Quick...name me the two Horizon league schools that have won multiple basketball championships in the past 6 years.
The list is pretty short. It's two. Butler, and UW-Milwaukee.
Sustained success is difficult to achieve. And other than the Bulldogs, the Panthers have obtained it.
Miami has already talked to Jeter, and will likely do so again. Bradley came calling, and eventually Jeter withdrew his name from consideration for the job. And his name is well regarded in most college coaching circles.
Yet for some reason, Jeter doesn't get the credit he deserves...but let's examine the facts.
UWM beat Butler twice during the regular season. Sure, they fell short during the Horizon League championship, but what's impressive to me is that a season on the brink at 4-5 in the conference, got one step away from making the NCAA tournament. I'm always impressed at what people can do under adversity, and Jeter handled it.
And he's handled it through less than ideal situations. Through administration changes, and the previous AD wanting him to cut staff. And having to share a practice facilty with several other sports, and many other athletes, not to mention the less than ideal situation with the Arena and a home court that isn't really an advantage at all.
Detractors say he started his Panthers tenure winning with Bruce Pearl's players. Does anyone bother to realize that Adrian Tigert, Clay Tucker and others were recruited by Jeter under Bo Ryan's tenure at UWM? And give the man credit...his first team didn't underachieve. It did what they were supposed to do...go 22-9, make the NCAA tournament, beat Oklahoma, and lose to eventual national champion Florida.
There were a few down years, where quite frankly Jeter had to clean up the program from past mistakes. But now, a level of success has been achieved.
Do his kids graduate? Yes. Are they good students? The team GPA has gone from 2.1 to around 2.9. Do they represent the community well? They sure do.
UWM would be wise to do what it takes to keep Jeter and a solid program around, because trust me Panthers fans...you don't want to slip back into mediocrity.
Emails at lallan@todaystmj4.com
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