UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MILWAUKEE

The UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team — banned last season from postseason play because of poor academic performance — had treated this year as a fresh start. Every significant player remained in the program. The Panthers opened the season winning a tournament in California. They won road games against Big Ten opponents Wisconsin and Minnesota and finished fifth in the regular-season Horizon League standings. And while they lost Sunday to eventual champion UW-Green Bay in the conference tournament, they finished with a 20-13 overall record. Off the court, the Panthers became postseason eligible again thanks to dramatic academic improvement. And although they couldn’t make the NCAA or NIT tournaments, their résumé was strong enough to earn invitations to both the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com tournaments. Athletic director Amanda Braun responded to an email inquiry from the Journal Sentinel with a lengthy statement, saying the team’s results were not good enough and postseason play this year “was not in the best interests of our program.”- Todd Rosiak,  Journal Sentinel– Read More