre Dame.

What really threw me for a loop was that managers had an expectation too. We had to complete at least one hill workout with the players. Most of the coaches had the same expectation. This was a full-program commitment. I didn’t realize it at the time but it was a great way to get players to respect managers and I would guess that our managers were treated better than most by our players because of the high expectations we were given. I played a lot of basketball at the Klotsche Center at the time but nothing prepared me for the challenges of the hill. Obviously, I had to prove myself to everyone in the program so I gave it all I had… and couldn’t walk the next day.

As we headed into Panther Madness, our annual team introduction to the fans, expectations for the program were at an all-time high. In 2004-05, Bruce Pearl led the Panthers to the Sweet 16. Bruce left for Tennessee and Rob Jeter was brought in from Bo Ryan’s staff at Wisconsin. With stars like Joah Tucker, Chris Hill, Adrian Tigert and Boo Davis back as seniors, the Panthers won another Horizon League title and beat Kelvin Sampson’s Oklahoma Sooners in the first round the NCAA tournament. Milwaukee ran into the eventual national champion, Florida Gators, in the second round and all of the “Banner Boys” graduated.

In the summer of 2006, when I joined the program, you could make a claim that Milwaukee was actually a stronger national program than Bruce Pearl’s Tennessee Volunteers and our fans were certain that we were the best program in Milwaukee at the time. That proved to be foolish because Marquette’s drop-off after their 2003 Final Four run was brief. However, Tom Crean wasn’t interested in playing Milwaukee while Bruce Pearl was there so UWM fans just wanted a chance. They wouldn’t shut up about how badly they wanted a shot at Marquette.

The relationship between UWM fans and Marquette fans was volatile. We played across the street from each other, often at the same exact time. To understand the culture clash, you have to understand who populates these two schools. Marquette is world-class Catholic University that draws in students from all over the world. A large contingent of Marquette’s enrollment comes from the Chicago-area. A good portion of MU’s Wisconsin-born students went to Catholic High Schools.

UW-Milwaukee, in contrast, was mostly a commuter school. Most of the people who went to UWM were public school students from lower-to-middle class and public high schools. There were four massive dorm towers at UWM with between 15 and 26 floors but a large majority of Milwaukee students were not living on campus. Marquette’s annual sticker price was 10 times more expensive. Panther fans felt inferior in every way to Marquette fans. And the recent success of the Milwaukee Basketball program was a reason to punch back at Marquette, who owned most of the attention of the Milwaukee media. Panther fans were about to get their chance as Tom Crean and Rob Jeter agreed to a deal that would bring UWM to the Bradley Center in 2007.

Living at Marquette and working for Milwaukee was a wild experience. My Marquette friends, particularly my buddy Armen and my roommates Paul and Elijah regularly came to UWM games by using my free tickets but everyone else around me was triggered by my Panther gear as I walked around MU’s campus every day. Most of it was light-hearted banter and I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I had a lot of friends at Marquette and I loved talking hoops with them even if they were ripping me and my program.

In 2006, our only returning seniors were walk-on Nick Hansen and Kevin Massiah, neither of them had contributed. The high expectations didn’t match our experience or ability but we did have excitement over Milwaukee Riverside star Ricky Franklin, who was headed into his sophomore year. Transfers Avery Smith, Paige Paulsen, Marcus Skinner and Sam Mauldin were also reasons for fans to be galvanized about the new crop.

Personally, I thought we’d compete for a conference title again.

I wasn’t very smart in 2006.

The Parkside Game

Our exhibition season at U.S. Cellular Arena opened up on November 1st against D2 UW-Parkside. The Rangers were a formidable D2 program, coached by Luke Reigel who is still at the helm. In the exhibition game in 2005, our Panthers routed UWP 69-46 while playing our entire bench.

2006 was different. The Rangers shot 70 percent from the field in the first half and got 20 points from a very scrawny Tyrone Deacon. We were down 30-16 at half and Coach Jeter’s locker room was a blood bath. Our guys fought through the second half but never had the offensive firepower to take the lead. Parkside took the win 77-71 and just like that, all of our expectations were shattered.

