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Post by stoffffff on Mar 26, 2024 16:25:02 GMT -6
Not surprised at all. We at least got two years with him. For a player of his potential, that's very good for us. Will be curious to see where he goes, could see him succeeding in the ACC or Big 12
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 26, 2024 18:43:25 GMT -6
UWM star BJ Freeman to declare for the NBA draft, enter transfer portal Todd Rosiak Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
BJ Freeman, who authored one of the best two-year runs by a player in UW-Milwaukee history, is moving on.
The junior wing man announced Tuesday on social media that he is declaring for the NBA draft and entering the transfer portal, essentially ending his tenure with the Panthers.
"BJ's ultimate goal is to be a professional basketball player at the highest level, and part of his rights as a college basketball player is to hire an agent. They thought at this time he was in position to pursue professional basketball," UWM coach Bart Lundy. "I think that's his first and foremost goal.
"And if he doesn't get the feedback that he wants from professional basketball, obviously he's in a position where a lot of college teams that have a lot of NIL money will get involved. My conversation with BJ was, if you're going to pursue professional basketball you should go into the portal and put everything above board and above the table.
"That doesn't mean that he wouldn't consider coming back here. But at some point, the NIL money becomes a factor and at Milwaukee we're doing pretty well with NIL money relative to our league (UWM recently started the Panther Future Fund -- run by Hall of Famer Joah Tucker -- as the official collective for men's basketball).
"But we are not going to be able to compete with some of the major money."
A native of Selma, N.C., the 6-foot-6 Freeman was part of Lundy’s first recruiting class at UWM, having signed on to play for the Panthers after a season at Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, Kan.
Soon thereafter, Freeman established himself as a force to be reckoned with as he averaged 18.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game en route to being named second team all-Horizon League.
His two biggest highlights came toward the end of that season – first, when he recorded just the fifth triple-double in program history with a 19-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist effort in a win over Purdue Fort-Wayne and then with a 43-point outburst in a victory over Stetson in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.
That ranked as the second-highest scoring performance ever by a Panthers player behind only Von McDade’s 50-point game in 1990.
Freeman did consider entering the transfer portal after last season, but ultimately decided to stay at UWM despite receiving large NIL offers from several schools that he said were in the range of several hundred thousands of dollars.
Freeman missed eight games this past season – the bulk of that time caused by a back injury – but still managed to lead the Panthers with averages of 21.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
Among his personal highlights was a run of four consecutive double-doubles, a first in program history, and 10 consecutive 20-point games, tying him with Von McDade for the longest such streak ever at UWM.
For his career, Freeman’s 19.6 points-per-game average is highest for any player since Shannon Smith averaged 18.5 from 1994-96 and the highest in UWM’s Division I history for players that played more than one season.
McDade leads at 29.3 ppg but only played in 1990-91 and Michael Hughes is second at 20.1 but only played in 1993-94).
"With BJ we've won 42 games. We've made the Horizon League semis and finals," Lundy said. "He's rewritten much of the record book here, especially in the scoring category, but also with double-doubles and triple-doubles and all the while embracing our model of being the city's team in college basketball.
"He's relatable to Milwaukee. Our Milwaukee fans love him, and he loves them back. If there was a world where everything was equal with NIL opportunities, there is no doubt in my mind that BJ would want to be stay here in Milwaukee over any other place, any other university."
While Freeman’s loss isn’t ideal for the Panthers, they should be in position to withstand the blow considering they are expected to return their next four highest-scoring players while also having added transfer AJ McKee.
There also remains the possibility the Panthers will add another player or two from the portal moving forward.
"I would say that we are in a position where we have a better nucleus of experience and talent than most teams in college basketball sitting here on March 26," Lundy said. "Losing BJ is obviously a blow, but we anticipate having a championship-level team for next season."
Lundy was asked to describe the challenge of trying to build and maintain a program at the mid-major level in today's day and age of big-money NIL deals and free-for-all transfers.
"You have a market marketplace for NIL money in college basketball, and the high-majors -- especially the ones that are doing well with their collectives and with their NIL funding -- are able to give players more money than they would make at many professional basketball jobs around the world outside of the NBA and probably the Euro League," Lundy explained. "Here at Milwaukee we're doing the best we can with NIL funding, but it is extremely difficult to compete with major teams who are funding like a professional basketball team."
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Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Mar 26, 2024 18:59:42 GMT -6
We will miss him. He helped the turnaround to put Milwaukee basketball on the map, and his run at the end of the year was incredible. I hope he makes it in the NBA; it would be great if a full time Panther made it to the NBA.
