Junior college basketball was once viewed as a type of “purgatory” for talented athletes lacking the grades or character to enter a university straight from high school. JUCO recruits faced far more obstacles in their journey from two-year to four-year college a decade or two ago than in the current structure.
But today it’s seen as a stepping stone to a successful college career. Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder, two of the sport’s most prolific junior college alumni, both played at Marquette under then-assistant coach Bart Lundy, who now serves as Milwaukee’s head man. His foray into the junior college ranks has only intensified in recent years.
Assistant coach Jake Williams spent seven years in the junior college ranks, coaching at Northwest Florida State, USC-Salkehatchie and Dodge City CC. The last of which included guiding both BJ Freeman and recent recruit Themus Fulks.
The lack of resources available to a JUCO basketball coach are unlike anything at the Division I level.
“Rubber floor, no budget, no cafeteria, [small] weight rooms,” described Williams on his experience in Salkehatchie. “We put 16 kids in a quadplex. It was four kids to two bedrooms. Some guys were just staying in the living room. One guy took a closet… It was a crazy experience.”
That experience prepared Williams for his current role as an assistant coach on Lundy’s staff – both in forging toughness through the grind of JUCO basketball and in accumulating his seemingly unending knowledge of the landscape.
“Being able to get Jake, with his success in the JUCO ranks was really a win for us,” said Lundy. “I think we’re doing one of the best jobs in the country with the JUCO ranks.”
Williams had precisely zero money to fund his program at Salkehatchie – for travel, food, equipment, gear and scholarships. His role spanned from basketball coach to fundraiser to graphic designer. Lundy even joked that Williams ate nothing but Subway during his time in JUCO.
The challenges of junior college basketball carry beyond coaching to the player side. Nearly half of Milwaukee’s roster spent time in JUCO, with mixed experiences.
“I actually hated that place,” recalled Darius Duffy, speaking on his time at the two-year Ranger College in Texas. “There was nothing to do – the nearest city was a mile away. We didn’t even have restaurants or anything; all we had was a Dollar General and the next closest restaurant was 30 minutes away.”
The players may have had little entertainment outside practice, but coaches also left little time outside practice. The schedule for Faizon Fields’ junior college career looked like this: morning conditioning, class, a two-hour film session and then practice for three-plus hours.
“We would wake up [as] the sun would be coming out,” said Fields. “When we would leave, it’d be pitch black dark outside. So we never actually had a day to do anything.
“The only time we got days off is when we would win a game,” added Fields. “If it was a day off, we would still go watch film, go watch the game, which would still be an hour and a half to two hours of our day. And if we lost the game, then we’d have to wake up at seven in the morning and go watch our film, and then for every mistake you made in the game, it was a sprint.”
The drawn-out film sessions are a common thread at the two-year college level.
“Our film was crazy long,” said Duffy. “The team we were about to play – the last game they played, we’d watch it start to finish. And we would break down everything – it’s a long game… You just zone out.”
Though a challenge, most players find junior college to be a formative experience – preparing them for the Division I level and life beyond basketball. Among the players in the Panther program who spent time in JUCO – Fields, Duffy, Erik Pratt, Aaron Franklin and BJ Freeman, the Panthers’ lone all-league honoree last season.
“There really wasn’t that much of an adjustment,” said Fields. “Actually, D-I was kind of easier than JUCO… I feel like JUCO is pretty similar because there’s a lot of high-major guys at JUCO who just never got an opportunity or who didn’t have the grades.
“When times get tough at Division I, I’ll just say [to myself], ‘I’ve been through harder in JUCO,” added Fields.
That experience has also been described as a character-building one.
“Some of the highest character guys I’ve ever coached have been from JUCO,” said Lundy. “Jamichael Stillwell – he’s got a lot of edge to him. It’s good. He’s still a high character guy, but when he hits the court he’s a warrior.”
Stillwell is the Panthers’ lone recruit directly out of the junior college ranks for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Even as the Division I level may be the ultimate goal for college basketball players like Stillwell, some do miss the JUCO life.
“I would say the togetherness of the team,” said Fields on what he misses most about JUCO. “Here, it’s such a big university in a big sport where I don’t live next to all my teammates, I don’t see my teammates every single day… It’s just not the same. It was honestly probably the best experience, the best two years of my life. Building the bonds, the brotherhood, because in JUCO there was nothing much around me.”
Williams added: “Just as much as it benefits players, I think it benefits coaches… You get to coach, you get to manage a budget – you do it all. So when you do get your opportunity, whether it’s Division II, Division I or NAIA, you’re more prepared. My junior college experience was a lot of fun.
“It’s made me who I am,” said Williams.