The last time Milwaukee took the floor was against the Florida Gators in the NCAA Tournament. Now, we had lost to a D2 on our home floor.

Coach Jeter announced we’d be back for film and practice at 6am. Because the busses didn’t run before 6, I just stayed at one of our manager’s dorm rooms overnight, wearing the same white undershirt and black pants I wore to the game the night before. I put the white dress shirt and yellow tie in my backpack for the bus ride home but I ran the clock with a wrinkled white tee, black dress pants and dress shoes the next day. I rebounded for some players at the end of practice and was told I should take my dress shoes off so I didn’t mark up the floor. I rebounded for Deion and Myles barefoot. I had class on Thursday, November 2nd as well so that was my outfit, including the dress shoes, for the entire day.

The 2006-07 Season

The inexperience of our team was exposed early and often. We got 27 points from Paige Paulsen in our first regular season game in a win over Radford but got steamrolled by UAB and Washington State in front of mostly empty seats in our next two home games. We fell to 1-3 with a lost to Michigan a few days later. I wasn’t on the Michigan trip but I got to go to Northern Iowa for the first game ever in the brand new, and still very dusty, McLeod Center. Over 6,100 very loud UNI fans were right on top of us as they dumped us to 1-4. The atmosphere was incredible and that Northern Iowa fight song still gives me chills. One of my favorite memories from that trip was being taunted for the first time by the UNI student section. “Your tie is too long” was directed at me. Without being prompted, assistant coach Chad Boudreau told me in the locker room, “Hey, come on man. These (ties) are supposed to stop at your belt.”

I was learning so much all the time and only a portion of it was basketball.

We got a win at home over South Dakota State with my parents in attendance to go to 2-4. I invited our 6-9 backup center from Alabama home for Thanksgiving and my younger siblings thought Sam Mauldin was the biggest star on earth. We were home for about 16 hours before we were back preparing for our Sunday game against Tennessee Tech.

This was when things got really rough. From November 26 until December 27th we lost all seven games. In the middle of the losing streak was a 76-70 loss to Oakland where transfer Avery Smith scored 36 points. I wasn’t on the trip but watched from the team room connected to the locker room with a couple of old message board buddies. The fans I was friends with were tired of watching us struggle. In that same locker room the next day, I found my voice.

Avery was bragging to a few teammates about his 36 point performance when I reached my breaking point. “But we lost Avo. Who cares how many points you scored, win a game.” I had never spoken up about anything to that point but things around the program had gotten dark. I was in the building for two conference championship court rushes in the last two years and now we were bragging about losses.

For a second, everyone was silent. Then the locker room erupted into mocking laughter. Avery was a polarizing figure and wasn’t known to be humble. The players loved it. The scrawny manager with baggy clothes just put our leading scorer in his place… and the guys were on my side. It encouraged me to be more honest about what I was seeing.

Not everything was a win for me though. Once in overtime, I brought Coach Jeter’s board out to him during a 30 second time out without erasing it from the previous draw up. Instead of drawing up a key play late, he had to explain to the guys what to do while I wiped the board with my white dress shirt. That was the last time I wore that dress shirt.

Another time the dryer at the U.S. Cellular Arena broke and I hung up the practice jerseys in player lockers thinking they’d be dry by the next day. They were VERY wet when we started practice and Coach Jeter called me out in front of the team. This had a strong effect on me. I started to take the little things very seriously. Thankfully, we won against Wyoming the next day and the players avoided pneumonia.

To this point, I had a few different roles.

1. Help Academic Advisor Sharif Chambliss monitor athlete grades and time in the study hall.

2. Help Video Coordinator Chip Mackenzie request and exchange film with other NCAA schools. At the time these were mostly still VHS tapes but DVDs were becoming more popular. Live taping a game on a VHS machine and sending it through the mail was a tedious process.