Having said that, I have faith we will be very competitive next year despite him leaving. The Panthers started their turnaround this year when he was injured and got some good wins (Chattanooga, at Cleveland State) when he wasn’t able to play. With the top players on pretty much every team in the conference entering the portal, having a good coach is more important than ever, and I do trust that Lundy is a good coach.
I also just saw in the article posted above that we are expected to return the next 4 highest scorers from this year’s team next year. Not sure if that is just conjecture, but there must be some belief that we won’t lose many other players to the portal this offseason.
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 26, 2024 19:35:47 GMT -6
I also just saw in the article posted above that we are expected to return the next 4 highest scorers from this year’s team next year. Not sure if that is just conjecture, but there must be some belief that we won’t lose many other players to the portal this offseason. I'm thinking just conjecture also. Virtually the same comment was made in a JS article at this time last year and within the next several days Thomas left. The year before it was reported several holdovers would stay and play for then-first year coach Lundy but most ended up leaving. The point is I would not assume the remainder of the current roster is a lock for next year. We will just have to wait to see what the roster looks like until at least after the portal period closes.
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Post by reginaldkdwight on Mar 26, 2024 20:06:00 GMT -6
Not surprised at all. We at least got two years with him. For a player of his potential, that's very good for us. Will be curious to see where he goes, could see him succeeding in the ACC or Big 12 Define succeeding? He will have to figure out both ends of the floor to play in those leagues.
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Post by TBone on Mar 26, 2024 20:38:34 GMT -6
He'll go down as one of the all-time Panther greats statistically.
I thought the signing of AJ may have pointed to this becoming a reality. It would have been very difficult to dole out the minutes and shots/points between Pratt, BJ and AJ at an off-guard position and keep them all happy.
As much as I've stuck up for him among his detractors, his game is nowhere near ready for the NBA at this point. I'm not sure he'd see the consistent minutes to develop at the G League at this point as well. My hope is that he goes to a bigger school, gets a good chunk of money, but chooses a school where he's going to get more than 15 - 20 minutes / game so his game can continue to grow.
No matter what decision he makes, I wish him nothing but the utmost of success. He'll go down as one of my all-time favorite Panthers.
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Post by reginaldkdwight on Mar 26, 2024 20:53:56 GMT -6
He'll go down as one of the all-time Panther greats statistically. I thought the signing of AJ may have pointed to this becoming a reality. It would have been very difficult to dole out the minutes and shots/points between Pratt, BJ and AJ at an off-guard position and keep them all happy. As much as I've stuck up for him among his detractors, his game is nowhere near ready for the NBA at this point. I'm not sure he'd see the consistent minutes to develop at the G League at this point as well. My hope is that he goes to a bigger school, gets a good chunk of money, but chooses a school where he's going to get more than 15 - 20 minutes / game so his game can continue to grow. No matter what decision he makes, I wish him nothing but the utmost of success. He'll go down as one of my all-time favorite Panthers. Look its not like I want him to fail. Ive watched 1000s of basketball games and I just call it like I see it. For me hes clearly the most frustrating Panther of all time because he could have been even better then he was here. BBIQ and Defensive focus are going to be tough to coach into him at this point in his career. Guess we will see what happens with him. I still wouldnt rule out a return here. No chance he gets any heat about going pro either here or in any league worth watching in europe. Will he be able to handle competing for minutes in practice at a good Major program? Will he defend like a Major program will demand vs better players night in and night out?
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Post by ghostofpbj on Mar 26, 2024 20:55:46 GMT -6
I could see this one coming for a while with BJ now. For those of you guys who made it to Indy, you could see the pure devastation in his body language as the final buzzer sounded and Oakland was crowned HL Champs that night. His ultimate goal was to bring a title to us, and fell just a hair short. I’m wishing him nothing but the best moving forward, I got to know him pretty well over the last two years and I consider myself lucky to have done so. Like others have said, he will go down as one of the greatest Panthers we’ve had. And since I’m not old enough to remember the Pearl era (I was slightly older than a toddler), he is my favorite Panther I’ve watched. In terms of speculating on teams he could be interested in, maybe NC State? Close to home and gives him a shot to compete in the ACC. I could see it since they are typically not viewed as one of the better ACC programs, so maybe he will get good PT there if he goes.
On another note, I’m very excited about having McKee for next season. I don’t think you lose much production if any, and we will add a primary ball handler in the portal soon, potentially two (likely two). Guys I would keep an eye out for are Roger McFarlane and Cian Medley for sure, but we’ll have to see if maybe they have some others in mind. It’s going to be a fun offseason now reloading this roster around Pratt, Fields, Pullian, McKee, etc. and don’t forget about the continued development of our local boys Learic Davis and Simeon Murchison. Stoked to see who we bring in next!
