March 17th, 2016 will live as a day of infamy in the eyes of many people around UW-Milwaukee, as it was the day Panthers’ men’s basketball coach Rob Jeter was surprisingly not retained after 11 seasons. Reporters, students and fans, not just from UWM or Milwaukee, but the college basketball world, scratched their heads at the decision following the Panthers 20-13 season. Despite the win-loss total, UWM Athletic Director Amanda Braun elected not to let the team enter a postseason tournament.

Rob Jeter was fired, much to the chagrin of people around UWM, after 11 seasons.  photo: hoopdirt.com
Rob Jeter was fired, much to the chagrin of people around UWM, after 11 seasons.
photo: hoopdirt.com

The most confused and even frustrated out of the masses are current and former members of the team, who voiced disapproval in the days following the decision.

Al Hanson, who was the team’s Second Director of Basketball Operations during the season and played for coach Jeter as a student at UW-Milwaukee was among those who were fired and in complete shock. He was caught off guard and is a little bitter with the gratuitous decision.

“I found out that morning walking into the office,” said Hanson. “I, along with everyone on the team, loved and respected him. He didn’t only teach me about the game of basketball, but life.”

It is still largely unknown why Coach Jeter was fired, as Braun only stated in a news conference that Jeter was not getting the program to “that level”.

In his 11 year tenure, Jeter worked under six ADs after being hired to replace Bruce Pearl, who led the team to their first and only Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament in 2005. In 2014, Jeter did the unthinkable when, after finishing in last place the year before, the Panthers, as a No. 5 seed, upset No. 1 seed, in-state rival, and overwhelming league favorite UW-Green Bay en route to winning the Horizon League Tournament and receiving a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Jeter compiled a 185-170 overall record in his 11 seasons, registering five 20-win seasons and four postseason berths. After being banned from postseason play in the 2014-15 season for academic reasons, the team compiled a 3.1 grade-point average during the Fall 2015 term and had big non-conference victories against Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was Jeter’s first and only victory against his mentor, former Badgers’ coach Bo Ryan.

Molly Welter, a freshman kinesiology major who helped manage the team during the season, expressed similar remorse.

“At first, I was mad,” she said. “Why would this even happen?  Then I started to think about it and Jeter held the team together. Players picked the college based on the coaching staff and program as a whole. Personally I can’t imagine what Milwaukee’s men’s team would be like without him. I thought not letting our guys have a postseason was a little bogus but I was literally shocked when I heard the news of the firing. I actually shed a tear or two.”

When asked about how the players reacted and the news about some of them thinking of transferring, Welter said they were upset but respectful.

“I’m proud of them for not retaliating,” she said. “That was their coach, they saw him more than they see their parents during the season. I don’t want any of the players to leave and I can’t imagine the team without any of them. If they want to leave and that’s’ what they think is in their best interest then they should. They came here as Jeter being one of their main reasons.”

Braun said an immediate, national search would take place for a new coach, and judging from the opinions of many around the university, the replacement will be held to the same, if not better, standards than Jeter.

4 replies on “Remorse over Jeter firing spread across UWM and Milwaukee”

  1. So much as been said about the fine, superlative job Rob Jeter did in his 11 mostly mediocre years coaching the Milwaukee Panthers. Please note, though, that the shortest line in Milwaukee right now might be the nonexistent one for would-be suitors seeking to hire Jeter, who has always struck me as a man born to coach somebody’s high school team. Prediction: in the coming months no college with a lick of credibility or buzz will hire Jeter for anything but low-level assistant.

    1. You are incorrect in your assumption. Do some research and you will find that coach Jeter has been offered other Division one jobs only to stay loyal to UWM. Boy, that loyalty really paid off for him. The really sad part of all of this is when AD Braun is finished ruining the entire athletic department and run off all of the Boosters, she’ll be fired and leave us with the big mess to clean up.

Comments are closed.