3. Help Director of Basketball Operations Ronnie Jones set up and organize hotels, meals and alumni events.

4. Help the assistant coaches print out and organize scouting reports.

5. Set up and take down the main court for practice. This involved putting up the portable hoops at the Klotsche Center, which was a learned skill and often open to criticism for being off-center.

6. Run the clock for practice. Pass and use pads for drills.

7. Do the game and practice laundry daily.

8. Rebound for players outside of practice to help them sharpen their skills. Redshirt transfer Deion James, Myles McKay and Lefty workhorse Jason Deutchman were the biggest takers. I saw first-hand how valuable this extra time was in the coming years as James became known for his big shots in his two years playing for Milwaukee. McKay ended up a D3 All-American at UW-Whitewater and Deutchman finished his career with UNLV. If Jason was every healthy, he would’ve been a deadly scorer because of his size and skill.

9. Open the U.S. Cellular Arena for shootarounds on game days. This was my favorite role. I’d walk a half-mile down from my condemned house at Marquette to the arena, open the back door and wait in the bowl for players to arrive. There’s an immense amount of history in the old Milwaukee MECCA. The 1971 NBA Champion Bucks played there. The 1977 NCAA Champion Marquette Golden Eagles played there. The 2003, 2005 and 2006 Milwaukee Panthers won Horizon League titles there.

   I loved soaking it up in silence.

The first player to arrive was always Paige Paulsen. The 6-7 forward from South Dakota was a lights out three point shooter and it was clear to me how he became that way. Paige would walk into the arena 90 minutes before his teammates and go through a meticulous routine that started around the rim and ended with half court shots with the same form that he’d shoot a 10-footer. This was when Steph Curry was still running around Davidson so 30 footers were not a “thing” yet in college or pro basketball. Paige was also the one to teach me to hit the target on every single pass no matter where he was or where I was. I got pretty good at it as we got up that hour or so of extra shots every game day.

In 2008, Paige broke off of a play call while trailing by two against Detroit and asked for the ball about 30 feet from the rim. He pulled up and drained the game winner from the same spot he hit 10 shots earlier in the day with me rebounding and passing to him.

While the team was taking lumps, I was inspired by the daily grind and how putting in extra work was paying off for each player in the program. Player Development became my passion and I was typically arriving on campus at 8am and leaving around 10 or 11pm to hop back on the bus back to the condemned house at Marquette.

For me, the hard work was paying off as well. The team went on a road trip to Cleveland State and Youngstown State early in January. When the team returned, I was the head manager. Our female head manager had a relationship with one of our guards, which is a big problem for obvious reasons when road trips were involved. This was the last trip I missed during my time at Milwaukee.

I had a great partnership with everyone on staff. Duffy Conroy and Brian Bidlingmyer took me under their wing and gave me insight on how to win day-to-day situations. They had great insight on what to take serious and what to let go. Chad Boudreau let me use his office when he was gone recruiting, which was constantly. He was witty and always the first to break a tense situation with some humor.

I had a great deal of respect for all three assistants and their strengths were obvious. Boudreau was a wizard with people. He could talk to a Division I head coach and Klotsche Center janitor in the exact same manner. Everyone in Milwaukee loved Chad. Duffy was our offensive and shooting guru. Conroy was on the support staff at Wisconsin where he and Jeter worked together. Duffy is a fantastic teacher. He spent one year as a high school varsity coach at his alma mater at Davenport Assumption before re-joining Jeter at Milwaukee. Bidlingmyer and Jeter spent a year on staff together at Marquette. Bid was a great player at Siena in his day and was a very prominent voice in every single practice. I always thought our successful bigs in the coming years owed a lot to him for his ability to develop post players.

The support staff, Ronnie Jones, Chip Mackenzie and Sharif Chambliss were who I spent the most time around during the season. Jones and Mackenzie shared and office and Chambliss would slide into Boudreau’s during his frequent recruiting trips. Chip went to Madison Edgewood and knew Chris Farley. His northern accent was legendary and he was extremely happy to see everyone every day. Ronnie was a Panther legend, a former point guard who had a great relationship with our players. Sharif recently finished as a star at Wisconsin where he led the Badgers to the Elite 8.

