UWM's predecessor institutions (Milwaukee Normal School, Milwaukee State Teachers College and Milwaukee State College) have competed in basketball since the 19th century as the Milwaukee Normals (1896–1927) and Milwaukee State Green Gulls (1927–1956).
Milwaukee State's only undefeated season came in 1940 under head coach Guy Penwell as the Green Gulls finished the year 16–0 enroute to their third Wisconsin State Conference championship.
The team competed under the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee name for the first time for the 1956–57 season. In honor of joining the University of Wisconsin System, they sported the cardinal red and white colors and adopted "Cardinals" as their nickname. Three years later, the Cardinals made their first post-season appearance in the 1960 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament.
1965–1998: Becoming the Panthers; up to Division I
Seeking to establish their own identity, Milwaukee adopted the colors of black and gold on September 1, 1965 and became known as the Panthers. They also left the Wisconsin State College Conference (now the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), of which they had been members since 1913, to form a conference with other urban public universities in the Great Lakes region such as Illinois-Chicago and Cleveland State. Such plans for a new conference never materialized, and the Panthers remained independent even as they moved from the NCAA College Division (now NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III) to the University Division (now NCAA Division I) in 1973.
In 1999, the Panthers hired Bo Ryan, a highly successful Division III coach at UW–Plattville, as the team's new head coach. Under Ryan, the Panthers had their first consecutive winning seasons since 1993, and Ryan was also instrumental in bringing wider attention and fan enthusiasm to the program. After just two seasons, Ryan left to become the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers.
2002–2005: Bruce Pearl era
After Bo Ryan's departure, Milwaukee would hire Bruce Pearl, a successful Division II coach at Southern Indiana, as head coach. Milwaukee reached new heights of success during the mid-2000s, making its first NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearance in 2003 under Pearl, followed by a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2005 and a second-round appearance in 2006. Pearl left to become the head coach at Tennessee after 2005 and the school hired Rob Jeter, a former assistant under Bo Ryan.[3] The Panthers won three straight regular-season Horizon League championships from 2004 to 2006 as well as the Horizon League tournament championship in 2003, 2005, and 2006.
2006–2015: Rob Jeter era
The Panthers' most recent Horizon League regular season championship came in 2011, where they'd host the Horizon League Championship game, but lost to Butler. In 2014, the Panthers won the Horizon League tournament, making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006. Just a few weeks later, UWM was handed a one-year postseason ban due to a low Academic Progress Rate.[4] Under Jeter, while the Panthers were mostly competitive, they were unable to stay consistently on top in the Horizon League standings.
On March 17, 2016, Milwaukee fired Rob Jeter after 11 seasons with the Panthers.[5]
2016–2021: LaVall Jordan and Pat Baldwin eras
On April 7, 2016, Milwaukee announced that Michigan assistant coach LaVall Jordan would be the new head coach.[6]
Less than one year later, on March 3, 2017, the Panthers made history by being the first No. 10 seed to win a game in the Horizon League Tournament. They went on to place second overall in the tournament, losing to Northern Kentucky in the championship game on March 7.[7] After this one lone season, Jordan accepted the head coaching job at Butler. On June 20, Milwaukee hired Northwestern assistant coach Pat Baldwin as their new head coach.[8]
In 2021, the Panthers made national news when they were able to successfully recruit Baldwin's son Patrick Baldwin Jr., who was rated by ESPN as the number four rated recruit in the country, becoming the highest rated player to commit to a Horizon League school.[9] Baldwin Jr. struggled with injury in his freshman season, and the Panthers finished the season 10–22. On March 2, 2022, Pat Baldwin was fired as head coach after five straight losing seasons.[10] Patrick Baldwin Jr. declared for the 2022 NBA draft, where he was selected 28th overall by the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first player in program history to be selected in the first round.[11]
2022–Present: Bart Lundy era
On March 18, 2022, the Panthers hired Bart Lundy, a successful Division II coach at Queens (NC), as the team's next head coach.[12] In Lundy's first season, the Panthers won 20 regular season games for the first time since 2004-05, finishing second in the Horizon League before losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament to Cleveland State. Milwaukee accepted an invite to the 2023 College Basketball Invitational, their first postseason appearance since the 2014 NCAA tournament. The Panthers defeated Stetson in overtime in the first round, marking their first postseason tournament victory since 2006, before losing to eventual champions Charlotte in the quarterfinals. In 2023-24, despite high hopes, the Panthers struggled through much of the season, mainly due to injuries to key players. The team still rallied to advance to the Horizon League Championship game before losing to Oakland, finishing with a record of 20-15, which was also the first time since 2006 that the Panthers had consecutive 20-win seasons. Lundy also became the first coach in the program's history to have 20-win seasons in each of his first two seasons coaching the team.