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Post by reginaldkdwight on Mar 26, 2024 20:59:03 GMT -6
I mean he was clamped by Blake Lampman in the HL Final...Bart shoulda kept him on the bench as we took the lead without him on the floor. Curious to see what EP does this next year being able to run the show more freely. Go back and look at the game logs post MB being kicked off the team and before BJ came back....
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Post by ghostofpbj on Mar 26, 2024 21:16:35 GMT -6
I mean he was clamped by Blake Lampman in the HL Final...Bart shoulda kept him on the bench as we took the lead without him on the floor. Curious to see what EP does this next year being able to run the show more freely. Go back and look at the game logs post MB being kicked off the team and before BJ came back.... Chattanooga game was one that stuck out
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Post by tyrunner0097 on Mar 26, 2024 22:07:46 GMT -6
BJ brought excitement and energy to the program and games, but I do feel like there were too many times he wasted precious seconds celebrating when he should've been running back on defense.
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Post by TBone on Mar 27, 2024 11:58:17 GMT -6
Look its not like I want him to fail. Ive watched 1000s of basketball games and I just call it like I see it. For me hes clearly the most frustrating Panther of all time because he could have been even better then he was here. BBIQ and Defensive focus are going to be tough to coach into him at this point in his career. Guess we will see what happens with him. I still wouldnt rule out a return here. No chance he gets any heat about going pro either here or in any league worth watching in europe. Will he be able to handle competing for minutes in practice at a good Major program? Will he defend like a Major program will demand vs better players night in and night out? I wasn't trying to insinuate that you wanted him to fail. (you're also not the only one I've defended BJ with on this forum) I've never believed you ever thought that, and I hope others haven't thought that about you either. Your take on his defense and decision making is remarkably similar to mine. Where we do/have differ(ed) is his scoring and playmaking abilities making up for those deficiencies, and him being on the court giving this roster the best chance to win. I only brought up the point that I've been one of his big defenders in order to contrast my opinion that his game is nowhere near ready for the pros or even the G-League IMHO. I think, as you do, that he could also struggle to get good minutes at a major conference school, depending on the school. I agree completely with your last question - will he be willing and able to better his defense and decision making at a high-major, playing against better competition? I do hope he doesn't merely take the most money from NIL, but rather finds the best situation for him to get the minutes necessary to grow as a player while upping the overall competition he plays against.
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Post by TBone on Mar 27, 2024 12:09:13 GMT -6
I mean he was clamped by Blake Lampman in the HL Final...Bart shoulda kept him on the bench as we took the lead without him on the floor. Curious to see what EP does this next year being able to run the show more freely. Go back and look at the game logs post MB being kicked off the team and before BJ came back.... Pratt was certainly more assertive in that stretch. Whether that was by design, by his own head space, or by the fact he was just feeling it for a period, I don't know. I hope that having him be a returning player to the team rather than a first year player will get him more comfortable to hopefully bet that assertive player throughout the year. If he and AJ can both be that player on a consistent basis, along with Fields, we should be solid. If EJ plays the mid-range game rather than the 3, or gets back to his three point shooting from a couple years ago, and KP can find more consistency, that would just add to the quality of the roster. Hopefully we don't lose any more of the core pieces, or if we do, can adequately replace them. Now, about running the point...
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Post by FTA1982 on Mar 27, 2024 12:13:43 GMT -6
Pratt handled the PG duties admirably this season but I think those duties weighed on his offensive production near the end of the year. I'd prefer for him to play off the ball in a ton of catch & shoot. Then if he does handle the ball, he can run PNR and finish at the rim which he feasted vs GB and others down the stretch.
With all of the HL defections, Pratt has a chance to be all 1st team along with a candidate for POY.
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Post by buppie05 on Mar 27, 2024 12:14:07 GMT -6
BJs game is a perfect fit for European Pro leagues. That said, I heard Trey Townsend could command up to 500k in NIL money for his services. I would bet BJ would be in a similar stratosphere.
I might come off as out of touch, but I hate how NIL is being used. Sure, I wanted the kids to get paid for their NIL, but I don’t think it’s good for the sport to be using it to lure kids to certain schools to play. What I mean by this: Trey Townsend and JG doing a BW3 commercial after beating Kentucky , yes pay them. Trey being offered 500k to go play for Kentucky , not good. I know there is no way to police this, but I just think the new landscape of paying players upwards of a million dollars and getting a scholarship will ultimately hurt the sport, especially combined with the new transfer rules.
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