The managers that lasted late into the season were a trio of terror. Brian Rutz, who ended up being a long-time assistant at MSOE and Dan Meyer shared duties with me day-to-day. Dan and Brian are famous for their Step Brothers routine that they gave as a goodbye to the team, boosters and fans at the season banquet when they graduated in 2009. There was tension from time-to-time over duties and road trips. I think I may have rubbed them the wrong way with how I took on a leadership role when I joined the staff at the same time they did. But I thought we worked well together and I loved being around these guys. Above all, they were hilarious every single day. I was honestly jealous of how quick-witted they were.

The trip I remember most was my first trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse to play the Butler Bulldogs. Butler and Milwaukee were fierce rivals at the time in the Horizon League and the Bulldogs were red-hot, already winning 22 games on the year. Walking into Hinkle Fieldhouse was incredible. The famous “Hoosiers” gym was recently remodeled. The old airplane hanger had big windows and when the sun was shining in the new blue seats would make the entire arena glow with a bluish hue. Hinkle also had a few famous dead spots where the ball would drop dead on the floor instead of bouncing back into your hands. One of our roles as managers was to find these spots and we found four of them…

On both low blocks on both ends of the floor.

The rumor was that the dead spots were by design to eliminate post play. Butler was a guard-heavy program at the time so the rumor was a fun one. Who knows if that was true but we still spread the rumor around the Horizon League to other managers.

It’s important to understand that a lot of programs took advantage of home court advantage at that time. Detroit’s rim was pointed down on both ends by at least an inch and a half. We used Sterling balls that seemed to stick into the floor and didn’t bounce up as fast as the Nike’s or Wilson’s at the time. We also had thick nets that circumstantially stopped other teams from playing fast. We played slow under Jeter so that was an advantage for us. In contrast, Marquette’s nets were thin like NBA nets so you could grab the ball out fast and push in transition on make or miss.

The game at Butler wasn’t close but I got a cool picture in my new favorite sports venue. Nick Hansen took the picture a moment after we turned off the lights to leave shoot around.

I air balled the shot.

I got an early taste of my future on February 17 of 2007 when we traveled to Des Moines to play Drake in the old ESPN Bracketbuster games. The game didn’t mean much but the Drake crowd, much like the UNI crowd, absolutely blew me away. Avery Smith scored 33 points and we held a big early lead but Drake escaped with the win. In my two trips to Iowa, I was so impressed with how seriously the fans took basketball. Kevin Massiah fouled out halfway through the 2nd half and the entire Knapp Center screamed “Hit the Road Jack” along with the band. We were cooked.

When we drove to Des Moines, I got my first taste of Dubuque as we crossed the bridge over the Mississippi at dusk. I thought it was beautiful. I didn’t know that it would be the next place I lived. Dubuque would become one of my favorite places on earth and I’ll always remember the view from that bus window as we crossed the bridge into Iowa.

We ended the regular season by ruining our rival Green Bay’s senior night. Down four with a minute left, Ricky Franklin stuck a three that sat on the heel of the rim before dropping. Paige Paulsen scored in the paint with a second remaining and we went to the locker room to celebrate as Phoenix seniors had to go grind through senior night after losing to a rival.

It was awesome.

However, it was only our ninth win of the year. And it would be our last one. We took our 22nd loss at UIC during the first round of the Horizon League tournament. On the bus ride home, I sat and ate my Caron’s Ribs and reflected. How the heck did I get here? It wasn’t a successful season by any means but I had a chance to get behind the curtain at the highest level of college basketball. The coaches worked dawn to dusk every day to be successful. The players were working a full-time job outside of school. We took jets all over the country. As I was headed towards graduation, I started talking to local Milwaukee high schools about joining their staffs. I felt my time in Division I was most likely ending and there was a good chance I’d never return.

But I was inspired. I was a completely different person.

The idea of graduating and heading to a high school assistant job was half exciting and half sad. I could do this forever.

I figured my time in college basketball was over… but it wasn’t.

2006-07 Results

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