Just 3 of 15 Panthers’ men’s basketball players returned for the 2024-25 season, a major change from an age before the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), infiltrated the sport.
Milwaukee’s BJ Freeman (Arizona State), Green Bay’s Noah Reynolds (TCU), Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick (Missouri) and Oakland’s Trey Townsend (Arizona) all left for bigger schools, due in part to funding provided by NIL opportunities.
Oakland head coach Greg Kampe told OutKick’s Dan Dakich recently about the difficulty of coaching in the Horizon League during the era of NIL funds.
“We’ve got a ‘Keep Trey Townsend Fund’ going from our [NIL] collective,” said Kampe. “We might be able to get $40,000-50,000 in there, but he’s looking at $250,000-300,000 from what I’m being told. So, it’s going to be hard for me to tell him to stay.”
Milwaukee, like their Horizon League counterparts, may never match the amounts doled out by major universities, but the funds have created an opportunity for players to be paid and do some good in the city.
Former Panther Joah Tucker is at the forefront, still making an impact on the program nearly 20 years after averaging 16.2 points per game on the Panthers’ Sweet 16 team. Tucker started the Panther Future Fund as a way to support the basketball program and the community.
“I know how important these kids are to Milwaukee,” said Tucker. “The first year we did a lot of public speaking … Our goal is to get these kids in front of other young kids and plant seeds about what they can do, how they can be successful, how these people have gotten to those positions. The focus of the Panther Future Fund is kids and community.”
The notable aspect of the fund is a service that benefits the community. Milwaukee’s roster features six players – John Lovelace Jr. (Brown Deer), Vinko Polovic (Franklin), Learic Davis (Milwaukee; Bradley Tech), Simeon Murchison (Milwaukee; Hamilton), Austin Villarreal (Pewaukee; Arrowhead), Danilo Jovanovich (Milwaukee; Whitnall) – who hail from the Milwaukee area.
Tucker sees a sliver of himself in the hometown kid who makes his mark on the city school’s basketball program.
“In a perfect world,” said Tucker, “you have a guy who comes to school, he’s very successful on and off the court, and then those people like me get to come back and affect the community, become businessmen, be role models for the kids.”
The fund also allows Milwaukee to compete with schools with deeper-pocketed boosters around the country, aiding in recruiting players to come and stay in the city. Tucker pointed out that nearly every player who earned all-Horizon League honors in 2023-24 left for a bigger school.
“I saw that coming,” said Tucker, indicating he knew players would leave for bigger schools after their standout performances. “We went to the Sweet 16 [as a player] and then again to the second round of the Tournament. That’s what I see for the school.”
Tucker, a graduate of Nicolet High School, became involved in real estate after his playing career ended in 2012.
“Everyone wants to be a professional athlete but we know the numbers aren’t conducive to everyone making it,” said Tucker. “When talking to [high schoolers], we talk about how many credits you need to graduate, what you’re majoring in, what you’re struggling with, what other industries are that you can get into.”
In a world where NIL is largely unregulated, the need to responsibly put money in the hands of athletes is all-the-more vital.
“For a long time, people talked about the amateurism of college sports,” said Tucker. “Coaches get paid a ton of money, so it hasn’t been about amateurs for a long time … Funds have to be exchanged for services.”
The Panther Future Fund hopes to be part of using NIL for good – to impact the community and student-athletes positively.